What Is Master of Business Administration – MBA?

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The Master of Business Administration, or MBA, is a professional graduate degree that is designed for individuals who seek advancement in their careers in various industries and functional roles related to management and leadership. It is internationally-recognized and highly- esteemed designation, specifically if it is awarded by one of the top MBA programs that have built their reputation through the rigorous academic curriculum and the quality and caliber of their alumni.


One of the distinctive features of MBA degree is that it attracts people from very diverse professional and educational backgrounds, not only from business-related fields. MBA programs curricula are developed in such a way that  incoming students from various fields have introduction and exposure to all core business functional areas, such as Accounting, Finance, Economics, Marketing, Statistics, Operations, Organizational Behavior, Business Law, Business Strategy, Business and Public Policy, Human Resources, International Business, Entrepreneurship.

Lately, in the wake of the big scandals and failures of the past decade, such as Worldcom, Enron, burst of the housing bubble, financial crisis, etc., most of the business schools incorporated in their core MBA curricula relatively new subjects: Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility.

This is just an exemplary list of the core subjects that are taught in most MBA programs, and which constitute the foundation of so-called general MBA. These core MBA courses usually make up about 30-35 credit hours of the complete MBA program, and MBA students cover these subjects in their first year of studies, at least this is accurate for USA-based two year full-time MBA programs.

Additionally, each business school offers a variety of elective courses that are offered in the second year of the MBA program. Depending on the Business School elective courses could be arranged around so-called concentrations, or knowledge domains, such as Financial Management, Marketing, Operations and Supply Chain, Real Estate, International Management, and others. Other schools do not require from the students to select a concentration, and students can choose their electives from any of the knowledge domains available in particular Business School. Many MBA program also allow to take approved electives outside the Business Schools in other parts of the hosting university.

With addition of the elective courses to the core MBA classes most MBA programs require completion of at least 50 and up to 70 or more credit hours.

Even though a significant number of courses in MBA programs are rather quantitative in nature, the students coming from the liberal backgrounds should not be discouraged, as long as they have at least average grasp on numbers. The score on quantitative section of the GMAT is in most cases a rather accurate indicator of that capability. Besides, most of the MBA programs offer required or optional math camps/workshops before the start of the program to better prepare the students from non-quantitative backgrounds for the rigor of the quantitative courses.

Integral part of the MBA learning experience in most Business Schools is the summer internship between the first and second year. These internships are usually highly competitive because often they may lead to the job offer by the end of the MBA program. At the very least, MBA students may get the taste of the industry or the business function they are interested in, and, in most cases, supplement their budgets with earnings from the internships.

Traditionally MBA degree has been viewed as a jumping board for advancement in corporate environment. However, this notion has been slowly changing lately. With economic volatility that  shook up traditional MBA career destinations in banking, investment, consulting, big multinational corporations, more MBA graduates have been selecting career paths in entrepreneurship, non-profits and public service in the last years.  

The analytical and managerial skill set that these students have acquired through their MBA education makes them well-suited to a wide range of industries and business functions, even outside the traditional jobs that used to be associated with MBA degree.

Even though the most common format for getting MBA degree has been and still remains the full-time MBA, there is a trend change that has been caused by many factors: rising cost of MBA education, less certain post-MBA employment prospects, decreasing sponsorship of MBA costs by employers, to name a few. These negative factors contributed to the rise of other forms of MBA education, such as part-time MBA, including evening and weekend, programs, and distance, or online, MBA. These relatively new forms of MBA are still viewed by some as inferior to the full-time MBA programs, but they have been getting more and more credit, especially if administered by Business Schools that have reputable full-time MBA programs.  

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Why MBA?

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We already mentioned in What is Master of Business Administration? article that MBA programs equip their students with universal managerial and analytical skills that can be transferred to a wide range of business and leadership functions. It was also indicated that MBA degree is often used for advancement in one’s career. Here we will take a closer look on the different reasons why it can be beneficial for a professional to pursue MBA degree and what the main reasons for getting MBA degree are.


MBA students are probably the only category among those pursuing advanced graduate degrees who are not supposed to be shy about their ultimate goal of getting that degree. Lawyers can talk about their desire to uphold social justice, doctors may refer to their desire to cure the sick, engineers will probably speak about their aspiration to solve complex industrial problems, and so on. Not that most advanced degrees will not lead to better career prospects and higher salaries eventually, but this is not as explicitly pronounced in these other fields.

MBA aspirants are not required or expected (other than in the admission essay) to beat around the bush. The number one ultimate goal of getting MBA is to increase income. This is not to say that all MBAs are unscrupulous clones of Gordon Gekko, with “greed is good” written all over them. But the reality is that MBA applicants, due to their business inclinations and aspirations, are more likely to be predisposed to thinking in practical monetary terms. If they are not conditioned that way at the application stage, business schools will help them to realize this in no uncertain terms, especially when they see the final price tag of their student loans at graduation.

