Sport Administration - B.S. Download to print

The Sport Administration major prepares students for careers in the sport industry through a balanced academic program and numerous practical experiences. Students complete a core group of courses developed to exceed accreditation guidelines, and all students are required to complete one of the following minors: Business, Finance, International Business for Non-Business Majors, Management for Non-Business Majors, or Marketing. The curricular balance of sport, business and sociological courses along with three required practical experiences make the program of study one that is cutting edge compared to other programs within the state of Ohio and across the country.

Note: State/Federal background checks may be required for practicum/internship experiences. See Program Coordinator for more information.

Upon completion of the major, students will have the opportunity to pursue numerous career paths in the sport industry including managing sport programs at all levels (youth, high school, collegiate, and professional), facility management, event planning, sport marketing and public relations.

General Admissions for Freshman Students: Admission Requirements at the Kent Campus: The freshman admission policy at the Kent Campus is selective. Admission decisions are based upon the following: overall grade point average, ACT and/or SAT scores, strength of high school college preparatory curriculum and grade trends.

The university affirmatively strives to provide educational opportunities and access to students with varied backgrounds, those with special talents and adult students who graduated from high school three or more years ago. For more information on admissions, visit the admissions website for new freshmen.

For admissions, the College of Education, Health and Human Services considers a student to have established a Kent State University GPA after the student has successfully completed a minimum of 12 Kent State University credit hours. Undergraduate students who have not completed a minimum of 12 Kent State University credit hours will be evaluated for admission into programs, Advanced Study, and the Professional Phase based on their high school GPA for new freshmen, or transfer GPA for transfer students. Once a student has successfully completed a minimum of 12 Kent State University credit hours, only the student’s Kent State overall GPA will be considered for admission into a program, Advanced Study, and Professional Phase.

For more information about admission criteria for transfer, transitioning and former students, please visit the admissions website.

Students must have a 2.500 GPA overall to be accepted into a required minor.

A minor must be declared before completing the second semester after declaring the major.

Student must maintain a minimum 2.500 overall GPA and a minimum 2.500 major and minor GPA every semester, until graduation.

Students who do not maintain the minimum required GPA will receive a warning and will be required to meet with their faculty and professional advisor to develop a plan of continuation. The plan will include all actions necessary to continue in the current program, the opportunity to declare a different program, a timeline of when actions should occur, and next steps if actions are not followed.  Please refer to the Not Permitted to Continue policy in the Academic Policies section in the University Catalog.

Minimum 120 credit hours, minimum 39 upper-division credit hours. Minimum 2.500 major and overall GPA. Successful completion of one of the following minors is required for graduation: Business, Finance, International Business for Non-Business Majors, Management for Non-Business Majors or Marketing.

Graduates of this program will be able to:

1. Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge in the areas of promotion and marketing as related to sport.
2. Effectively and safely implement sporting events and fundraising events.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the policies and organizations that govern sport.
4. Demonstrate knowledge of basic legal concepts and theory as it applies to sport.
5. Demonstrate financial knowledge of accounting, economics and finance as it applies to sport.
6. Demonstrate an understanding of ethics in sport management.
7. Demonstrate an understanding of management and organizational skills in sport.
8. Demonstrate an understanding of behavioral dimensions in sport.