Business
An 18-credit generalist minor across accounting, management, marketing, leadership, and business law — the practical literacy any career rewards.
About the Minor
ACU’s Business Minor is the generalist option — six courses, eighteen credits, and working coverage across the five functional areas any organization runs on. You’ll start with Introduction to Business (BUS 101), then move through Principles of Accounting, Principles of Management, Principles of Marketing, Business Law, and Principles of Leadership.
The minor is built for students who don’t want a business degree but recognize that nearly every career touches business in some way — managing a budget, leading a team, understanding contracts, building a brand, hiring well. It pairs especially naturally with Communication, Political Science, Christian Ministries, Education, Music, and any field where leading people and stewarding resources eventually shows up in the job description.
Unlike ACU’s narrower business minors (Management, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Sport Management, Organizational Leadership), the Business Minor stays broad on purpose. You leave with literacy across the whole business landscape rather than depth in one corner.
What You'll Learn
Read Financial Statements
Work through accounting fundamentals so you can read a balance sheet, understand cash flow, and engage budgets without fear.
Lead and Manage People
Study the principles of management and leadership that distinguish effective organizations from frustrating ones.
Market a Product or Mission
Build a working understanding of how marketing actually creates value — for businesses, nonprofits, churches, and ministries alike.
Navigate Business Law
Engage contracts, liability, employment law, and the legal environment any organization operates inside.
Think Strategically Across Functions
Connect accounting, management, marketing, law, and leadership into one coherent picture of how organizations actually work.
Business Shaped by a Biblical Worldview
A Biblical Worldview takes business seriously as real work done among real people — meaning craft, integrity, and service belong in the same conversation as strategy and outcomes.
Business as Service
At its best, business serves customers, employees, communities, and shareholders. A Biblical Worldview reframes profit not as the point but as the byproduct of serving people well. ACU's business curriculum treats that conviction as the working assumption, not the conclusion.
Equips you to evaluate business decisions by who they actually serve.Stewardship of Resources
Accounting, finance, and management all come back to the same question: are you handling resources responsibly? A Biblical Worldview takes stewardship seriously — meaning the discipline of careful financial work is itself a form of obedience, not just professionalism.
Anchors your accounting and management work in a posture of trust and accountability.Integrity in Commerce
Business law, marketing, and leadership all create constant opportunities for shortcuts. ACU's business minor treats integrity as foundational — not as a constraint on success but as the only way success actually lasts.
Prepares you to lead in environments where doing the right thing isn't always easy.Where This Minor Takes You
The Business Minor doesn't define a career — it strengthens nearly every one. Here's where ACU graduates have put it to use.
Ministry and Church Leadership
Pastors, executive pastors, and ministry directors who need to read budgets, lead staff, manage contracts, and steward giving well.
Nonprofit and Parachurch Staff
Mission and ministry organizations that need leaders fluent in both vision and operations.
Christian School Administration
Teachers and administrators moving into school-leadership roles where finance and operations matter as much as pedagogy.
Communications and Media
Communication majors adding business literacy for marketing, agency, PR, and media-organization roles.
Public Policy and Government
Political Science graduates who understand both political institutions and the economic engines they regulate.
Bridge to a Business Bachelor's or MBA
Use the minor as preparation for the BS in Business Administration or as a foundation for a future MBA program.
Why Students Choose This Minor
The Business Minor is the broadest and most flexible business add-on ACU offers — built specifically for students whose primary major sits outside the business school.
Five Functional Areas, One Minor
Accounting, management, marketing, law, and leadership in 18 credits — most other minors cover only one or two of these.
Same Faculty as the BS
Business Minor students sit in the same courses with the same professors as ACU's business majors. No separate watered-down track.
Built for Non-Business Majors
The minor assumes you'll never be a business major — and the prereq chain reflects that. Just BUS 101 first, then everything else opens up.
Stacks Toward an MBA
These six courses cover most prerequisite-style content MBA programs assume — useful preparation if graduate business school is on your horizon.
Pairs With Ministry, Education, and the Arts
Especially common combination for students in Christian Ministries, Education, Communication, Music Ministry, and Political Science.
Getting Started
Adding the Business Minor is straightforward, but the prereq chain means starting in your freshman or sophomore year keeps your schedule clean.
Talk With Your Academic Advisor
Map the 18 credits into your degree plan with attention to BUS 101 as the gateway prerequisite.
Take BUS 101 Early
BUS 101 Introduction to Business unlocks ACC 223, BUS 301, MGT 340, and MKT 350 — schedule it freshman or sophomore year.
View BUS 101 →Confirm ENG 101 for Business Law
BUS 301 Business Law lists both BUS 101 and ENG 101 as prerequisites — most students have ENG 101 in place by then, but confirm before scheduling.
Sequence the Remaining Five
ACC 223, BUS 301, BUS 404, MGT 340, and MKT 350 can be taken in any order once their prereqs are met. Spread them across junior and senior year.
Explore More Options
Ready to Add Business Literacy to Your Degree?
The Business Minor gives you working command of the five functional areas every organization runs on — without the time commitment of a business degree. Apply or reach out today.
