MBA

Admission Requirements

Regular Admission Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university
• GPA of 3.00 or better in the last 60 credit hours

Conditional Admission

• Official transcripts certifying a bachelor’s degree awarded by an accredited college or university
• GPA between 2.99 and 2.5 in the last 60 credit hours of coursework leading to the baccalaureate degree
• 2 letters of recommendation or professional email references
• Allowed to take up to 12 credit hours as advised and must earn a B or better
  • If student earns below a B, GMAT is required for readmission
• No elective course may be taken by a student in conditional status

Conditional Admission With Dean’s Approval

• Official transcripts certifying a bachelor’s degree awarded by an accredited college or university
• GPA between 2.49 and 2.25 in the last 60 credit hours of coursework leading to the baccalaureate degree
• GMAT with minimum score of 500 (based on GPA)
• Essay expressing interest may be requested
• 2 letters of recommendation or professional email references
• Allowed to take up to 12 credit hours and must earn a B or better
• No elective course may be taken by a student in conditional status

Students granted conditional status will be changed to regular status upon successful completion of a minimum of 12 semester credit hours of MBA coursework with a grade of B or better in each course taken.

Official Transcripts

Copies of official transcripts must come directly from the school in a sealed envelope and can be mailed to: 

UT Permian Basin
Office of Admissions
4901 E. University Blvd.
Odessa, TX 79762

Official transcripts in electronic format can be sent to admissions@utpb.edu.

Supporting Documents

All supporting documents related to a graduate program, such as letters of recommendation, essays, statements of interest, resumes, professional work experience, and awards should be sent to the Graduate Studies Office:

UT Permian Basin
Graduate Studies
4901 E. University Blvd.
Odessa, TX 79762-0001

Electronic versions of supporting documents may be emailed to gradstudies@utpb.edu. 

Waiver Policy

If you have an undergraduate degree in business, you may be able to complete the program with as few as 30 credit hours. If your undergraduate degree is not in business, you will have to complete all 36 credit hours.

Application Fee

The application fee is $40.

Faculty Bios

Anshu Saran, PhD

Director of Graduate Programs, UT Permian Basin College of Business
Professor of Marketing
saran_a@utpb.edu

Anshu Saran, PhD, is a professor of marketing within the College of Business at The University of Texas Permian Basin. Graduating with his PhD from The University of Texas – Pan American, he joined UTPB in the fall of 2006. Prior to this, he served as faculty and taught at the APS University Rewa, Amity Business School Noida, and The University of Texas – Pan American. His research includes competing in the global marketplace, marketing strategies, social media ad marketing, and cultural differences in international business and marketing. His work has been published in the International Journal of Business Research, Journal of International Business Research, and Journal of Global Marketing. Accumulating work experience for 12 years in different parts of the world, he served as chief operating officer for Tata International Ltd. along with other accolades in India. Dr. Saran currently teaches the following classes within the MBA program: International Business (on-campus and online) and Marketing Strategy.

“My research interests and experience in international business and marketing have supported my academic endeavors and helped me incorporate industry examples in the curriculum, creating value for students and supporting their job and career progression.”

R. Wayne Counts, PhD, CPA, CFP

Associate Dean
Associate Professor of Accounting
UT Permian Basin College of Business
counts_r@utpb.edu

Roy Wayne Counts, PhD, is an associate professor of accountancy and associate dean within the College of Business at The University of Texas Permian Basin. Graduating from Texas Tech University with his PhD in 2005, he joined UTPB from 2004-2010 and rejoined in Spring 2015. Prior to this, Dr. Counts served as faculty and taught at Oklahoma City University and Youngstown State University between 2010 and 2015. His research interests focus around income wages, social security, and factors affecting finance. His work has been published in the Journal of the Academy of Business and Economics, International Journal of Business Research, and the Journal of Corporate Accounting and Finance. Dr. Counts currently teaches the following courses within the accounting undergraduate program and the MPA program: Intermediate Accounting I, Federal Income Tax, and Energy Accounting.  

“My interest in financial planning is what inspired me to specialize in tax accounting. Helping students to see how they can provide value-added services to clients is very rewarding. My passion is helping students get prepared for taking and passing the CPA exam.”

Lili Gai, PhD

Chair of Department of Management, Marketing, and Industrial Technology
Associate Professor of Marketing
PhD, University of North Texas
MEd, University of Windsor
MA, Heilongjiang University
gai_l@utpb.edu

Dr. Lili Gai has been an associate professor of marketing at UT Permian Basin since 2014. Her principal teaching and research interests include digital marketing, marketing research, retailing, and international marketing. Dr. Gai has published research articles in prominent journals including Journal of Business Research, Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, Journal of Global Marketing, and Journal of Marketing for Higher Education. Her research has been presented at academic conferences both nationally and internationally.

Alper Gormus, PhD

Chair of the Accounting, Finance, and Economics Department
Associate Professor of Finance
PhD, The University of Texas at Arlington
MS, Texas Tech University
gormus_a@utpb.edu

Alper Gormus, PhD, is the chair of the accounting, finance, and economics department and an associate professor in finance. He is also a Jack D. Ladd Fellow and the coordinator of energy and finance programs. He has an MS in economics from Texas Tech University and a PhD in finance from The University of Texas at Arlington. Prior to his start at UTPB, he worked as faculty, teaching classes at The University of Texas at Arlington, Texas A&M University, and Texas Tech University. On the corporate side, Dr. Gormus has worked for several high-profile companies in various roles related to investments and financial analytics. His research interests include energy investments and international markets. His work has been published in several global academic journals including Energy Economics, Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Economic Letters, and Global Finance Journal. Dr. Gormus teaches Energy Investments, Investments, and Corporate Finance.

“I strongly believe student success must be the driving factor for all we do in academia. In terms of how I contribute, combining my industry experience with academics has always served me well in the classroom. While I have worked in numerous projects across many areas in finance and economics, a large portion of my research has been in energy investments. I was fortunate enough to publish my research in some of the top academic journals in the field and I try to bring that expertise into the classroom.”

Mortaza Zare, PhD

Assistant Professor of Management
PhD, New Mexico State University
MBA, New Mexico State University
zare_m@utpb.edu

Mortaza Zare, PhD, is an assistant professor of management at The University of Texas Permian Basin. He started in the role of instructor at New Mexico State University, a visiting instructor of Louisiana State University, and then assistant professor of management at UT Permian Basin's College of Business in 2018. He has published research in Human Recourse Management Review, Human Performance, Academy of Management Proceedings, Tamara: Journal for Critical Organizational Inquiry, and the Philosophy of Management. He has presented papers in the Western Academy of Management, the Southwest Academy of Management, the Southern Management Association, and the Western Academy of Management. Dr. Zare has taught the following courses: Graduate Organizational Behavior, Undergraduate Organizational Behavior, Management Concepts & Organizational Theory, and Entrepreneurial Leadership.  

We’re pleased to offer program admission on a rolling basis.

Rolling admission refers to our process of accepting and evaluating applications as we receive them and moving any applications that miss the deadline to the next semester. However, if you want to enroll in courses for a specific semester, you will need to make note of the application deadlines found below. If you don’t complete your application and submit the required materials by the deadline, your application will be rolled over to the next semester.