Guides to Top MBA Programs

Known for its case method learning and emphasis on leadership, Harvard Business School is a strong option for MBA hopefuls seeking a competitive learning environment. Other key features of the Harvard MBA program include its focus on diversity of thought, analytical thinking, and community. Harvard Business School is also recognized for its expansive, powerful alumni…

Established in 1881, The Wharton School has played a large role in pioneering the future of business and education. Though the school continues to adapt and advance with the ever-changing modern world, Wharton has upheld its mission of cultivating leaders to spark great ideas and meet the challenges of tomorrow. 

With its proximity to Silicon Valley, Stanford Graduate School of Business prides itself on having a culture of innovation and collaboration, as well as attracting cutting-edge faculty and speakers. This emphasis on challenging the status quo pushes students to take risks and experiment with new ideas.

Located in downtown Chicago, Chicago Booth offers a booming professional and social environment for MBAs. The Full-Time MBA Program is known for its analytical approach, and many economists teach courses on theory and practice.

Kellogg School of Management offers an incredibly collaborative and social environment for those looking to pursue an MBA. Located in Evanston, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, the campus offers access to a major US city with businesses of all shapes and sizes, from startups to Fortune 500s.

The MIT Sloan MBA program focuses largely on action labs, experiential learning, data-driven analytics, and student involvement. Learn about MIT today.

Located in New York City, Columbia Business School offers daily access to industry leaders within a global business community. Known for its emphasis on theory and practice, the Columbia MBA program prepares its students for career success by connecting their classroom education to the real-world environments where theory is put into practice.

London Business School attracts students from all over the world in a true international, global business laboratory.

With the tag “The Business School for the World,” INSEAD makes proudly plain its global approach to a business education: inclusive, diverse, wide open, in the know, and relevant.

Yale School of Management’s history of social impact and the nonprofit industry continues to be an important aspect of the MBA program. However, the program spans far beyond this now as well, preparing students to become great leaders in any sphere. The school’s close connection to the undergraduate university allows for an incredibly interdisciplinary education.

For those seeking an MBA program with a close-knit community and a small class size, Berkeley Haas could be a good fit. 

Michigan Ross offers a fast-paced, dynamic learning environment. Some of the school’s core values include collaboration, impact, growth, and inclusivity.

Located in Hanover, New Hampshire, Dartmouth Tuck provides both the small-town charm of a New England college town and the resources of a much larger city. 

Located in Durham, North Carolina, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business offers a first-class business education with a rich array of specialties in a city that is not as big but no less connected.

For MBA applicants who are hoping to relocate to (or stay in) New York City, NYU Stern is a great option. Naturally, Stern is known for its vibrant, urban environment.

Located in Charlottesville, Virginia, UVA Darden provides access to an idyllic, vibrant town. The school is known for its customized, collaborative learning environment and strong community. 

The business school of the University of Navarra, a top-ranked business school with five campuses in Europe and the Americas, distinguishes itself with its singular global scope. It has a bilingual platform and promises exposure to an international perspective on global business provided by researchers and business experts from more than 20 nationalities.

Cornell Johnson’s connection to the undergraduate university is a key part of the MBA experience. The business school program deliberately offers small classes to foster collaboration, teamwork, and leadership skills.

With the motto “Where human intelligence unlocks the power of data” and “a business school for the intelligent future,” the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University positions itself as a place where business and technology are indissolubly intertwined, working together for a smarter, better world.

Situated in the creative capital of the world, UCLA Anderson connects students to a dynamic business community. The school seeks students who embody three core values: those who share success, think fearlessly and drive change.

With the motto “Make It Here,” U. Texas’s McCombs School of Business promotes its MBA program as one that will launch your life’s next step, be it an unimagined new career or an invention that will change the world.

Founded in 1920, the USC Marshall School of Business is the oldest accredited business school in Southern California. The school’s mission is to “deepen the knowledge and understanding of the critical problems faced in business, and to educate tomorrow’s leaders who will address them.”

Stay tuned for more full-time MBA program guides coming soon!

The Chicago Booth part-time MBA program comes in two formats: the evening MBA program or the weekend MBA program. Both programs have rolling admissions and quarterly intakes throughout the course of the year.

Berkeley Haas’s evening and weekend part-time MBA programs offer both in-person and online options to accommodate the busy lives of working professionals. The school also offers a new Flex option in which students can take a mix of live and on-demand courses. When it comes to electives, flex students can continue attending class online or…

Evening and weekend MBA students at Kellogg have the option to earn their degree at a traditional or accelerated pace. The weekend part-time MBA format is a strong choice for those commuting into Chicago, while the evening format is ideal for local professionals.

NYU Stern’s part-time MBA program is offered in four different formats: weeknights, accelerated two-year, Saturday, and online/modular. The program can be completed in a two-to-six-year timeframe, giving students great flexibility.

