The School of Business and Economics (SBE) started as a Department of Engineering Administration in 1949, offering the BS in Engineering Administration degree (later renamed the BS in Engineering Management or BSEM), a second degree for engineering majors requiring a fifth year of study. In 1959, the department's mission was expanded to include a BS in Business Administration (BSBA) degree. This degree was specifically intended to be an integrated program in which general education was pursued simultaneously with education in business administration, unlike the school of commerce model in vogue at the time. In 1965, a Master of Science in Business Administration (MSBA) degree was added as a second degree for persons who had earned an undergraduate degree in engineering or science.

In 1970, the department was reconstructed as a School of Business and Engineering Administration (SBEA) under a Dean. In addition to the Dean, the School currently has an Associate Dean, who is responsible for internal administrative matters, and a Director of Academic Services, who is involved in student recruiting, advising, and career development.

During the 1980s, the School introduced the Master of Science in Mineral Economics (MSME) and the Bachelor of Science in Economics (BSE) degree programs. In 1985, the school also revised the MSBA program to focus on production and operations management, and renamed the program the Master of Science in Operations Management (MSOM).

In the 1995-96 academic year, the School was renamed the School of Business and Economics (SBE) as part of an overall curriculum restructuring. Around that time, the SBE introduced a dual degree BSBA program (to replace the BSEM) and eliminated the MSOM program in order to concentrate resources on its remaining programs.

In the spring of 2001 the SBE was accredited by AACSB International, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. AACSB is the premier accrediting organization in the United States. Approximately 400 of the 1,200 business programs in the United States are accredited by AACSB.

In the fall of 2004 the SBE re-introduced its MSBA degree. The program had the largest number of students for a new masters program in the history of the university.

Today, the SBE offers two undergraduate degree programs (the BSBA and the BSE - as regular and dual degrees), the MSBA and the MSME to approximately 470 students. An additional 65-80 students are typically enrolled in the SBE while pursuing business or economics as a dual degree. Most SBE students are working toward the BSBA degree.