Finding the top part time MBA programs is a priority if you’re not willing or able to commit to studying full time. There are many reasons MBA students choose to study part time. For some, work or family commitments prevent them from being able to stick to a typical full-time schedule. For others, it’s a matter of stretching out the fixed costs of study over a longer time period to make financing the MBA easier, or wanting to gain more work experience while studying. Also, some employers allow you integrate your study and working experience, earning credit for projects you complete in a real scenario, on the job.
When it comes to ranking part time MBA programs, Bloomberg Businessweek appears to have created the most thorough list. Let’s take a look at the how the top 15 were arranged according to Businessweek, and examine some of the reasons for these rankings.
Top Part Time MBA Programs – Businessweek
These are the top part time MBA programs in the United States, according to Businessweek:
1. Elon University (Love)
2. UCLA (Anderson)
3. Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
4. University of Nevada, Reno
5. UC Berkeley (Haas)
6. Rice University (Jones)
7. Southern Methodist University (Cox)
8. Worcester Polytechnic Institute
9. University of Michigan (Ross)
10. University of Washington (Foster)
11. University of Texas, Austin (McCombs)
12. Villanova University
13. Loyola Marymount University
14. University of San Diego
15. Lehigh University
Now there may be a few surprises in that list – many of these names are to be expected from a list of top MBA programs, whereas other ones may seem out of place. But they’ve all earned their rankings as top part time MBA programs. Elon University’s Love School of Business has carved itself a niche in the arena of part-time MBAs – not only do they offer a high quality program, but their course is extremely affordable with standard yearly tuition only costing around $8,300. Compare that to the next school on the list – Anderson at UCLA – where you’d be paying almost $36,000 for the same number of credits, and you begin to understand just how much of a bargain Elon’s part time MBA is. Not only is it cheaper, but on average the Elon program takes 5 months less to complete than the UCLA one (27 months on average versus 32).
Again, Carnegie Mellon is not much of a surprise given its long history as a good MBA college. However, the University of Nevada might raise some questions being on the list of top part time MBA programs. Despite it’s eye-poppingly low tuition fees (those credits that cost $36,000 at UCLA are only $4,000 at University of Nevada) the school boasts an impressively qualified and experienced faculty and a high level of adaptability to the needs of working students.
But let’s not belittle UCLA because of its high fees – there are many past and present students of Anderson’s part time MBA program who would argue passionately that it should be in the top slot. One of the major strengths of the UCLA program is in its career support services – the school provides career support who deal strictly with part-time students and graduates, so they understand the unique problems and challenges you’ll be facing.
Remember, a part-time MBA program isn’t necessarily easier than a full-time program. It can actually be easier to focus on studying for a year or two and getting the degree out of the way rather than trying to juggle work and study at the same time. In fact, one of the strengths of a program like the one offered at UCLA is that it doesn’t allow students to cruise with light workloads. It makes students do just as much work as a full-time student – and the students are thankful for it. After all, you do an MBA to get a serious leg-up in your career, not for the sake of slacking off and hanging out. The tough workload imposed by UCLA is what allows it to get most students through within a three year timeframe.
Top Part Time MBA Programs: Other Worthy Mentions
Although they came in relatively low on Businessweek’s list, two other programs are worthy of mention here due to the popularity of their part time programs with students: North Carolina State University (#30), and Washington University (#27). Consider these two together with the other top part time MBA programs.