The Best One-Year MBA Programs

University of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business

Long before any other business school, including the best of the European institutions, the University of Pittsburgh literally pioneered the one-year MBA program. Katz became the world’s first business school to offer a one-year MBA program in 1963. In fact, the school had a one-year program long before it launched a more conventional two-year MBA experience.

The program jams three full terms of study between August and the following July. While their friends are doing beach duty, Katz’s one-year students start with the basics in Financial Accounting, Economic Analysis for Managerial Decisions, Organizational Behavior, and Statistical Analysis: Uncertainty, Prediction, and Quality Improvements. They’re also randomly assigned into two of the following three requirements: Financial Management, Information Systems and Marketing Management.

Obviously, the condensed timeline means that students shoulder a highly intensive course load yet there’s still a surprising amount of flexibility built into the schedule with 27 credits of required coursework and 21 credits of electives. Katz offers elective courses in the day and evening, as well as some on Saturdays. They’re largely taken in the third term, which starts in April.

In common with many one-year MBA programs, Katz requires a bachelor’s degree in business or a bachelor’s degree in an ancillary field such as economics or engineering with some exposure to business courses. The school prefers a GMAT score of 600 or better (the average GMAT for Katz’s full-time MBAs is 612) and at least two years of “relevant post-undergraduate full-time work experience” to get into the program (the average is 3.5 years).

Total tuition & fees: $40,553 (in-state)

Total tuition & fees: $53,825 (out-of-state)