Now that we established the ultimate goal of getting MBA – increasing income potential, we can focus on why MBA is an appropriate route to that goal, what routes are taken by MBA to reach that goal, as well as other less obvious reasons for getting MBA.

So here is our short list of reasons to get MBA:

  1. Increasing income potential
  2. Career advancement within the company or industry
  3. Switching career to some other industry or function
  4. Starting one’s own business
  5. Getting knowledge and skills required for business in current role/position
  6. Self-gratification

This list is neither exhaustive, nor is it ultimately authoritative. For comparison purposes we offer another list compiled by the Graduate Management Admission Council ( GMAC) – the owner of the GMAT, the leading admission test used by business schools in application to their MBA programs. These reasons for MBA have been used by GMAC for MBA graduates survey to measure their level of satisfaction with the degree:

1. Preparation to get a good job in the business world
2. An increase in your career options
3. Credentials you desired
4. Opportunity to improve yourself personally
5. Opportunity for quicker advancement
6. Development of your management knowledge/technical skills
7. An increase in earning power
8. Opportunity to network and to form relationships with long-term value
9. Job security

As you can see both list overlap significantly, even if GMAC list has a bit more granular categorization and they are worded somewhat differently.

Whatever list you are going to use as the basis, you need to ultimately develop your own list of reasons why you want to get MBA. Hopefully this article helped you to start that process.

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Types of MBA

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Most top MBA programs have very similar core curricula, which is determined by the requirements of their accreditation, such as the most reputable and desired accreditation for Business Schools in the world – AACSB International (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), for example.

Nevertheless, there are different ways how you can categorize MBA (Master of Business Administration) programs. First, they could be categorized by the format of getting the MBA. In that regard the MBA degree could be obtained through:

  • Full-time MBA programs
  • Part-time MBA programs
    • Evening MBA programs
    • Weekend MBA programs
  • Executive MBA programs
  • Distance MBA programs

There are slight differences in delivery between the same type of MBA from school to school, but generally it can be agreed that these types of MBA are distinct enough to have each their own category. Each of these types have their own target applicants pool, even if they may overlap significantly, based on the previous work experience, current career state, future career goals, financial situation, to name just a few. And each of the program formats have their benefits and drawbacks.

Full-time MBA programs are the most common way for getting MBA degree, and they are considered by some “the gold standard” of MBA. This is the original format for getting your MBA, and therefore the oldest one. They have been traditionally geared for applicants with 4-5 years of work experience. In the last few years, though, there was a noticeable trend across many Business Schools to admit even younger applicants, with just 2-3 years of work after their undergraduate degree. Full-time MBA programs are considered the best option for career changers.

Part-time MBA programs are relatively recent permutation of the regular full-time MBA. They have been on the rise since the end of the 90-s of the last century and they are often referred to as “MBA for working professionals”. These programs usually attract a slightly older applicants pool, and usually are more suitable for those professionals who have reached the ceiling in their career path, or want to change their functional role within the same industry or even the same organization. The only difference between Evening and Weekend Part-time MBA programs is that Weekend MBA programs are more suitable for those professionals who do a lot of traveling on their job during the week. It has also been popular with some students who have determination and resources to travel to their desired program outside their residence area.

Executive MBA programs (EMBA) are designed for mid-level or top level management applicants who are already in the leadership role, but need MBA credentials to either more effectively perform their current job functions or to advance within their organization to higher leadership role. Executive MBA usually have a higher cost compared to the full-time or part-time MBA programs on per year basis, often have classes on Fridays/Saturdays or week-long on-campus residences throughout the course of the program. For that reason this type of MBA has been traditionally sponsored by the employer, however that has been changing in the last few years.

Distance MBA programs is the newest form of getting MBA degree. They have proliferated extensively in the last decade along with the development of internet technologies. Usually these programs have been associated with online universities, such as University of Phoenix, Strayer University and others. Until recently the online MBA degrees have not been accredited by the AACSB and therefore have not had had the same cachet as regular full-time, part-time or Executive MBA programs from the brick and mortar Universities with AACSB accreditation. This has been slowly changing in the last few years when AACSB-accredited Business Schools with reputable on-campus MBA programs started to offer their degrees online for distance students.

Another categorization of MBA programs is based on the length of the program. There are two-year full-time MBA programs and one-year MBA programs. Two-year programs are based on the US model, and one-year programs are much more common in European Business Schools.

One more way to categorize MBA programs is based on their comparative strength in particular business industry or function. Therefore there are MBA programs that offer general management MBA, where the students may choose any electives upon completion of their core courses, and programs that have concentration or built reputation on specializing in particular area, such as finance, marketing, etc. These programs could be referred to as specialty MBA. MBA from Harvard Business School is an example of such general management MBA, and Wharton Business School at University of Pennsylvania is an example of the MBA program with specialty in Finance.

