Marketing Degree – Wayne State College Nebraska

Explore the Marketing degree program

Marketing is a critical component of business. Aligning the company’s objectives to the customer’s wants and needs and developing satisfying exchange relationships are the essence of marketing strategies. Marketing managers are concerned about influencing customer perceptions, delivering product benefits, and building brand loyalty.

The Marketing degree program at Wayne State College will give you a strong foundation in brand development and promotion. The field of marketing is vibrant and dynamic and includes many different career opportunities, such as digital and social media marketing and analytics, advertising and integrated marketing communications, customer relationship management, sales management, omnichannel retailing, and consumer buying behavior.

Our experienced professors in the Marketing degree program will guide you in marketing strategy, consumer behavior theory, integrated marketing communication and advertising campaigns, development of marketing plans, and digital marketing analytics.

View program courses Download program fact sheet (PDF)

Fast facts

Degree options:

B.A. or B.S. in Business Administration/Marketing
Minor in Business Administration

Delivery format: On campus (Wayne)

Program credit hours: 69

Business foundation (21 credit hours)
Business core (27 credit hours)
Marketing concentration (21 credit hours)

Note: Students must also take 30 credit hours of General Studies courses. A total of 120 credit hours are needed to graduate from WSC. Additional majors or minors can be added to help meet graduation requirements.

School: Business and Technology

Department: Business and Economics

Prepare for your future

Opportunities and outcomes

Marketing topics covered

Sales research and techniques
Social media marketing campaigns and strategies
Integrated marketing communications planning model
Retail promotion strategies and merchandising management
Identifying and analyzing target markets
Understanding big data in marketing and decision making

Student learning outcomes

Demonstrate an understanding of the core areas of business, which includes accounting, economics, management, quantitative business, finance, marketing, legal environment, information systems, and international
Demonstrate effective skills in written and oral communication in business settings
Work effectively in a team environment
Apply ethical frameworks to formulate management decision alternatives

Career Scholars Program

Students majoring in Marketing are eligible to take part in the Career Scholars Program. The Career Scholars Program offers a generous scholarship package while you embark on a unique cooperative education journey starting your freshman year at Wayne State. During your time here, you’ll participate in career readiness activities, job site visits, job shadowing, and more - all while learning the fundamentals of professional practice. After three years on campus, you’ll complete your senior year by working at a paid job in your chosen field. Job locations include Norfolk or Grand Island, Neb., where you'll live in community housing with fellow Career Scholars students.

Career Scholars Program

Marketing internships

Our outstanding Career Services Office is available to help you find marketing internships and career opportunities. Students recently completed internships at the following locations:

Adrenaline Volleyball
Blink Marketing
Columbus Arts Council
David Jones Fashions
GIX Logistics
Integrity Marketing Group
Norder Supply, Inc.
POP Business Solutions
WSC College Relations
WSC Press

Career services and internships

Graduates of the Marketing degree program work in their chosen field using the skills they learned while at Wayne State College. Each year, eager employers welcome WSC graduates into their organizations.

Jobs of recent graduates:

Digital Content Specialist – Boys Town (Omaha, Neb.)
Growth Marketing Associate – The Olson Group (Omaha, Neb.)
Marketing Specialist – St. Joseph Retirement Community (West Point, Neb.)
Marketing Assistant – Equitable Bank (Grand Island, Neb.)
Marketing Associate – Horseshoe Casino (Council Bluffs, Iowa)
Marketing Coordinator – Real Estate Solutions (Norfolk, Neb.)
Marketing Director – Columbus Chamber of Commerce (Columbus, Neb.)
Marketing Director – Norfolk Area Chamber of Commerce (Norfolk, Neb.)
Marketing Manager – Nebraska Care, LLC (Norfolk, Neb.)
Retail Development Program Specialist – Abbott Labs (Abbott Park, Ill.)
Social Media Marketer – Pixel Fire Marketing (Omaha, Neb.)
Sports Marketer – Sanford Health (Sioux Falls, S.D.)

Public disclosure of student achievement

job or grad school placement rate
within six months of graduation
Data based on most recent
employment outcomes survey

After graduating from Wayne State College, recent grads pursued advanced degrees at the following schools:

Business Administration (MBA) – Delta State University (Cleveland, Miss.)
Business Administration (MBA) – Wayne State College (Wayne, Neb.)
Marketing (M.S.) – Vrije Universiteit (Netherlands)

Cost of attendance

Most Affordable College in Nebraska

- College Affordability Guide, 2024

Wayne State is considered the most affordable four-year college or university in Nebraska. With same rates for in- and out-of-state students, our tuition guarantee, and our generous scholarship packages, it is clear to see how WSC earned the title. In fact, the average remaining annual cost of attendance for 2024-25 is $2,268 for undergraduate students after financial aid and scholarships.