The UCLA Anderson part-time MBA program, also known as the Fully Employed MBA (FEMBA) Program, comes in three different formats. Students can choose between all-day Saturdays, Tuesday and Thursday evenings, or a hybrid schedule. UCLA Anderson’s FEMBA program takes 27 months to complete, with flexible and at-your-own-pace options for those who need it.

CMU Tepper’s part-time, or Flex, MBA program offers a mix of on-campus and online learning. The program includes “Access Weekends” in which students connect with faculty, classmates, and alumni six times a year during the core curriculum. Tepper’s Flex MBA also includes twice-a-week synchronous classes, as well as on-campus electives.

Michigan Ross’s part-time MBA program comes in an evening and weekend format. The evening MBA program typically takes three to four years to complete. The weekend MBA program, on the other hand, lasts two years (students meet on campus every other weekend).

Texas McCombs’s evening part-time MBA program enables working professionals to take classes Monday and Tuesday evenings at the UT Austin campus over the course of 28 months. The business school also offers a weekend MBA program at the school’s campus at Dallas-Fort Worth. Through this format, students take classes on alternating weekends over the course of 21 months.

USC Marshall’s part-time MBA, also known as the MBA Professionals & Managers (MBA.PM), is a 33-month program. Students can choose from one of the following schedules: Monday and Wednesday evenings, Tuesday and Thursday evenings, or Saturdays. Classes are held at USC’s University Park Campus in Los Angeles.

Washington Foster offers an evening part-time MBA program for working professionals. Classes are held two evenings per week during core courses, and the program takes three years to complete. The school also offers a hybrid part-time MBA program. Those interested in taking classes online can earn their degree in two years and still partake in engaging on-campus activities.

The Kellogg EMBA is a two-year program. Students have the choice between the Miami, FL and Evanston, IL campuses, and will also have the opportunity to study at Kellogg’s five premier partner institutions around the world. Those studying at the Miami campus will attend classes once a month from Thursday afternoon to midday Sunday, while…

MIT Sloan’s 20-month program is one of the shorter EMBA programs. Classes are held every third weekend, with one week-long module every six months. Additionally, students will embark on a one-week international project trip.

The Yale School of Management MBA program for Executives—like all Yale MBA programs—distinguishes itself for a mission centered on social benefit and impact. Vision and commitment to impact society for the better are key to the Yale MBA culture in all facets.

Wharton’s EMBA is a 24-month program. Working professionals can choose the Philadelphia or San Francisco campus. All students will partake in Wharton’s Global Business Week, chosen from a selection of destinations that mix students from the San Francisco and Philadelphia campuses.

The Chicago Booth EMBA program lasts 22 months. Students are assigned either Chicago, London, or Hong Kong as their primary campus. All students will spend at least three weeks in Chicago, one in Hong Kong, and one in London during international session weeks.

Columbia Business School’s EMBA program offers a few different schedules for working professionals. The EMBA NY Friday/Saturday option lasts for a duration of 20 months and includes two five-day residencies, while the EMBA NY Saturday option lasts 24 months and includes three three-day residencies. CBS also offers an EMBA Americas program for executives living in…

The NYU Stern EMBA program allows working professionals to earn their degree in 22 months with classes held every other week. In the first year of the program, each class will partake in an immersive Global Study Tour, a one-week international residency.

The Michigan Ross EMBA program holds on-campus residencies once a month from Friday to Saturday over the course of 21 months. Students have the choice between Ann Arbor, MI and Los Angeles, CA. At key points in the program, students from Los Angeles will join those in Ann Arbor for classes, networking, collaboration, and to…

UCLA Anderson offers biweekly and monthly schedules for EMBA students over the course of 22 months. Before the start of the second year, students can travel abroad to destinations in Asia, South America, and Europe for a one-week residential course.

The Berkeley Haas EMBA program takes place over the course of 22 months, with classes every Thursday through Saturday about once a month. A full 25 percent of the curriculum is experiential, with five field immersions that explore leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship, international business, and business and public policy.

Duke Fuqua’s Weekend EMBA is a 22-month program with one three-day residency a month and hybrid distance learning periods in between. The Global EMBA program lasts 21 months and offers one-week residencies through Asia, Latin America, and Europe, preceded and followed by distance learning periods and a final two-week residency in Durham, NC.

The LBS Sloan Masters in Leadership and Strategy is a 12-month program for experienced global executives and entrepreneurs. The program encourages students to embrace change and reframe their skills, knowledge and networks.

MIT Sloan Fellows is a 12-month, full-time program for mid-career leaders. Students have the choice of three degree options, MBA, SM Management of Tech, or SM Management, and will study alongside 100+ classmates from dozens of nations and industries.

