The Business Leadership Program (BLP) is a highly selective program within the School of Business & Leadership. Each year, up to twenty-five first years are admitted into this experiential four-year program.
The BLP is distinguished by a unique curriculum that blends academic coursework in business and the liberal arts, and features seven special BLP student-only classes. Students are educated in business fundamentals including accounting, finance, law and ethics, leadership, management, and marketing. The courses and pedagogy emphasize critical thinking, problem solving, and effective written and verbal communication. Students are taught to logically formulate and investigate questions relevant to profit and not-for-profit organizations. Through required coursework in the humanities and social sciences, BLP students develop an awareness of the relationship between business and other important disciplines. Many students pursue second majors outside of business as well.
The Business Leadership Program is also distinctive because it requires students to apply their academic knowledge to real world situations. Students participate in regional business field trips, an evening leadership speaker series, a professional internship, and a first-year residential program. In addition, BLP students are paired with regional business leaders, who serve as mentors throughout the sophomore, junior, and senior years. These volunteer mentors, typically Puget Sound alumni, help prepare students for internships and careers by teaching from personal and professional experience.
BLP students can pursue the business administration or the international business emphases. Upon completion of the BLP, students receive a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. Many BLP students complete double majors in disciplines such as music, economics, mathematics, computer science, foreign languages, or international political economy.
BLP graduates find open doors to leading graduate schools and employment with respected not-for-profit and corporate employers. BLP graduates enter the world with a background designed for success and a determination to become the kind of leader their broad-based education has inspired them to be.
Admission to the Business Leadership Program requires a supplemental application form in addition to the application to the university. Once admitted, students are required to maintain a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average.