Credits: 3
Description: Development of critical communication skills used in business and industry. Emphasis on assisting Business students to become more effective and efficient writers. Includes instructions, reports, memos, and letters.
Prerequisite: ENG 102 Composition Skills
Credits: 3
Description: Introduction to the study of law, the law of contracts, agency and employment, negotiable instruments, personal property and bailments, and the laws governing the sale of goods.
Credits: 3
Description: A study of the following statistical tools as applied to the business and economic milieu: collection and presentation of data, distributional measurements, probability and sampling, statistical inferences, linear regression and correlation, analysis of variance, and selected nonparametric statistics.
Prerequisite: MAT 105 Intermediate Algebra, or General Studies math requirement
Credits: 3
Description: A study of the role of accounting in the business environment. Emphasis is on applying basic terminology, concepts, processes, and outputs of the modern accounting system; development of an understanding of the nature and purpose of the major financial statements; and development of the ability to evaluate financial accounting information in problem-solving and decision making.
Credits: 3
Description: Continuation of BUS 240 Accounting I. Emphasis is on further study of items reported within major financial statements and development of the ability to evaluate managerial accounting information in problem-solving and decision making.
Prerequisite: BUS 240 Accounting I
Credits: 3
Description: In this course, the principal macroeconomic measurements of national production; unemployment and inflation will be introduced. Theories of how these measures interact and how they are influenced by activity in households, businesses, the federal government, and the Federal Reserve System, as well as the impact of international trade, will also be studied.
Credits: 3
Description: In this course, the principal microeconomic market model of supply and demand will be studied. Additional topics introduced to add to our understanding of the basic model will include resource allocation concepts, production and cost theory, consumer theory, and market structure conditions.

Business core courses (27 credits)

Credits: 3
Description: Develops the management art and science of planning, organizing, actuating, and controlling through people to make ideas materialize within economic constraints of a business enterprise. Develops ability to construct policy, to make scientifically sound decisions within that policy, and to establish ethical procedures to insure organized productive effort to intended objectives. Develops a management attitude, outlook, and ability.
Credits: 3
Description: Survey of the problems and opportunities involved in conducting business operations across national boundaries. Analysis of the concepts, tools, institutions, and environmental factors controlling international flows of money, personnel, information, goods, and services.
Credits: 3
Description: This course facilitates students in conquering the essential concepts of product, price, promotion, distribution, segmentation, ethics, and social responsibility, while addressing the evolving digital and social media influences. The fundamentals will be stressed allowing for useful decision processes by managers while encouraging the development of the marketing specialist as one of the key decision makers in a firm. Marketing is critical to implementing strategy, gaining competitive advantages, and ensuring positive organizational results.
Credits: 3
Description: A study of the financial function within a business enterprise. Areas addressed include financial analysis, working capital management, capital budgeting, sources and forms of long-term financing, financial structure, and cost of capital.
Prerequisites: BUS 226 Business Statistics, and BUS 241 Accounting II or BUS 142 Survey of Accounting
Credits: 3
Description: Successfully managing operations is vital to the long-term viability of every type of organization. This course provides a broad overview of issues in operations and supply chain management emphasizing a strategic orientation toward design and improvement issues. Specific topics include competitiveness; operations strategy; quality management; statistical process control; design of products, services, processes, and facilities; forecasting; supply chain management; logistics; project management; inventory management; lean production; and scheduling.
Credits: 3
Description: This course will examine theoretical structures that shape or influence Western thought and review specific professional codes of ethics relevant to business majors. Students will learn a decision-making framework for examining and articulating well-reasoned positions on ethical issues in business.
Credits: 3
Description: This course focuses on public, administrative, and regulatory law, and the relationship of business to the legal structure. Topics include employee and consumer protection, environmental regulation, labor law, monopolies, price-fixing, and the regulation of domestic and international trade.
Credits: 3
Description: Involves analysis of cases in which knowledge from basic courses in marketing, accounting, finance, management, and economics is integrated and applied. Demonstrated interrelationship between the functions of business, complexities of business problems, and strategic management models are addressed.
Prerequisites: BUS 270 Principles of Marketing, BUS 322 Managerial Finance, BUS 352 Operations and Supply Chain Management, or instructor approval; and completion of 105 semester credit hours
Credits: 0
Description: This course requires students to demonstrate or report their level of achievement of the student learning objectives developed for the Business Administration major foundation, core, and concentration courses. Various assessment measures such as surveys, comprehensive exams, and capstone projects will be used to gather student data. Completion of this course is a graduation requirement. Graded S/N.
Prerequisite: Completion of 100 semester credit hours
Credits: 3
Description: Emphasis is on providing breadth of knowledge in the organizational concepts and considerations surrounding the use of information systems technologies such as computer systems and communications systems. Topics include role of information systems in managerial functions, general systems theory, design and implementation of Management Information Systems (MIS), decision support systems, expert systems, and artificial intelligence.

