School of Business and Information Technology • West Lafayette, IN • Online • $280/Quarter Credit (Indiana, no resource fee)
Purdue Global offers one construction management pathway: the online Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an optional Construction Management concentration.
Program Pathways Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| B.S. Business Admin. (CM concentration) | $50.4K Indiana / $72.6K out-of-state | 3.5 years (17 terms) | 180 quarter (120 semester equiv.) |
Tuition estimates use Purdue Global’s 2026-27 per-quarter-credit tuition plus the per-term resource fee charged to non-Indiana students.
- Why choose it: Purdue Global puts CPM scheduling, quantity-takeoff estimating, and construction law into five online courses that fit inside the business degree’s open electives, at a $280 Indiana rate with no resource fee.
- Trade-off: The construction block is 28 of 180 quarter credits; the degree is titled Business Administration, has no internship, no construction capstone, no named software, and no ACCE accreditation.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Credentials Offered | B.S. in Business Administration with optional Construction Management concentration |
| Format | Online, 10-week terms, about five starts per year |
| Credit Hours | 180 quarter credits (120 semester equiv.); CM concentration 28 quarter credits |
| Internship | None in the degree plan |
| Programmatic Accreditation | ACBSP (business), per Purdue Global; no ACCE or ABET |
| Software Taught | Not clearly stated |
| Industry Certifications | None embedded |
| Transfer Credit | Up to 75% of credits from prior learning; capstone excluded |
| Tuition | $371/quarter credit + $345/term; Indiana residents $280, no resource fee |
B.S. in Business Administration, Construction Management Concentration
The estimated tuition for the B.S. at Purdue Global is approximately $72,645 (180 quarter credits at $371/credit plus 17 terms of $345 resource fees). The program can generally be completed in about 3.5 years (17 ten-week terms).
Indiana residents pay about $50,400 (180 quarter credits at $280, resource fee waived). The 17-term count is derived from 33 courses at two courses per term; Purdue Global publishes 3.5 years as its average full-time completion.
Official program: Online Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (concentrations).
B.S. Curriculum
The degree is a general business degree first. The 45-credit core and 83-credit major carry 24 required courses; the five construction courses sit inside the 52-credit open-elective block, leaving 24 elective credits.
- Construction core (28 quarter credits): MT281 Fundamentals of Construction Management (5), MT282 Construction Methods and Materials (5), MT381 Construction Planning and Scheduling (6), MT382 Construction Cost Estimating (6), MT383 Construction Law (6)
- Scheduling: MT381 covers the critical path method, forward and backward pass calculations, and network diagrams
- Estimating: MT382 builds quantity takeoffs and a full cost estimate from a sample project’s drawings
- Law and contracts: MT383 covers standard contract forms, delays, damages, disputes, and claims; LS311 Business Law or LS312 is also required
- Materials: MT282 covers soil, wood, concrete, steel, masonry, bituminous, and sustainable materials
- Business major: Accounting I-II, finance, marketing, HR or small business management, organizational behavior, operations or process management, managerial economics or corporate finance, strategy
- Math: MM255 Business Math and Statistical Measures and MM305 Business Statistics; no trigonometry, physics, or statics
- Capstone: MT499 is a virtual team business plan for an online business, not a construction project
Within the construction block, four courses are management (fundamentals, scheduling, estimating, law; 23 credits) and one is technical (materials; 5 credits). There is no safety, MEP, structures, surveying, drafting, or BIM course. Across the whole degree, business courses outnumber construction courses by more than three to one.
More curriculum details are available here.
You Should Know
- The concentration is optional; students in the B.S. are not required to choose one.
- MT381 and MT382 require MM255 or MM165 first.
- The marketing page pairs some course headings with unrelated outcome bullets (risk analysis under estimating, materials and scheduling under law). The catalog course descriptions are the reliable record.
- The B.S. is offered in ExcelTrack, but the five CM courses carry no module (🌐) versions in the catalog. Whether the concentration works in ExcelTrack is not clearly stated.
B.S. Internship and Field Experience
- Required internship: none
- Elective internship or co-op: not clearly stated
- Construction capstone: none; MT499 is a general business plan
- Placement support or employer partners: not clearly stated for construction
Field experience has to come from the student’s own job. That suits someone already working in the trades or for a contractor. A career changer with no site experience would graduate without supervised construction work on the résumé.
