This program appears in our ranking of Top 13 Best Sports Management Master’s Degree Programs.
Bowling Green State University offers one of the largest sports management undergrad programs in the Midwest. Founded in 1980, this program allows students to actually work with athletes while they complete their degrees. As the university is only 30 minutes away from Toledo, students can do internships and find other opportunities in a larger city. They also have access to professional sports teams located across the state. The university provides students with opportunities to meet and interact with its large alumni network, too.
This program requires that students complete their general education requirements during their freshman and sophomore years. As long as they have a grade point average of at least 2.75, they can begin taking advanced sports management classes in their junior years. Students must do an internship during their senior year, but they can work for amateur or professional teams or for a sports facility.
Also available from the university is a graduate program in sport administration. This accredited program features courses such as Sport and Society, Social Psychology of Sport and Sport and Higher Education. Bowling Green State asks students to do a practicum or an independent study project, too. They must also do a final project or a thesis before they graduate. The university requires that all graduate students take a research methods course, which teaches them the fundamentals of research.
About Bowling Green State University
Also known as Bowling Green State and BGSU, Bowling Green State University is a public university named after the Ohio town that is home to its main campus. Founded in 1910 as one of two normal schools established in the state, it opened as the Bowling Green State Normal School. As the school did not yet have a campus of its own, classes met in several local buildings before construction began on a new campus. To meet the needs of new students coming in who did not have an interest in education, the school became the Bowling Green State College. It didn’t become BGSU until the 1930s. Enrollment at the university grew steadily after World War II as soldiers went back to school.
Forbes ranked BGSU as one of the nation’s best colleges. Both Washington Monthly and U.S. News and World Report included the university within the top 200 of all American colleges, too. A large number of Olympic athletes and professional athletes attended the university over the years. Sports management majors have the chance to speak to some of those former students. BGSU now has an enrollment of more than 16,000 undergrads and more than 2,600 graduate and doctoral students.
Bowling Green State University Accreditation Details
BGSU has the regional accreditation that allows all of its students to apply for financial aid. That accreditation comes from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCACS). NCACS accreditation is also important for students who may want to transfer college credits they earned in high school or later. The Commission on Sport Management Accreditation (CSMA) accredited the university’s sports management programs, too. Those students may also take some business classes that have accreditation. Many of the university’s other degree programs have their own accreditation also.
Bowling Green State University Application Requirements
As BGSU offers both a graduate and an undergraduate sports management program, it’s important that students use the right application based on their status. Both types of students can use an online application and create an account with the application website. This gives them the freedom to work on their applications a little bit at a time and complete it over multiple days or weeks.
Undergrads must have a high school diploma or a GED. The university recommends that students follow a college prep outline in high school and take a set number of English, math, life science, social studies and foreign language classes before they graduate. They will pay a $45 application fee and submit an official high school transcript and a score from the ACT or SAT to the university. BGSU accepts students based on their grades, test scores and other factors.
Graduate students have until February 1 to apply for fall admissions and October 15 to apply and start at the beginning of the spring semester. BGSU does not allow grad students to start the sports administration program in the summer. Students must have a bachelor’s degree from a school with regional accreditation and a GPA of 2.75 or higher. Those applying for an assistantship must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher. The university asks for both an academic writing sample and an official GRE score. Students will also submit their college transcripts, a resume and three letters of recommendation. BGSU also asks for a personal statement of up to three pages.
Bowling Green State University Tuition and Financial Aid
BGSU charges full-time students a tuition rate of $4,548 per semester. Students who take fewer than 12 credits in a single semester will pay $379 per credit hour instead. These rates only apply to undergrads who are also Ohio residents. Nonresidents pay $712 per credit hour as a part-time student or $8,543 per semester as a full-time student. Part-time graduate students who are Ohio residents pay $446 per credit hour. If they enroll on a full-time basis, they’ll pay $5,345 per semester. Grad students who come from other states will pay the university $779 per credit hour or $9,339 per semester, depending on the number of classes they take.
All BGSU students can submit the FAFSA and see if they qualify for one of the aid packages offered by the university. Those packages will vary based on enrollment status and the education level of the student. Undergrads can qualify for government loans and for grants. They can also take part in the federal work-study program and earn more money during the school year. BGSU also offers scholarships for its undergrads.
Graduate students can also borrow money from the federal government in the form of unsubsidized loans. They also have the option of taking out PLUS loans and using alternative student loans. A small number of students will work for the university in an assistantship role. Those students receive a stipend and some funds that go towards their overall costs. Bowling Green State University has counselors who can help students complete the FAFSA.
Learn more about the Bowling Green State University at the Sport Management Program website.
