Each year, the University of Oregon Lundquist College of Business welcomes a hand-selected cohort of first-year direct-admission students.

This cohort of high achieving students may not only transfer college credits earned during high school, they may also enter the college as business majors, bypassing the typical application sophomore year.

Academically advanced high school students often ask about the benefits of this relatively new admission path. Below are some facts about the program and a video from marketing student Lauren Beall, who explains how direct admission to the business major allowed her to focus on learning concepts and lifted her stress around applying to the major.

The direct admission program allows for a group of hand-selected students to enter the college as business administration majors instead of applying to the major later in their college career. While most students apply to the major at the end of their sophomore year, or when they have completed credits equivalent to it, direct admission allows high-achieving first-year students immediate admission to the major status.

Students who wish to be considered for direct admission to the college must select business as their intended major when applying to the University of Oregon. Students planning to pursue the accounting major may also use the direct admission path.

Direct admit students complete the same coursework as those admitted to the major using the standard process.

Launched in 2017, nearly 500 students have taken advantage of direct admission to the major. The college will be welcoming its fourth cohort in fall 2020.

Direct admission may be used in tandem with the college's two 3+1 pathway options in accounting and finance. The 3+1 pathway options enable qualifying first-year students to apply Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate credits earned in high school to complete a bachelor's degree in three years and a master's degree in their fourth year. Students interested in this option should discuss this opportunity with an academic advisor in the Lundquist College of Business.

“The direct admit program allows Lundquist College faculty and staff to recognize some of the hard work so many of our students put in during high school," said Charlie Just, first-year-admissions coordinator for the college. “It's a way for the college to affirm a job well done thus far and that we are excited to see what you do as a Business Duck."

Learn More about Direct Admission

—AnneMarie Knepper-Sjoblom "05, Lundquist College Communications