University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business

The Mendoza College of Business MBA: What You Need To Know

Since graduating its first class in 1969, Notre Dame Mendoza is proud to continue to give students the tools they need to help them live up to their potential and land careers suited to their skills, interests, and values.

The Mendoza College of Business sits just outside of South Bend, Indiana on over 1,200 acres, and includes many iconic landmarks including the main building featuring the Golden Dome, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the Hesburgh Library with Touchdown Jesus, the Grotto, and directly across from Mendoza, Notre Dame Stadium. Students enjoy the close-knit community while remaining close to the nation’s third-largest city.

This year, the B-school ranked No. 31 in the Poets&Quants rankings. Mendoza currently has a class of 143 students in the two-year full-time MBA program, with 33% female, 9% minority, and 23% international students.

Mendoza offers both a 2-year 64-credit MBA program and a 1-year 46-credit MBA program. In the 2-year program, students attend classes for four semesters, studying the core business disciplines their first year. Classes are case-based and offer experiential learning options across all disciplines. Some of the popular experiential learning opportunities include Applied Investment Management, which gives students the opportunity to invest live funds from the Notre Dame endowment, and service-learning experiences through the Meyer Business on the Frontlines Program. In wrapping up their first year, they select from a variety of concentration tracks that align with their interests.

Each semester consists of two 7-week modules, which gives students flexibility and allows them to layer in electives to complement their concentration track selections. Mendoza currently offers 9 concentrations: business analytics, business leadership, corporate finance, digital marketing & marketing analytics, innovation & entrepreneurship, investments, marketing, strategy, supply chain & operations management. All first-year students are required to enroll in a case competition, during the fall interterm session, focused on corporate social responsibility.

In addition to a required internship for two-year MBAs, all students have opportunities to engage in off-campus study programs in Silicon Valley or Chile in a seven-week immersion into the local community along with direct insight from active industry practitioners in the tech industry and international business industry. There also are several international immersion trips, including two-week trips to Beijing and Shanghai, China, as well as Santiago, Chile, and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

One of the hallmarks of a Notre Dame MBA occurs once you graduate. Mendoza boasts an incredibly strong alumni network, especially for a school that isn’t ranked in the top ten. Outside of the University of Southern California’s Marshall School, where the Trojan network is known to be exceptional, a Notre Dame MBA delivers enduring value thanks to those close-knit connections.

“Having been part of the Notre Dame MBA family as a student, alumnus and administrator, there are many elements of the program and the experience that are special to me. One of the most important aspects is that Notre Dame is a place for people who want to be part of something larger than themselves. Whether that manifests as engagement in experiential service-learning courses like Business on the Frontlines or as the individual who spends hours helping a fellow student prep to interview for the same job that they seek, the recognition that collaboration and competition are not always mutually exclusive is core to the ethos of Mendoza,” says Joe Sweeney, Academic Director of the MBA Programs.

Mendoza College of Business MBA Rankings Data

Mendoza College of Business MBA Employment Stats

Watch Poets&Quants’ John A. Byrne interview Mendoza’s Associate Dean Jeffrey Bergstrand. Watch the full interview.

MBA Program Consideration Set:

Stretch Schools: Emory, Indiana, USC

Match Schools: Georgetown, Minnesota, Washington University, Rice, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Michigan State, University of Washington, Brigham Young

Safe Schools: Southern Methodist, Rochester, Maryland, Boston University

Notes: MBA Program Consideration Set: If you believe you’re a close match to this school–based on your GMAT and GPA scores, your age and work experience, you should look at these other competitive full-time MBA programs as well. We list them by stretch, match, and safety. These options are presented on the basis of brand image and ranking status.