There are probably other ways to slice and dice the offerings of MBA programs, but these three main ways of categorization presented in the article are the most common and give sufficient insight in the types of MBA in the graduate business education market.

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Full-time MBA Programs

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As was mentioned before in Types of MBA article, full-time MBA program is the oldest and still the most common way of getting the MBA degree. The general description of MBA is given in What is Master of Business Administration article, which you could check out for your reference.

In this article we will discuss in more detail the features of full-time MBA, its specific benefits, compared to other types of programs, and its relative drawbacks. The article will hopefully help you to better understand whether the full-time MBA program is the most appropriate way for getting this designation for you personally.

Let’s start with the review of the benefits of full-time MBA. All the benefits listed here are in comparison to part-time, executive, and distance MBA programs.

  • Full immersion in the process – students do not have to juggle the day time job with Business School activities, therefore they can concentrate on their in-class and extracurricular activities with less distraction, and get better results out of it. Some also argue that full-time MBA programs are more academically rigorous than their part-time counterparts, but this point is moot and depends more on the overall academic rigor of a particular business school.
  • Networking opportunities – by spending two years together face to face in classes, group projects, clubs, professional and leisure trips, career center activities, employer presentations, networking events, etc. the full-time MBA students have more and better opportunities to learn about each other and mold meaningful and lasting relationships and connections that they usually carry on through the rest of their professional careers. Needless to say that the student body, in top MBA programs especially, comprises very bright and driven population.
  • Extra-curricular activities – as mentioned above, full-time students have more opportunities for participating in various clubs, students organizations, guest lectures, business competitions and so forth. It is argued by many full-time MBA students that the value of their MBA was derived as much from their extra-curricular activities while in Business School as from the classroom experience.
  • Summer Internships – this benefit is only available to students in full-time MBA programs. The internship has a dual benefit. First, it allows the students to get the taste for specific function, industry, or company they are interested in, which is especially important for those who plan to change their careers after completing MBA. Second, summer internship are often viewed as an opportunity to get the foot in the door at the particular company. It is not unusual for the students to get a job offer from the company they interned for, granted that both sides are mutually satisfied with each other.
  • Career Service and Job Placement – traditionally career centers in most business schools have been offering their services mostly to the full-time MBA students. It is understandable because the students are out of the job market for two years of school, and many students are career changers, so they need more support for breaking into the new market for them. Also most employers are typically more interested in full-time MBA students, especially in historically high-competitive industries, such as banking, investment, consulting. This trend has been changing lately in many US business schools, and now part-time students have access to career centers services too. Still, full-timers have a significant advantage over part-time MBA students when it comes to on campus recruiting.
  • Career Change – full-time MBA programs are the most appropriate route for those students who are changing careers after getting their MBA degree. It is mostly explained by the employers’ perception of higher standards of full-time programs. Another explanation for employers preference for full-time MBA graduates is that full-time students are typically younger in their careers and therefore are more flexible, or moldable, if you wish, for the high pressure environments of their new jobs.
  • Career Prospects – this ties in with the points mentioned before. Because of networking opportunities, employers perception, career centers support, the full-time MBA students are generally considered to have more choices. As mentioned before, many high end employers only consider full-time students (and from the very top MBA programs) for their recruiting.
  • Two-year break from the job – the last, but not the least benefit of going to full-time MBA program. In spite of high demands and academic workload, doing MBA is still a lot of fun. It gives one more, may be last, opportunity to relive to some degree those almost carefree undergraduate years.

These are the main features and benefits of full-time MBA programs.

The main drawback of full-time MBA is its cost. As the tuition fees have been spiraling out of control and far outpaced inflation in the past decade, the full-time MBA students have to take on increasingly heavier debt burden to get their degree. At the same time starting salaries for MBA have not kept the pace with tuition hikes, and sign-up bonuses come and go with changes in economic cycle. Add to this two years of foregone salary, and return on investment in MBA degree becomes even smaller. This is not to say that MBA degree is not worth it, but it is definitely not as lucrative as it used to be in the past.

Another drawback of full-time MBA – uncertain job security, has been developing since the onset of the Great Recession in the US. Many students who might consider MBA for further career advancement, or career change, but already have achieved some reasonably high position (and income)  are concerned if they would be able to find a better job in the market when the unemployment rate is quite high, and professionals in many traditional MBA industries are affected by layoffs. This job market uncertainty has significant effect on some potential students who either postpone, forgo MBA degree altogether, or opt for part-time option.

Now you are equipped with basic information about benefits and drawbacks of full-time MBA degree. From here you can launch your own research and soul-searching to figure out if the full-time mode of MBA is your best option.

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