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Bachelor’s in Marketing | American University

Attention is scarce. Learn to earn it.

Earn your BS in Marketing at American University’s Kogod School of Business in Washington, DC—an AI-fluent, hands-on program built around real clients, real data, and real career outcomes.

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01.
Business from day one.

At AU there's no separate business school application: you're a Kogod student the day you're admitted, taking business classes your very first semester with a cohort that will stick with you all four years.

02.
Real clients and real stakes.

The Marketing Impact Lab and a live-client strategy capstone mean you graduate with real client work on your resume and real connections.

03.
Washington as your studio.

The biggest brands, agencies, nonprofits, and global institutions are all a Metro ride from campus.

At a Glance

BS in Marketing

Kogod’s BS in Marketing prepares you for marketing careers in corporate, nonprofit, government, and consulting settings. You’ll build on a business core that takes AI, sustainability, and professionalism seriously, then go deep on marketing strategy, consumer insights, data analytics, digital media, and brand management. Add an optional track, an internship (or two), and a live-client capstone—and graduate ready to launch your career.

When is the next deadline?

Go to the Common App →

November

Early Decision I

Open — next deadline

November

Early Action

Open

January

Early Decision II

Open

January

Regular Decision

Open
Day 1

Start taking business classes during your first semester. Being admitted to AU means being admitted to Kogod, no separate b-school application necessary.

2 Tracks

You can specialize your expertise with an optional focus in Digital Marketing & Analytics or Consumer Insights & Brand Strategy.

BS/MS

Apply up to nine credits towards both degrees, saving you time and money. If you have AP or IB credits, you may be eligible to complete both your BS and MS in just four years.

Why Earn Your BS in Marketing at Kogod?

The newest BS in Marketing in DC.

You'll get unique skills that the market needs as the ground shifts under marketers' feet.

Start doing business on day one.

Admission to AU is admission to Kogod: no other application is necessary. In your first semester, you'll take business classes alongside a cohort of peers, working in groups, pitching new ideas and getting hands-on with the latest tools, so you're ready to dive into your major head first. 

Hands-on experience in the classroom and the real world.

You'll build a robust portfolio before crossing the graduation stage. With classes like the Marketing Impact Lab and Senior Capstone you'll get to interact with actual clients, presenting them with solutions and gaining job-ready experience. Plus, with AU's internship pledge, you can unlock up to $4,500 towards an internship or research project starting your sophomore year.

Use your brain and AI.

At Kogod, AI is both a tool you'll use constantly and a subject you'll interrogate: its applications, its limitations, its biases, and its ethical blind spots, from the business core through your major classes. 

Pick your path.

Follow a track in Digital Marketing & Analytics or Consumer Insights & Brand Strategy and explore your other interests with Kogod's clubs and organizations. Plus, you'll learn how creators, platforms, and brands transact. You'll get hands-on with recruiting and running influencer campaigns, producing events like the Kogod Creator Summit, and understanding what it takes to build a sustainable creator career of your own.

[Kogod is] well ahead of so many universities around the world.”

— Brad Smith, Vice Chair & President, Microsoft

 

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This Could Be You

Curious what your four years might look like? Here's one example of how it can shape up. Everyone's path is different, and a Kogod advisor will be with you every step of the way.

  1. 01.
    Welcome to Kogod
    You're in business classes by week one, alongside a cohort figuring it out together.
    • You'll start in Purpose of Business, pitching real ideas in small teams with the same cohort beside you all year.
    • The people from your group projects turn into your study group, and then into your friends.
    • You'll meet your career coach in your first semester, and they'll actually know your name.
    • Spring wraps up with the global practicum, where everything you've learned gets put to work.

    See the first-year core

  2. 02.
    Find Your Footing
    Principles of Marketing shows up on your schedule, and your major gets real.
    • You'll get comfortable in every corner of business, from accounting and finance to business analytics and managing people.
    • By spring, you can pitch a campaign and defend the budget behind it in the same breath.
    • AU's Internship pledge is ready to put $4,500 behind your internship or research plans, starting this year.
    • And if your GPA hits 3.5, you'll automatically earn an invitation to the Kogod Honors program.

    Explore Kogod Honors

  3. 03.
    Hone Your Craft
    Here you'll focus on experience in the real-world and
    • Marketing takes center stage, with consumer behavior, marketing research, and digital marketing filling your schedule.
    • Explore electives that excite you, whether that's brands, sports, analytics, or marketing for social change.
    • Your résumé keeps filling out, with internships underway and employers coming to campus every semester to meet with students like you.
    • If you're in Honors, the exclusive sections begin, and your work goes in front of a real client.
    • Interested in a Master's degree? You can start taking graduate-level classes your third year, counting towards both degrees.

    How internships work at Kogod

  4. 04.
    Get Ready to Launch
    Live-client capstone. Graduate with receipts.
    • In the Marketing Impact Lab, you'll work with a real organization and propose full-campaign solutions.
    • Your strategy capstone hands your team a live client, and your recommendations actually land somewhere.
    • The Career Development team has your back during your job search, prepping you with mock interviews and salary negotiation practice before the real thing.

    See the full curriculum in the AU catalog

  5. +1.
    Add a Master's Degree
    Arriving at AU with AP or IB credits? You may be able to complete your BS/MS in just four years.
    • If you came in with AP or IB credit, the 3+1 turns year four into your master's year.
    • That's two degrees in four years, with up to $79,000 staying in your pocket.
    • Prefer the classic pace? The 4+1 adds a master's year, with nine graduate credits already banked.
    • If you're interested in jumping into a full-time gig while earning your MS, Kogod has you covered with flexible evening classes and online options.

