Loyola University Maryland first offered courses in accounting and business administration at the undergraduate level in 1937. The baccalaureate degree in business administration was first awarded in 1943; the accounting major was added shortly thereafter. The Master of Business Administration was first offered in 1967. Loyola introduced the Executive MBA program in 1973, the first of its kind in the Baltimore-Washington area and one of the first ten Executive MBA programs in the country. Loyola established the School of Business and Management in 1980, to provide strategic management for business programs. In 1984, the business school was formally named The Joseph A. Sellinger, S.J. School of Business and Management in honor of the late Reverend Joseph A. Sellinger. In 1985, the Sellinger School initiated the Fellows MBA program, to serve rising young executives.

In 1988, the Sellinger School earned accreditation in all programs by AACSB (The International Association for Management Education). Loyola University Maryland is the only private institution in the state of Maryland with a nationally accredited business school. In 1990, the Accounting Department earned specialized national accreditation from AACSB.