All students applying to the business administration program at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) are initially classified as Pre-Business Status by the Office of Admissions.

Students who have successfully completed the Pre-Business Core need to submit a Business Status Application to the CoBA Advising Office so that their status can be changed from Pre-Business to Business Status by a CoBA advisor. Business Status is necessary in order to register for upper-division business courses.

Please note: Do not submit your Business Status Application until you have been officially admitted to CSUSM.

Every effort will be made to process Business Status Applications within 1-week of receipt. Students will be notified via email of their status.
  • The minimum grade in every Pre-Business and Business course must be a C or better—courses may not be taken credit/no credit
  • The Pre-Business Core must be completed with a minimum GPA of 2.5
  • The UC Berkeley GPA calculator may be helpful in computing your Pre-Business Core GPA
  • Either official or unofficial copies of transcripts/grades for non-CSUSM coursework must accompany the Business Status Application—the College of Business reserves the right to accept or deny any non-CSUSM, non-articulated coursework (course syllabi may be required for review—please refer to the ASSIST website to verify articulated coursework)
  • Transcripts submitted to CoBA are in addition to official transcripts that students must send to the Office of Admissions
  • Pre-Business Core Transfer Credit Approval Form

The Business Administration program is an Impacted Major:

Impaction is a Chancellor's Office designation that allows a program or a campus to limit its enrollments to align with its budget. This means that prospective College of Business students must complete the lower-division Pre-Business Core with a 2.5 GPA or higher to be admitted to the business program.