The Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a master’s degree in business administration which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. Accreditation bodies exist specifically for MBA programs to ensure consistency and quality of graduate business education, and business schools in many countries offer MBA programs tailored to full time, part time, executive and distance learning students, with specialized concentrations.
A two year MBA program normally takes place over two academic years or approximately 18 months of term time. Students enter with a reasonable amount of prior real world work experience and take classes during weekdays like other university students.
Accelerated MBA programs are a variation of the two year programs. They involve a higher course load with more intense class and examination schedules. They usually have less down time during the program and between semesters. Part time MBA programs normally hold classes on weekday evenings, after normal working hours, or on weekends. Part time programs normally last three years or more. The students in these programs typically consist of working professionals who take a light course load for a longer period of time.
Executive MBA (EMBA) programs developed to meet the education needs of managers and executives, allowing students to earn an MBA or another business related graduate degree in two years or less while working full time. Participants come from every type and size of organization, profit, nonprofit, government, representing a variety of industries. EMBA students typically have a higher level of work experience often 10 years or more, compared to other MBA students.
The MBA degree has become one of the most popular masters’ degrees. As more universities started offering the degree, differences in the quality of schools, faculty and course offerings become evident. Naturally, establishing some criteria of quality for MBA school ranking is needed to differentiate among MBA programs, especially for prospective students trying to decide on where to apply.
As MBA programs proliferated, a variety of publications began providing information on them. Some of these consisted of compilations of information gathered from the universities offering the degree, usually published in book form. Eventually periodicals began publishing articles describing various MBA schools and ranking them according to some perceived quality criteria. Business Week top MBA schools is one such article and publication that ranks schools on quality criteria.
The top MBA school program rankings include the University of Chicago, Harvard University, Northwestern University, and the University of Pennsylvania. The best MBA schools are rumored to be Harvard and Carnegie Mellon with some of the highest scoring students in the country. Other schools for MBA programs include
University of Virginia, University North Carolina Chapel Hill, and Southern Methodist University. These schools have high MBA business school rankings and extremely hard to get into. In this author’s estimation, after reading the statistics, the best MBA school is at Harvard University. While very difficult to get into, Harvard MBA graduates get the best jobs and positions worldwide.
MBA schools online include Argosy University, Capella University and Kaplan University. While Kaplan gets the highest praise for its academic standards, Argosy and Capella offer the same quality online education. An MBA program will definitely help you get ahead in your career and provide benefits for many years to come!
