Doctor of Business Administration
Admission Requirements

Applicants to an Athabasca University DBA program must have a Master of Business Administration degree or equivalent Master’s degree and at least five years of significant managerial and/or professional experience.

Applicants must also provide:

• a completed application form.
• a detailed resumé demonstrating five or more years of significant management and/or professional work experience.
• a 1000 – 1500 word expression of research interests.
• three letters of reference, ideally from two professional and one academic source. References from personal friends or relatives will not be accepted.
• official transcripts, sent directly to the Faculty of Business from the respective institution(s). Applicants with degrees obtained outside of North America may be required to have educational qualifications assessed independently (see International transcripts).
• evidence of a successfully completed university level statistics course.
• evidence of English language proficiency (see Proof of English Language Proficiency below).
• a $200 non-refundable application fee.

Transfer Credit

DBA applicants wishing to transfer from other accredited doctoral programs will be considered on a case-by-case basis. In all cases, they must meet the DBA admission requirements (above) and complete at least 50 per cent of their doctoral courses and all DBA dissertation requirements with Athabasca University.

Applicants must provide all materials as outlined in the admission requirements above with the exception that at least one letter of reference must be provided by an academic from the institution from which the applicant is transferring. Courses being considered for transfer credit must be from a fully-accredited institution. To apply for transfer of credit, applicants are responsible for all applicable fees and must submit the following documents:

• Official transcripts showing the successful completion of the courses to be transferred; and
• Course descriptions. The DBA Admissions Committee will review these documents to determine whether transfer credit will be permitted.

Proof of English Language Proficiency

Applicants must have successfully completed an English Language Proficiency Test unless they have received a high school diploma or university degree from one of the following countries:

• Canada
• Australia
• Ireland
• New Zealand
• U.S.
• United Kingdom
• English-speaking West Indies

Documented proof must be submitted with the application for admission. Scores more than two years old are not acceptable. Acceptable English language proficiency tests can be found on the English Language Proficiency Requirements page.

Note: In addition, foreign language students may be asked to complete the CanTEST prior to or following registration and, if need be, remedial measures in language skills based on the results of the CanTEST may be recommended.

For more information, contact the Faculty of Business office.