Marketing Program

St. Bonaventure's BBA in Marketing prepares students to become creative, analytical and ethical marketing professionals who understand how to connect organizations with the people they serve.

Why the demand?

Students gathered around a computer screen

Think about the last product you discovered on social media, the last ad that caught your attention or the last time you searched online for a recommendation. Chances are, marketing played a role.

Today's marketing professionals do far more than create advertisements. They use data and analytics to understand consumer behavior, develop creative campaigns, build brands and connect with audiences across digital platforms. Artificial intelligence and emerging technologies are changing how marketers research, create content and measure success.

Businesses, nonprofits and organizations of all sizes need professionals who can combine creativity with strategic thinking, adapt to changing technologies and communicate effectively with diverse audiences.

At St. Bonaventure, you'll develop the business knowledge, analytical skills and hands-on experience to succeed in this evolving field.

Experiential learning with a solid business core

Majors begin with courses in the liberal arts and core business courses in marketing, organizational behavior, quantitative analysis, economics, finance, business law, and accounting.

Your junior and senior years will focus on higher-level required courses and electives, such as consumer behavior, marketing research and international marketing.

All students prepare a marketing plan for a client as a degree requirement, and they graduate with a range of projects demonstrating their skills and job readiness.

The program includes an advertising course called American Advertising Federation, in which students create a national advertising campaign for a real national advertiser, then present it at a national AAF competition in New York.

In addition to AAF, we have a host of additional nationally recognized student clubs and organizations.

Learn by doing through a required internship

All Marketing majors complete a 150-hour, 3-credit internship, which may be completed in an on- or off-campus setting. You will be guided through this process by the director of our own School of Business Internship Program.

Where Marketing can take you

For Mackenzie Schlee, ’25, MBA ’26, hands-on learning and internship opportunities at St. Bonaventure helped turn classroom experience into a marketing career.

Today, she works as a marketing coordinator at Optimax, a precision optics company, where she manages digital marketing and helps coordinate international trade shows. Mackenzie credits real-world projects, faculty mentorship and internships with preparing her for the transition from college to career.

Read about Mackenzie’s Bonaventure journey in this trio of graduate success stories.

Program Information

The School of Business offers a BBA in Marketing and a minor in Marketing.

Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing

Marketing majors develop a broad working knowledge of the theory and practice of marketing. Program flexibility and adaptability to special interests is provided by electives within and outside the major.

Degree requirements and a 4-year plan of study for the Marketing major

Upon successful completion of the Marketing program at St. Bonaventure University, graduates will:

define the term "marketing" and explain its role and importance in an individual firm and the overall economy;
develop insight about creative selection of target markets and business decisions related to product, price, promotion, and place (i.e., the marketing mix) to meet the needs of a target market;
identify the key theories and frameworks from behavioral sciences that help marketers understand consumer behavior;
understand the internal and external influences on consumer behavior;
understand the relationship between a marketing communications strategy and other levels of an institution’s strategy;
understand the various roles that exist, from the marketing department to advertising agencies;
understand how search engines work;
understand the mechanics of paid search ranking;
implement a primary data collection project designed specifically to solve specific managerial problems;
run basic analyses for the collected primary data;
assess the internal capabilities and external environments of businesses, including a business audit, market and competitive analysis, and strategic positioning;
identify pricing strategies that capture value for the firm.

Marketing minor

For non-majors, the 18-hour Marketing minor is one of nine School of Business minors offering students an opportunity to study a specific area of business in more detail.

Requirements for a minor in Marketing

SBU ranks No. 15 among nation’s best Catholic colleges Oct 14, 2026 | St. Bonaventure University has been named one of the nation’s leading Catholic institutions, ranking No. 15 in Niche’s 2027 Best Catholic Colleges in America list and No. 2 among Catholic colleges in New York.

SBU’s 2026 Kearns Global Forum topic is ‘Think Like a CEO’ Oct 13, 2026 | Six accomplished business leaders will bring decades of global experience to St. Bonaventure University Oct. 22 for a conversation about what it means to “Think Like a CEO.”

St. Bonaventure to cover tuition for eligible NY students Oct 8, 2026 | St. Bonaventure University has announced the Bona Access Guarantee, a new initiative that will cover 100% of tuition for eligible New York state students from families with annual incomes of $80,000 or less and typical assets.

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