List Of B-Schools With STEM Pathways Grows Again

The STEM tide may have slowed, but the club isn’t losing any members. This summer it gained another: The Knauss School of Business at the University of San Diego, which announced that three of its MBA concentrations — business analytics, finance, and supply chain — now are designated as pathways to a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math degree.

It’s an important distinction, particularly for international students who want to live and work in the United States after graduation. With a STEM degree, according to federal regulations, an MBA (or any other college graduate) qualifies stay and work in the U.S. for up to three years through the Optional Practical Training program. That’s three shots at gaining a coveted visa through the H-1B lottery system.

“The STEM designation for our MBA speaks to the quality of our curriculum, our responsiveness to emerging trends, as well as the experience and skills that our graduates offer to employers,” says Wenli Xiao, department chair of interdisciplinary programs and associate professor of operations and supply chain management. “We’re excited that it will especially benefit our international students who love to study in beautiful San Diego. These students add incredible perspective and value to the classroom learning experience.”

SIGN OF THE TIMES

For the last seven years, but especially since 2019, business schools from the upper tier of the rankings to the unranked have established STEM tracks, concentrations, pathways, and more in their MBA and other graduate degree programs. (See a comprehensive list of schools and their STEM pathways here.) The University of Wisconsin Business School was first to recognize the implications of “going STEM” not only for visa eligibility but for long-term employability, too, and dozens of B-schools have followed their example.

The Knauss School is the latest. But as for the other schools that have gone STEM, Knauss’ move isn’t only about internationals — it’s also a sign of the times. Employers want to hire MBAs with data analytics skills no matter where they come from, especially if those hires will be working in fintech, biotech, or the life sciences. Knauss’ revamped MBA curriculum and its embrace of STEM not only in the MBA but in its Master of Science in Business Analytics and the Master of Science in Finance show the school’s determination to be among those serving the needs and demands of business.

STEM MOVE IS RETROACTIVE TO INCLUDE FALL 2022 ENROLLEES

San Diego Knauss offers full-time, part-time and “Flex” MBA formats. Each has six possible concentrations: business analytics, entrepreneurship, finance, marketing, organizational leadership, and supply chain management. The two-year full-time program can be completed in as few as 17 months, while the part-time and Flex programs take 20 to 24 months to complete.

MBAs in the part-time program number 38 and the latest full-time class had 43 members, according to U.S. News. Enrollment in the Knauss MBA has increased by more than 130% in five years and is at an all-time high, according to the school. Part-time MBAs are not eligible to receive STEM degrees through business analytics, finance, and supply chain concentrations “at this time,” the school announced.

Students enrolled in the STEM MBA “will take the same core requirements in classes with non-STEM MBA students,” the school says in its announcement. “They will then be required to pursue MBA elective classes to earn one of the three STEM-designated concentrations: business analytics, finance, or supply chain management.” All full-time MBA students enrolling at Knauss this fall will be able to declare for one of the STEM pathways; crucially, the move is also retroactive to the full-time MBA students who enrolled in fall 2022 and who want to declare one of the three concentrations.

DON’T MISS INSIDE THE UNIQUE DUAL-DEGREE PROGRAM THAT TRANSCENDS THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER and SAN DIEGO’S KNAUSS SCHOOL TO PAY FOR IN-STATE FLIGHTS FOR ITS NEW FLEX MBA