USC launches Beyoncé business course

Beyoncé is now schoolin’ life at the college level.

The University of Southern California is taking a page out of the 35-time Grammy Award winner’s success story. “The Business of Beyoncé,” an MBA course offered by the school’s Marshall School of Business, will examine how she built an entertainment and business empire, the Los Angeles Times reported.

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The course, which will begin in January, will trace Beyoncé’s career from childhood to her stint with Destiny’s Child, according to the newspaper. Then, it will examine her solo career and the business empire she has built.

For the course, graduate students will be required to choose one of her songs and explain why, according to the Times. The name of the assignment?

The “BeyEssay.”

Beyoncé transformed her star power into a multimillion-dollar empire. Now students at USC will get to study it. https://t.co/poykL0k3eP

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) November 11, 2026

Shaun Harper, a Beyoncé superfan and the professor who designed the course, said he expected criticism from traditionalists who believe that students should be learning practical business skills instead of studying a pop superstar, the Times reported.

“My class is not going to be just a set of conversations about Beyoncé,” Harper told the newspaper.

Harper told USA Today that lack of diversity in the business and academic worlds were motivating factors.

“I have been a huge Beyoncé fan my entire adult life. But my love for her music isn’t what inspired me to create this course,” he told the newspaper. “For years, I’ve been troubled by how overwhelmingly white and male the business case studies are in most top MBA programs. Students spend lots of time learning from successful businessmen, but far too little from women, especially Black women.

“Beyoncé is one of the most successful musicians and entrepreneurs on the planet.”

The 16-week spring semester class will meet Monday afternoons for nearly three hours, according to the Times.