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Businesses, big or small, thrive with strong, positive leadership. It’s what inspires employees to turn any vision, easy or complex, into reality. However, it takes the right skill set to become an effective and successful leader. Sarah (Paulsen) Borgerding developed her skills at Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) and has a success story to prove it.
She discovered her passion for healthcare as a teen. Yet, something made her feel that a white coat wasn’t the right fit. Digging deeper, she realised that the healthcare industry would not be where it is today without the business side of it. That’s when she found her niche.
At MSUM, she began her journey by double majoring in Economics and Business Administration. Classes in Econometrics –– Borgerding’s favourite –– taught her to measure the impact of various variables to predict scenarios and understand relationships.
“Studying econ fed my natural curiosity and honed my critical thinking skills,” she says. “Understanding market forces, scarcity, and rational behaviour are fundamental to my career in strategic planning where I must understand the big picture, compare alternatives, and justify preferred solutions.”
More importantly, the MSUM Economics degree made her an ideal candidate for graduate school, where she earned a Master of Healthcare Administration. Today, Borgerding is a growth advisor at HealthPartners, where she provides strategic guidance and direction to the health system.
All of MSUM’s Economics graduates do just as well. Most enter the workforce and earn entry-level salaries of up to US$75,000 or more a year. Others are well-equipped for graduate or law school, pursuing degrees at the University of Warwick, University College Dublin, University of Minnesota, University of Illinois and more. All econ students present their research at the university’s annual Student Academic Conference, and nine grads have published in respected academic journals.
Source: Minnesota State University Moorhead
The student experience and rigorous curriculum guarantees successful outcomes.
“Classes were small enough that students are engaged in the lectures and with each other,” Borgerding says. “I was challenged. I grew through researching projects, presenting my ideas in papers, and presenting at the Student Academic Conference. Through it all, I had the unwavering support of the faculty and classmates.”
All Business Administration majors enjoy the same. The AACSB-accredited BS degree programme is the ultimate pathway into endless opportunities in various industries. It offers three emphases: International Business, Management, and Marketing. It also provides unique educational certificates focused on the business environment’s emerging needs: Human Resources, Business Analytics, Customer Relationship Management or Investment Management.
Outside the classroom, experiential opportunities are vital to putting knowledge into practice. MSUM Business Administration students join the international award-winning Collegiate DECA team and Beta Gamma Sigma international honour society. They join Dragon Consulting to help solve cross-functional issues of businesses in the area, participate in Executive Mentorship to explore career choices and receive advice about transitioning from college to professional work, learn how to start a business with classes taught by experts from local business associations, and more. The excellent hands-on experience students gain is why 96% of graduates enjoy an over 90% placement rate and earn average starting salaries around US$50,000.
For those who desire to lead, plan, organise, manage and complete projects of various scales, MSUM’s AACSB-accredited Project Management BS degree may be a great fit. In fact, according to Study.com, this personalised programme was ranked #1 “Best Bachelor’s Degree in Project Management.” Its versatility superbly complements careers in business, marketing, computer science, human resources, management, manufacturing, or healthcare.
With real-world application opportunities, accessible faculty, and flexible delivery, graduates earn average starting salaries of US$62,000, and 100% find jobs upon graduating. They are filling a growing skills gap – — 1.5 million project management jobs are created every year.
Grace Garnas is one of them. After graduating, she applied for Accenture’s Consulting Analyst Programme, alongside 15,000 other candidates. Two weeks later, she was offered a job.
“It was awesome to see my major and minor coming to life,” she says. “The interviewers saw that I knew what I needed to know. They were really impressed, so they hired me to be a Technology Analyst. I started a little higher than what I applied for because I already know consulting from my classes at MSUM.”
To follow in her footsteps, click here to apply to MSUM today.
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