UT’s business minor: plan by catalog year

Why the catalog year changes the answer

McCombs’ business-minor webpage still shows application tabs for the 2024–26 catalog and 2022–24 or earlier. It lists MIS 302F and ACC 310F followed by four upper-division foundations courses, with specified substitutions. The 2026–28 catalog lists a broader set of alternatives. McCombs checklist and application instructions

First identify the catalog governing your degree. Bring that year, your existing credits and your proposed course numbers to advising. Do not combine an older substitution permission with a newer course menu and assume the resulting plan belongs to either catalog.

This guide uses the current catalog for the table below. A student on an older catalog should check that edition’s requirements rather than treating every newly listed option as automatically available.

The 2026–28 course menu, condensed

The current catalog organizes the minor into six subject requirements. These are choices within requirements, not an instruction to take every course shown. Its accounting table also includes a sequence using ACC 311 and ACC 312; confirm how that sequence is applied in your audit.

The ACC 311 and FIN 320F trap

The current FIN 320F course entry requires 45 semester hours plus an accounting route: ACC 310F; ACC 311/311H together with ACC 312/312H; or six accounting hours. It is restricted to non-McCombs majors. FIN 320F course entry

Consider a student who already has ACC 311. The current minor table lists it as an accounting option, but that does not, by itself, satisfy the accounting preparation described for FIN 320F. The student should resolve the remaining prerequisite with advising before assuming finance fits next semester.

Now compare a student beginning with ACC 310F. That course is an explicit accounting route in the FIN 320F entry. The two students may be working toward the same 18-hour credential while needing different preparatory coursework.

Write prerequisites in a separate column from minor applicability. Record completed, in progress and planned credit separately. Eighteen credential hours do not necessarily mean eighteen new hours from your particular starting point.

Check residence, grades and overlap with your major

University minor policy requires at least half of a minor’s coursework in residence and at least nine hours not used for major requirements. Other degree requirements, such as general education, can overlap under that policy. A minor therefore needs both a course list and a degree-level overlap check. University minor rules

McCombs’ checklist specifies letter grades, a combined minimum 2.00 GPA and at least nine hours in residence or through its Summer Institute. It excludes University Extension, transfer and credit-by-exam from residence. Ask which rule applies to each proposed outside credit before paying for it.

For example, three accepted transfer courses may reduce the courses left to take without supplying the required residence hours. Similarly, a course used in the major can be useful academically while failing to contribute to the nine hours that must sit outside major requirements.

The UT degree-audit guide explains how to compare requirement placement with a course simply appearing on your record. Use that distinction when reviewing AP, transfer or equivalent coursework.

Apply, attach, then verify completion

McCombs directs students through Registrar Document Submissions and says an admitted student must ask their academic advisor to attach the minor to the degree profile. Its displayed 2024–26 tab uses “Business Foundations Minor,” while older tabs use “Business Minor.” Confirm the correct catalog and credential selection if the form differs.

After attachment, run an updated audit and check each requirement against completed or planned credit. The registration guide covers the separate task of securing a course; minor admission does not remove a section’s prerequisites, restrictions or capacity.

Transcript recognition arrives with degree completion, under university policy. Finishing the last class a semester early does not make this a credential already awarded on the transcript. When describing your studies before graduation, keep “in progress” separate from an awarded minor.

When the minor is the right size of commitment

Choose the minor for a reason you can connect to your major or intended work: interpreting financial statements, understanding markets or managing a project, for example. Then identify which courses develop that knowledge and what other courses or experiences you would give up.

The current catalog says students may pursue the Business Foundations Minor or the Elements of Business Certificate, but not both. Specialized minors and the BBA are separate choices. Taking foundations courses does not itself admit a student to the BBA.

Before committing, leave advising with a short plan: catalog year, credential attached, six requirement slots, prerequisite sequence, residence hours, major overlap and expected graduation term. That is more useful than a course list copied without the conditions that make it count.