Specialized Master’s Programs At 100 Top Business Schools

Babson College’s Olin Hall
– Ethan Baron photo

International students are attracted to the specialized programs, and will likely make up at least half the classes, Chatterjee says. “The main attraction is it’s a relatively low-cost way to get to the U.S. and get a master’s degree in business. There’s uncertainly at the end of it in terms of getting jobs in the United States (and) work permits. Some of the students just choose to go back right away; others choose to try their luck in landing a job in the United States.”

For the school, the new programs represent to some degree a pivot in response to the softened demand for MBAs. “The MBA market is pretty saturated and we, like a lot of other schools, recognize that we are better off focusing on a small, high-quality MBA program, and with that perspective in mind what the MS programs allows us to do is to generate, well, revenue, while leveraging economies of scale and scope. You can fill empty seats in the MBA classes if you have these specialized master’s programs . . . not just core courses, but electives.”

In fact, Katz administrators believe the programs will allow them to create new elective courses that MBA students can also take. “With a small MBA program it’s just not economically viable to offer a whole range of electives,” Chatterjee says. “We then have the critical mass between the MBA students and the specialized master’s students to be able to offer those classes. We see that as a significant plus.”

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA FLIPPED FROM MBA PROGRAM’S

For admissions, the evaluation of applicants is flipped relative to the MBA program. “We look at their academic credentials more than their work experience, which is different from an MBA situation, where both the quality and quantity of the work experience are especially critical,” Chatterjee says. “We’re really catering to very different markets.”

Below you will find the first-ever complete listing of specialized master’s programs at the top 100 U.S. business schools. However, data is missing for North Carolina State Jenkins Graduate School of Management (whose website data is two years out of date), which could not manage to provide the information, in spite of repeated requests.

NEXT PAGE: Complete Listing of Specialized Master’s Programs at the schools in Poets&Quants‘ Top 100 MBA Programs Ranking