The College of Business, Economics and Accountancy (CBEA) was formally established in 1985. It is committed to develop a corps of competent and socially responsible professionals and entrepreneurs through quality management and business education, community-based research, extension, and productivity-oriented programs.

The BS in Business Administration (BSBA)-Accounting was initially offered in 1982 both in the College of Arts and Sciences in Batac and in the College of Education in Laoag City. Later, in 1984, BSBA-Management was offered. The two programs were consolidated in the present Batac campus and assumed separate academic unit statuses in 1985.

More programs followed: BS Economics in 1989, BSBA-Entrepreneurship in 1990, BSBA-Management Accounting in 1994, and BSBA-Tourism Management in 1995. The entrepreneurship program was repackaged with cognates in accounting and cooperatives management in 1996. BS Cooperatives Management was started in 2000.

In 2002, the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines granted second level, re-accredited status to the accountancy, management, and economics programs. Performance of accountancy graduates in the CPA licensure examination has been exemplary; as such MMSU has been named as one of the top-performing schools of accountancy in the country. Graduates of the other programs also enjoy high employability.

The college shall broaden access to its programs and strive to attain excellence, responsiveness, efficiency and effectiveness of its programs in order to meet the increasing demand for trained manpower who will assume leadership and responsibility in business, industry and the government service.