Marketing concentration courses (21 credit hours)

Credits: 3
Description: The philosophy and tools of relationship selling are stressed in this course. Use of current sales research with interactive direct sales techniques and training will develop the student's fundamental sales skills while providing the foundation for career advancement as a sales executive. The sales executive's duties and responsibilities include planning, recruiting, and training of the salesforce.
Prerequisite: BUS 270 Principles of Marketing
Credits: 3
Description: Students will develop a foundation in the essentials of marketing within social media. Designing, developing, and creating social media marketing strategies and campaigns will be the focus of this course. Students will learn key marketing concepts utilizing the major and current social media platforms in the industry.
Prerequisite: BUS 270 Principles of Marketing
Credits: 3
Description: Through study of the most dynamic and revolutionary concepts of advertising and integrated marketing, students will become leaders in using the major marketing communication tools of advertising, direct marketing, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, internet, and social media and mobile marketing. Utilizing an integrated marketing communications (IMC) planning model, students will gain the skills necessary to research and evaluate a company's marketing and promotional situation and use various methods to develop effective communication strategies and programs to achieve the organization's marketing objective.
Prerequisite: BUS 270 Principles of Marketing
Credits:3
Description: The capstone marketing course designed to help the student with the transition to the marketing world. Included in the course will be current literature and research, in-depth study of marketing plans and strategies, and/or marketing cases/marketing simulations.
Prerequisites: BUS 270 Principles of Marketing and completion of 105 semester credit hours.
Description: Students will be introduced to the power of data-driven decisions and learn to forecast results and measure progress of marketing activity. Students will gain a working knowledge of major and current digital marketing analytics and how to apply it to their marketing career. Understanding the scale of big data available to marketing professionals, students will use software platforms to manipulate this consumer data to build business-to-consumer relationships, enhance consumer communication, and earn a competitive advantage. Students will have practice in optimizing and connecting results across search engines, social media, email, and more. This course will utilize firsthand experience with the major digital platforms and prepare students for platform certifications.
Prerequisite: BUS 270 Principles of Marketing
Credits: 3
Description: Understanding a customer's needs, wants, trips, and triggers to buy will set apart the successful marketing professional. Students will expand upon their knowledge of marketing with social psychology and marketing research in identifying market segments and writing psychographic profiles to build effective customer relationships in a competitive business environment. Analyzing target market use of social media is a valuable source of information about the consumer. Attention is placed on recognizing market influences to help shape consumer purchasing preferences in successfully reaching the organization's marketing objectives.
Prerequisite: BUS 270 Principles of Marketing
Description: Explores the various retail platforms of omnichannel retailing including ecommerce, social media networks, and brick-and-mortar retail. Focusing on key strategic issues that emphasize merchandise management, retail strategy, store management, online retailing, and retail promotions, students will gain an understanding of the importance of utilizing a multichannel retail platform. The use of both small and large retailers will be explored to stay abreast the current trends of retail.
Prerequisites: BUS 270 Principles of Marketing

Popular pairings

Many students at Wayne State will add a second major or a minor to complement their program of study or to focus their studies on a specific topic. Students who recently majored in Marketing at Wayne State also paired this major with one or more of the following programs:

View all majors and minors

Related programs

Students interested in the Marketing program may also be interested in:

Business Management (B.A. or B.S.)
Business, Marketing, and Information Technology Education (B.A. or B.S.)
Graphic Design (B.A.)
Organizational Leadership and Public Relations (B.A. or B.S.)

The professors in the business department are phenomenal; they are always willing to help and take time out of their day to meet with me. I am able to achieve my academic goals knowing I have the full help and support of my professors. I plan to start my career in marketing with the confidence that WSC has provided me with the guidance and knowledge to excel in my future endeavors.

Faith Taylor

North Bend, Nebraska

Marketing

Faith Taylor

North Bend, Nebraska

Marketing

Meet the professors

Business and Economics Department faculty

Henry Akaeze, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Mwata Chisha, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Laura Dendinger, J.D.

Professor

Joseph Faello, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Trisha Kolterman, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Michelle Laughlin, Ed.D.

Assistant Professor

Kelly Legler, MBA

Instructor

Pat Lutt, Ph.D.

Professor

Lindsay McLaughlin, Ed.D.

Assistant Professor

Jeryl Nelson, Ph.D.

Professor

Charles Parker, Ph.D.

Professor

Student clubs for business and marketing majors

Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization (CEO) - Develop an entrepreneurial mindset through networking opportunities
Delta Sigma Pi - A coed professional organization for business, computing, sport management, fashion merchandising, and industrial management majors
FBLA Collegiate - A collegiate division of FBLA and professional organization for students in business and related majors
PR in Action - Focuses on improving the practice of public relations
Sigma Beta Delta - International honor society for business