Business Institutions Minor

The minor in business institutions requires the successful completion with a grade of C– or above of 11 courses:

  • 4 prerequisite courses in mathematics, statistics, and economics
  • 4 business tools courses
  • 1 writing and speaking course
  • 2 social sciences and humanities electives

Before declaring the minor students must complete the 4 prerequisite courses with a grade of C- or higher, or have equivalent AP course credit posted to their academic record.

See more details about the minor. Interested students should consult a program adviser or visit the program office for additional information.

Requirements for the minor in Business Institutions

Course Title
Prerequisites (4 units)
ECON 201-0Introduction to Macroeconomics
ECON 202-0Introduction to Microeconomics
STAT 210-0Introduction to Probability and Statistics (or equivalent) 1
MATH 218-1Single-Variable Calculus with Precalculus
or MATH 220-1 Single-Variable Differential Calculus
Minor Requirements (7 units) 2
4 business tools courses: 3
Accounting
Marketing Management
Leadership in Organizations
Corporate Finance (or equivalent) 4
1 writing and speaking in business course: 5
Writing and Speaking in Business
2 social sciences and humanities electives that have business institutions and practices as a central focus of inquiry, chosen from the list below. See the program website for newly approved courses and other updates.
1

Equivalents include BMD_ENG 220-0 Introduction to Biomedical Statistics, CHEM_ENG 312-0 Probability and Statistics for Chemical Engineering, IEMS 201-0 Introduction to Statistics, MATH 385-0 Probability and Statistics for MMSS, PSYCH 201-0 Statistical Methods in Psychology, POLI_SCI 312-0 Statistical Research Methods, SESP 210-0 Introduction to Statistics and Research Methodology, and STAT 202-0 Introduction to Statistics and Data Science.

2

None of the 7 courses may be double-counted toward any major, minor, or certificate except as a related course for a major. Double-counting permitted with a home-school distribution requirement, foundational discipline, US or global perspectives, or advanced expression requirement.

3

With advance approval of the program director a total of only one non-Northwestern course, course credit from study abroad, or a course offered by Northwestern's School of Professional Studies (SPS) may count as a business tools course for the minor. Special accommodations may be made for transfer students.

4

Equivalents include ECON 360-1 Foundations of Corporate Finance Theory and KELLG_FE 310-0 Principles of Finance.

5

Students completing majors in English, History, or Philosophy, may petition the program director to waive this requirement. However, these students are strongly encouraged to consider taking ENGLISH 282-0 Writing and Speaking in Business because it covers communications skills related to the business environment that may not be covered in writing-intensive courses in other disciplines.

Approved Social Science & Humanities courses for the minor

Course Title
ANTHRO 240-0Anthropology of Money
BUS_INST 321-0Business and Economic Institutions in Historical Perspective
BUS_INST 331-0Real Estate Finance & Investment
CHINESE 212-0Chinese in Business Practice 1
CHINESE 312-1Chinese in Business Practice 2
CHINESE 312-2Multinational Corporations in China
COMM_ST 274-0Power in Entertainment
FRENCH 309-0French For Professions
GERMAN 209-0German in the Business World
GERMAN 309-1The German Market and the Globalized Economy
GERMAN 309-2Germany, Inc.: Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility
HISTORY 325-0History of American Technology
ITALIAN 206-0Business Italian
LEGAL_ST 206-0Law and Society
LEGAL_ST 315-0Corporation in US Law and Culture
PHIL 270-0Climate Change and Sustainability: Ethical Dimensions
PHIL 364-0Business and Professional Ethics
POLI_SCI 341-0International Political Economy
POLI_SCI 348-0Globalization
POLI_SCI 374-0Politics of Capitalism
PSYCH 387-0Consumer Psychology and Marketing Research
RTVF 310-0Television History
RTVF 314-0History of the Recording Industry
SOCIOL 206-0Law and Society
SOCIOL 215-0Economy and Society
SOCIOL 288-0Institutions and Society
SOCIOL 302-0Sociology of Organizations
SOCIOL 316-0Economic Sociology
SOCIOL 324-0Global Capitalism
SOCIOL 330-0Law, Markets, and Globalization
SOCIOL 331-0Markets, Hierarchies & Democracies
SOCIOL 335-0Sociology of Rational Decision Making
SOC_POL 312-0Social Policymaking and Implementation
SOC_POL 331-0Economics of Inequality and Discrimination
SPANISH 206-0Spanish for Professions: Business
STAT 301-1Data Science 1 with R
STAT 301-2Data Science 2 with R
STAT 301-3Data Science 3 with R
Some variable-topic classes offered under ENGLISH, HISTORY, or HUM may also be applied; visit website or see adviser for details.
One credit only may be from BUS_INST 394-LK, or internship-related credit, or ENTREP 3XX credit, or IMC 300-0.
Excluding ECON 201-0 and ECON 202-0, economics courses may be applied to the Social Science & Humanities Electives by students who are NOT doing the major or the minor in economics. 1
1

Students earning a minor in economics may use ECON 300-level courses towards their Social Science & Humanities Elective requirement. Students earning a major in economics may not use any economics courses to fulfill their Social Science & Humanities Elective requirement.