B.S. Admissions
Admission is open to high school graduates, with no program-specific construction or math gate.
- High school diploma or GED, plus orientation before classes
- Multiple start dates; 2027 Track A terms begin in January, March, June, August, and November
- Three-week no-cost trial: students who withdraw in the first three weeks are not charged and earn no credit
- Prior learning: transfer, exam, military, and experiential credit may cover up to 75% of the degree; the capstone cannot be satisfied by prior learning
- Experiential portfolio: EL206 lets students submit work experience for up to 15 courses ($1,500 fee)
You Should Know
- Whether a portfolio can satisfy the five construction courses is not clearly stated.
- Advanced start credit for associate degree holders applies only where the degree plan lists it; the B.S. Business Administration plan does not show an advanced start section.
Tuition
Undergraduate tuition is $371 per quarter credit, plus a $345 resource fee each term. Indiana residents pay $280 per quarter credit and no resource fee. Undergraduate textbooks are included in tuition.
| Cost Item | Indiana Resident | Other U.S. Students |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition per quarter credit | $280 | $371 |
| Resource fee per term | $0 | $345 |
| Tuition (180 credits) | $50,400 | $66,780 |
| Resource fees (17 terms, derived) | $0 | $5,865 |
| Estimated total | $50,400 | $72,645 |
| Effective per quarter credit | $280 | $403.58 |
The 28-credit construction block alone costs $7,840 (Indiana) or $10,388 (other states) in tuition. Full rates are on the Purdue Global tuition page.
Be aware that:
- Tuition and fee information was published September 16, 2026; rates can change after 30 days’ notice.
- Purdue Global’s cost-of-attendance sheet assumes 36 credits per year (12 per term). At 12 credits per term the degree takes 15 terms and the non-Indiana total is $71,955.
- Military rates: servicemembers $165 per quarter credit with no resource fee (about $29,700); veterans $230 plus a $250 resource fee (about $45,650 over 17 terms, derived).
- Indiana residents must keep Indiana residency to hold the $280 rate and cannot combine it with other reductions.
- ExcelTrack B.S. pricing is $2,500 per term plus a $345 resource fee, but CM concentration availability in ExcelTrack is not clearly stated.
- Optional costs: EL206 portfolio fee $1,500; each Assessment of Skills and Knowledge $100.
Transfer credit drives the real cost. Purdue Global’s own Ivy Tech example transferred 94 of 180 credits, cutting Indiana tuition from $50,400 to $24,080. A student with an associate degree who still needs the five construction courses pays for them at full rate, since they are upper-level electives taught only here.
Why Choose This Construction Management Program?
Best suited for working adults who already know the jobsite and need a bachelor’s degree with construction business skills, not a technical construction education.
Supervisors and tradespeople moving up. A superintendent, foreman, or project coordinator gets scheduling, estimating, and contract law at a fully online pace, with prior college and experiential credit applied first. The business core covers accounting and finance, which a contractor running a company will use.
Indiana residents. At $280 per quarter credit with no resource fee, the Indiana price is about $50,400 for a full degree, and less with transfer credit. Indiana students who want ACCE accreditation and a construction-titled degree can compare Purdue University’s Construction Management Technology program, Ball State, Indiana State, and IUPUI, all on the ACCE baccalaureate list.
Compared with Grand Canyon University. GCU’s online B.S. is also a business-college degree with a thin construction core, and it lacks an estimating and scheduling course. Purdue Global includes both, but its degree title is Business Administration rather than Construction Management. GCU requires 300 industry hours; Purdue Global requires none.
Who should look elsewhere. Recent high school graduates and career changers without construction experience will finish with no field hours, no construction capstone, and no software training. Anyone aiming at engineering-side roles needs a program with physics, statics, and structures.
Accreditation and Credentials
Purdue Global is institutionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. That matters for federal financial aid and for transferring credit into graduate programs. Purdue Global is a public, nonprofit institution in the Purdue University system.
The B.S. in Business Administration holds ACBSP business accreditation, per Purdue Global. That covers the business degree, not construction content. The construction concentration has no ACCE or ABET accreditation; Purdue Global is not on the ACCE baccalaureate list (Rev. 2024.03.13).
No industry certification is embedded. Purdue Global states that the B.S. was not designed to meet any state’s licensure or certification requirements, so contractor-license applicants should confirm with their state board how the degree and coursework count.