DCU Business School

The Bachelor of Business Studies course is our largest, most flexible and popular business degree offering you a strong foundation in all aspects of business with the chance to specialise in your final year. It is designed to build your understanding of the foundations of business and guide you to a specialisation in economics, management, finance, marketing, data analytics or HR over the course of 3 or 4 years. You’ll also have the option to spend 11 months on work placement as part of our INTRA programme.

We’ve recently updated our curriculum with a number of new elements such as a new two-week introductory programme in Business Studies at the start of first year. Our new Learning Innovation for Enterprise programme lasts all of first year and students get to join lots of entrepreneurship events throughout the city as part of Start-Up Week Dublin and even get to do a Hackathon.

This programme has something for everyone and will give you a great career foundation no matter which industry or sector you choose.

You can check out www.dcu.ie/cao to learn more about the excellent experience that awaits you at DCU.

There are some large lectures for common modules but these are supported by smaller weekly tutorial groups of approx. 30 people. There are work placements in our Business school- you can find out more here.

MINT (DC240) combines expertise in marketing with a sound knowledge of technology. Business is a general business studies degree, encompassing all dimensions of business. So if you love technology, and want to work in a high tech business, MINT is the course for you. If you are not sure what aspect of business you'd like to work in, and would like to get a good foundation in a number of different aspects of business, then Business Studies is the course for you. Some recent graduates are in marketing, business development, account executive/ manager, event co-ordinator and CRM managers in companies such as Accenture, Bewleys, BMW Ireland, eBay, Google, LinkedIn, Paypal, Tesco and Twitter

Job prospects for Marketing, Innovation and Technology (MINT) (DC240) are more specific, in that you will be prepared for a role in marketing, new product development or in the ICT sector. Job prospects in the general business degree (DC111) depend on your specialism - management, business economics, finance, human resource management, data analytics or marketing. They are both highly regarded by employers so it depends on where your interests lie in terms of your own career goals.

There is on on average 20% of general business modules in Marketing, Innovation and Technology course (MINT) and on average 20% of Information Technology (IT) modules in Business Studies course.

Here are the 5 main differences:

1.         CAO Points Needed

One of the first things a CAO student will be concerned about!  The points for each Global Business course are generally higher than for Business Studies International. The exact difference will of course vary each year.

2.       Amount of time spent abroad

In Business Studies International you spend your first 2 years in DCU then your third year in a partner University. After your third year abroad you will return to DCU for your fourth year.          

In Global Business you spend your first two years at DCU and then spend 3^rdand 4^th year abroad with your partner university in the country that speaks your chosen language.

3.       Two Degrees

A big difference between International and Global is that with Global Business you receive two degrees, one from DCU and one from the college in your chosen country, whereas with International you will get a degree from DCU only.

This is one of the big plus points for Global Business.  Having two degrees from two universities in two different countries will definitely help you stand out from the crowd when looking for a job after graduation!

4.       Languages available

With Business Studies International you have the option of studying one of French, Spanish, German, Chinese or Japanese.

With Global Business there are 3 languages available. They are French, Spanish and German.

With Business Studies International you must study one of the five languages I’ve mentioned along with all of your business modules.

However with Global Business, if French, Spanish or German don’t do it for you then you can do Global Business USA or Canada where the study of a language is not compulsory.

5.       Work Placements

Global Business students undertake two paid internships during their four year degree. There’s a four month internship in Ireland during 2^nd year and then a 6 month internship in your 3^rd year in the country you are studying in.

Having two work placements in two different countries gives you an advantage over graduates of other business courses nationwide. 

You don't need a foreign language for Global Business USA (DC116). 

There are only 10 optional credits out of the 60 credits in Year 1 and Year 2 in Global Business USA which can be used to study a language so, this is only a small part. The emphasis is more on developing your knowledge of North American Politics and Culture. If studying a second language is important to you, you may be more suited to Business Studies International (DC110) or the other Global Business programmes: French (DC112), German (DC113), Spanish (DC114), where there is a larger percentage of language modules.

Business Studies International (DC110) is not a joint degree, it is a business degree with 30% language and cultural modules. If you are interested in a joint degree, you may be interested in Global Business Degrees: DC112/DC113/DC114/DC116/DC119.

One full academic year studying at a partner University. Academic calendars can be different in other countries (starting in August or finishing end of July for example). It would depend on the country.

Yes. For further specific information visit the study abroad webpages.

There is approx 16-20 hours of lectures and tutorials, plus your own independent learning time and completing coursework.

We assume you have not studied accounting before, we start from the very beginning. It's quite different from the leaving cert because we are looking at all aspects of accounting - management accounting, financial accounting, international accounting. And we are also looking at accounting from the point of view of professional accounting standards and the financial reporting structures. The basics are similar, and having studied accounting you should recognise those but we progress beyond that quite quickly. And again, not having studied accounting before is certainly not a disadvantage