    Compare the 3+1 and 4+1

What you'll learn.

The short version: a business core that covers the ground, and electives that make the degree yours.

The core.

Every Kogod degree starts with the business core, and it covers a lot of ground:

  • Purpose of Business
  • Accounting and finance
  • Data analysis and business analytics
  • Managing people in organizations
  • Global strategy and operations

Then the marketing core takes over, 18 credit hours deep: consumer behavior, marketing research, digital marketing, social media strategy with AI, the Marketing Impact Lab, and new product management.

38
credit hours in the business core

Pick your track.

Your final 9 credit hours are electives, and they're yours to aim. Stack them into one of two optional tracks, or mix and match from courses like entertainment marketing, sports marketing, and marketing for social change.

Digital Marketing and Analytics

Lean into the numbers: digital campaigns, performance data, and the analytics that show what's working.

Consumer Insights and Brand Strategy

Lean into the people: understanding what customers want and building brands they remember.

See degree requirements Browse the full AU catalog
91%
Employed, in Grad School, or Both

91% of our graduating undergraduates are employed, in grad school, or both within six months of graduation.

 

We Know Success

85%
Complete an Internship

Kogod grads are working around DC and beyond. With AU's new internship pledge, you can say yes to more opportunities.

We Know Success

Day 1
Join the Business Cohort

No separate application needed. If you're admitted to AU, you're admitted to Kogod, where you'll take business classes your first day on campus.

AU Course Catalog

Who You'll Learn From

  • Michael Clayton New Brand

    Michael Clayton

    Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer
    Ten years running marketing communications for Chevrolet Corvette, Dodge, and Michelin at Campbell-Ewald and BBDO, then a PhD at the University of Florida. He'll read your work, know your goals, and tell you what'll land in an interview.
    Read full bio
  • Kelli Frias-1

    Kelli Frias

    Provost Associate Professor of Marketing
    Frias's research sits where marketing meets consumer welfare—pricing strategy, healthcare affordability, early-stage venture risk, and the service economy. Students work alongside her through the through the Marketing Impact Lab at Kogod and her classes led the first annual Kogod Creators Summit.
    Read full bio
  • Sarah Mady_formatted

    Sarah Mady

    Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer
    Mady's research explores how multinationals adapt to international market forces—consumer animosity, acculturation, vulnerability, and targeted marketing, with a focus on services. A five-time winner of Kogod's Outstanding Teaching Award and 2025 Undergraduate Professor of the Year, she teaches everything from International Marketing to online MBA immersions with global travel components.
    Read full bio
  • Sonya Grier 2

    Sonia Grier

    Professor
    Grier's research examines race in the marketplace with a focus on enhancing consumer well-being, drawing on experience spanning the Federal Trade Commission, brand management, and marketing consulting. A co-founder of the Race in the Marketplace (RIM) Research Network, she has published in leading marketing, psychology, public health, and policy journals and has advised the CDC on health marketing.
    Read full bio
Frequently Asked Questions

Our admissions team is happy to help!

No. Admission to American University is admission to Kogod — there's no secondary business school application, no waiting until junior year. You're a Kogod student the day you're admitted, and you'll take business classes in your very first semester.
AU uses the Common App. For the current cycle: Early Decision I and Early Action close November 1; Early Decision II and Regular Decision close January 15. The calendar above always shows the next deadline.
Three layers. The business core (38 credit hours) covers the ground every business leader needs — accounting, finance, analytics, managing people, global strategy. The marketing core (18 credit hours) goes deep: consumer behavior, marketing research, digital marketing, social media strategy with AI, the Marketing Impact Lab, and new product management. Your final 9 credit hours are electives — stack them into a track or mix and match.
Two optional tracks focus your electives: Digital Marketing & Analytics (the numbers: digital campaigns, performance data, analytics) and Consumer Insights & Brand Strategy (the people: what customers want, and brands they remember). Tracks are optional — electives like entertainment marketing, sports marketing, and marketing for social change are yours either way.



Yes. Many marketing majors add a minor or double major across AU — a double major earns one degree at 120 credits, while a dual degree (two diplomas) takes 150. Your Kogod advisor will map the plan with you in your first year.

You're in Washington, so the internship market is a Metro ride away. Plus, Kogod has its own dedicated Career Development team. Internships can be taken for credit — including summer, from anywhere — and AU's Internship Pledge can put up to $4,500 behind an internship or research project starting your sophomore year.

A class where the client is real. You'll work with an actual organization on its actual marketing problems, then cap the degree with a live-client strategy capstone — so you graduate with client work on your resume, not just coursework.
Yes — two ways. If you arrive with AP or IB credit, the 3+1 can turn year four into your master's year: two degrees in four years. Prefer the classic pace? The 4+1 adds one master's year after your BS. Either way, you can apply up to 9 graduate credit hours toward both degrees. You'll apply once you've completed about 75 undergraduate credits, in the term before you want to start graduate classes.
AU graduates get a guaranteed 30% tuition discount on eligible AU master's programs, including Kogod's. 



Yes. Kogod has a study abroad approval process so your courses transfer cleanly — review the requirements, file the approval form, and plan it with your advisor. Plenty of marketing majors go; the degree travels well.