Stanford’s MSx program is a 12-month, full-time master’s program in business for mid-career professionals. The program focuses on leadership development, career advancement, entrepreneurship, and career change.

The IBEAR MBA is a 12-month, full-time international MBA program for mid-career professionals. The typical IBEAR class is made up of 55 participants from 12 to 15 countries. Students can choose from 2 different curriculum schedules to best meet their goals.

Through this global program in organized in partnership between NYU Stern, LSE and HEC Paris, TRIUM EMBA candidates get a chance to study 6 in-person modules at 6 global locations (London, Paris, New York, Seoul, Dubai and Nairobi) over an 18-month period.

Wharton’s new Global cohort in their MBA Program for Executives is a great option for those who cannot relocate to Philadelphia or San Francisco. Through a mix of online courses and in-person residential weeks, global cohort students will obtain their EMBA degree in 22 months. Synchronous virtual classes are held every other week on Thursday evenings, and Friday and Saturday mornings. Along with these online courses, the program offers five in-person residencies throughout the duration of the program.

Columbia Business School’s EMBA-Global Americas and Europe is a partnership with London Business School, enabling students to earn two full MBA degrees by taking monthly classes that alternate between London and New York. The school’s EMBA-Global Asia program allows students to study in Hong Kong, Shanghai, New York, and London. Here, students earn an MBA…

UVA Darden’s Global EMBA consists of 20 weekend residencies, 2 leadership residencies, 4 global residencies, and distance learning. The program is spread across three calendar years and requires students to take a total of 50 days out of the office.

Duke Fuqua’s Global EMBA program lasts 21 months and offers one-week residencies through Asia, Latin America, and Europe, preceded and followed by distance learning periods and a final two-week residency in Durham, NC.

UCLA Anderson’s global EMBA program is in partnership with the National University of Singapore. The program hosts 6 two-week sessions spanning across a 15-month period. These sessions meet twice in Los Angeles, twice in Singapore, once in Shanghai/Shenzhen, and once in Bangalore/Mumbai.

The HBS 2+2 Program welcomes applications from undergraduate seniors and graduate students in their final year of study. If admitted, students can begin their studies at Harvard Business School after at least two years of professional experience.

The Haas deferred MBA program is available to undergraduate seniors and graduate students in their final year of study. Students can begin their studies at Berkeley Haas after a two to five-year deferment period.

Those pursuing a Chicago Booth deferred MBA can apply in their final year of undergraduate studies and defer admission for two to five years while they gain professional work experience.

The Columbia deferred MBA program is open to those in their senior year of college or a subsequent graduate program. Here, applicants can begin the MBA program after two to five years of work experience. 

Undergraduate students or master’s students who went directly into a graduate program from undergraduate are eligible to apply to the Kellogg deferred MBA program. Kellogg will hold students’ spots for two to five years while they gain professional work experience. 

The MIT deferred MBA is open to those who are in their final year of undergraduate, or are graduating from/currently enrolled in a graduate degree program they entered immediately after their undergraduate degree. Students who are admitted are expected to work between two to five years before beginning their MBA.

Those interested in the Stanford deferred MBA program can apply either to attend business school immediately following their undergraduate studies or to work before attending business school. In most cases, Stanford offers a two-year deferral.

The UVA Darden deferred MBA program enables admitted college students to begin their MBA after gaining two, three, four, or five years of work experience. 

Wharton Advance Access Program is available to both undergraduate and full-time master’s students in their final year of study, the Wharton deferred MBA program allows students to pursue an MBA after two to four years of quality work experience.

Emory Goizueta offers two rounds of application for current college seniors or recent graduates and allows the admits to choose the type of MBA program to pursue.

The UCLA Anderson Deferred Enrollment Program application is available to current college seniors at an accredited program in the United States.

CMU Tepper offers this competitive program for motivated college seniors. Unlike most schools, CMU Tepper’s deferred period is only up to 4 years.

The Yale deferred MBA program is unique in the sense that it allows students to study in an MBA program immediately upon finishing college. After one year, students enter the workforce for a year and then return to Yale SOM for the third year to finish their MBA.

Launched in July 2024, HEC Paris’s 12-Month MBA Program is an intensive one-year program, designed for professionals looking to return to work sooner.

Kellogg’s One-Year MBA Program condenses two years of MBA studies into one. By giving students the option to bypass core classes, the program provides ample opportunities for students to explore electives that are pertinent to their personal and professional goals.

Duke Fuqua’s Accelerated Daytime MBA is a 10-month program designed for those who are seeking a fast-paced, rigorous learning environment. The program structure gives students to take a broad range of electives to broaden their horizons. Through learning teams, Fuqua’s Accelerated Daytime MBA students will further expand their mindsets and perspectives.