The Most Innovative Business School Ideas Of 2015

Amy Hillman, dean of ASU’s Carey School of Business

Arizona State University’s Carey School of Business — The Free MBA

Innovation takes many forms–and making something that is very valuable free is certainly one of them. This year, Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business became the first school to make its full-time MBA program completely free, with no strings attached. The decision to increase its annual intake of MBA students by 40% to a class size of 120 and to cover the full tuition and fees of every enrolled student could ultimately result in a loss of more than $20 million annually.

Amy Hillman, dean of the Carey School of Business, says the tuition-free MBA would more freely allow graduates to pursue startups and work in the social sector. “If someone has a great start-up idea, and they know they would be more successful in their venture if they had the skills and networking that an MBA would give them, they might be concerned about spending the money because it takes away from the capital needed for the start-up venture,” Hillman says. “We’re very hopeful that we’ll get more high-quality applicants as a result of this program, and the kinds of people who might think they can’t pursue a top MBA program.”

Applicants who apply to Carey for admission to its full-time MBA program next fall would be eligible for the free deal. Tuition and fees for the full-time MBA program are $54,000 for Arizona residents, $87,000 for non-residents and $90,000 for international students. If the typical mix of students enter the program, it would cost Carey slightly more than $10.5 million a year, or well over $20 million annually when first and second-year students are counted.

Jessica Jackley, co-founder of Kiva.org, teaches one course

UC-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business — Philanthropy University

Rich Lyons, dean of UC-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, believes that business schools have non-exclusive assets that they can share with the world–and that is what Haas did this year in creating Philanthropy University, a tech platform of MOOC courses to build leadership capacity in the social sector. Since the September launch of seven separate courses, ranging from offerings on how to develop non-profit strategy to fundraising in the social sector, more than half a million users have already signed up to participate.

The courses go beyond the traditional non-profit webinar through dynamic week classes lasting five to eight weeks that will be taught by leading instructors and renowned practitioners. Courses focus on team-based, experiential learning, enabled by the latest social learning technologies from NovoEd.

Berkeley-Haas is playing a significant role that includes helping form networks of organizations that use Philanthropy University to increase their impact, shaping the curricula, sourcing faculty from Berkeley and top universities worldwide, building an open innovation platform that provides space for learners to collaborate, and integrating its Global Social Venture Competition with this initiative.