Accounting
Accounting
Understanding financial information—how it is recorded, summarized, and reported—and what it reveals about an organization’s performance, obligations, and long-term health.
Foundations of Business
Essentials for All
Every Pamplin student begins with a shared foundation that develops the core knowledge and habits of thinking used across all areas of business. These essentials give students a strong starting point for any major and prepare them to understand how organizations function, make decisions, and create value.
Students begin with an introduction to the disciplines that shape how organizations work. They learn the essentials of accounting, economics, financial literacy, marketing, management, and information systems & operations. These areas form the foundation of a modern business education and reflect the core expectations recognized by AACSB International, the global accreditor for business schools. This early study helps students understand how business decisions are made, how teams create value, and how information moves across an organization.
Economics
Economics
Recognizing how markets, incentives, and limited resources shape business choices, public policy, and everyday tradeoffs for people, organizations, and communities.
Financial Literacy
Financial Literacy
Building practical confidence with money—budgeting, borrowing, saving, and investing—and understanding how financial decisions affect both personal goals and organizational outcomes.
Information Systems & Operations
Information Systems & Operations
Learning how information systems, data, and operations work together to support insight, efficiency, and reliable decision making across processes, teams, and supply chains.
Management
Management
Understanding leadership, teamwork, structure, and organizational behavior so organizations can set direction, motivate people, manage change, and deliver results.
Marketing
Marketing
Exploring how value is communicated, how customers make decisions, and how organizations build lasting relationships with the audiences they serve.
Together, these areas give students a complete view of how organizations operate. By understanding the language and logic of each discipline, students see how decisions connect, how information moves through a business, and how teams rely on one another to create value. This shared foundation helps every student enter their major with confidence and a clear sense of how the parts of business fit together.
With this foundation in place, students are ready to develop the broad mindsets that support learning in every major and every career path.
Students build essential mindsets throughout their foundation courses—ways of thinking that strengthen every major and every career path. Early on, they learn to analyze information, recognize patterns, and approach problems with curiosity and purpose.
They practice AI decision-making, entrepreneurship, and clear communication, while grounding their work in ethics & law and global & cultural awareness. They also develop service & resilience, adapting to challenges and staying focused when plans shift.
By the time they move into upper-level classes and internships, these mindsets are part of how they think and work, helping them make confident decisions, collaborate effectively, and create value in real business settings.
1
AI Decision-Making
Using data, analytics, and AI tools to analyze options, recognize patterns, and recommend informed actions.
2
Entrepreneurship
Identifying opportunities, testing ideas, and learning how to create value in new and practical ways.
3
Communication
Sharing ideas clearly, professionally, and with purpose in written and spoken forms.
4
Ethics & Law
Evaluating business situations through ethical and legal lenses and making decisions with integrity.
5
Global & Cultural
Understanding how culture, context, and global perspectives shape business decisions and relationships.
6
Service & Resilience
Showing up for others, adapting to challenges, and developing persistence that strengthens long-term success.
Students begin with Pamplin’s shared business foundations, discovering the core ideas that shape how organizations work. As they move forward, each department adds deeper, discipline-specific requirements that build clarity and direction. Finally, students specialize through major-level coursework that develops advanced expertise and prepares them for professional roles.
Some students enter Pamplin knowing exactly which major they want to pursue. Others prefer to take time to see what they enjoy. The foundation courses support both paths. By taking introductory classes across accounting, economics, finance, marketing, management, analytics, and information systems, students gain an early look at the full range of business fields.
I Already Know My Major
A strong foundation that reinforces your direction.
- Early confirmation that your interests match the work
- Exposure to related disciplines that strengthen your major
- Faculty who connect you to opportunities in your field
- Flexibility to adjust if something new sparks your interest
- Advisors who help you map out a clear path forward
I Am Still Exploring
A guided introduction to every area of business.
- A broad set of foundation courses that reveal your interests
- Insight into what each discipline does in the real world
- Support from academic advisors who help you compare majors
- Faculty who highlight strengths and emerging possibilities
- Confidence to choose a major that truly fits you
These courses help students understand what each discipline focuses on and what the work in those areas can look like. Whether a student arrives with a clear plan or discovers their interests along the way, the foundation provides the insight needed to make an informed and confident choice about a major.
Explore the Pamplin+ Curriculum
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