Examining Your MBA Options
By Des Dearlove

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	Continuing Education and the MBA Planning Your Life Around an MBA Program Student Diversity Examining Your MBA Options Preparing for the MBA Maximizing Your MBA Experience Passing the GMAT Test Financing Your MBA Education Internships - Valuable On The Job Training The Rules of Recruitment Consortium for Graduate Study in Management Request info from the NSHMBA

Business schools now offer a wide - and widening - range of ways to gain an MBA. The good news is that there is almost certainly a way to study for an MBA that suits your needs.

Here's an overview of the options:

The Full-Time MBA

The full-time MBA is the traditional campus experience, and two-year programs are the most common in the United States. The first full-time MBAs surfaced in the United States about 100 years ago.

The classic American MBA is a two-year residential program. The first year covers the core curriculum, and the workload is famously heavy. The second year gives students the opportunity to follow their interests through electives. These are optional courses that require students to make choices that depend on personal interests and future career plans.

Benefits of the Two-Year Program
The two-year program allows plenty of time for the summer internship, which comes halfway through the course. Some MBA purists also argue that the second year is an essential part of the MBA experience and allows students time for reflection and an opportunity to pursue their personal interests.

Part-Time Program

Part-time MBAs account for a growing share of the total MBA market. In some markets, part-timers outnumber full-timers by a large margin.

The MBA Core Although the names of courses vary, all MBA programs cover the following subjects: - Macroeconomics - Microeconomics  - Finance  - Financial and Managerial Accountancy  - Quantitative Analysis - Information Management - Marketing  - Organizational Behavior - Strategy

The content of the part-time program is identical to that of the full-time one, starting with the core disciplines and techniques of management, moving on to a more strategic view of business, then to a choice of electives, and finally to a project and a dissertation.

The project, which is supervised by a member of the business school faculty, is often a piece conducted in the student's organization. A well-chosen project can therefore be extremely valuable to the employer and can offset the cost of sponsorship. Schools are keen to recruit students for part-time courses and will help you make that point to your employer.

Part-time programs typically involve evening or weekend classes and sometimes both. Students may also spend periods in residence on campus. They usually take between two and three years to complete.

Pros and Cons
Some people argue that part-timers miss out on the immersion of campus life. Typically, they have a more restricted choice of electives. Juggling work, study, and family commitments is also hard. The obvious benefits, however, are being able to learn while you earn and not having to chase a job when you graduate.

Modular MBAs

Increasingly common, modular MBAs are essentially sandwich courses. Longer blocks, or modules, of residential study are interspersed with assignments, online seminars, discussion groups, and distance learning courses.

Content and Course Structure
Modular MBAs are full-time learning experiences that blend classroom and practical learning. Employers sponsor most students, who alternate between classroom MBA education - lasting somewhere between a few days and a couple of months - and periods spent back at their company, where they work on projects linked to what they've learned on campus. Many modular programs also involve an executive sponsor or mentor from within the company who meets regularly with the student.

Single-Company and Consortium MBAs

A number of business schools operate company MBA programs in partnership with sponsoring employers.

Content and Course Structure
Typically modular in design, places are filled by managers from the same company (single-company MBA) or a group of companies (consortium MBA). Restricted entry to these programs means that the mix of student backgrounds is less diverse. Company MBAs may also include a degree of tailoring to the particular industry or company.

Executive MBAs

Targeted at more senior managers, EMBAs typically combine part-time and modular course structures. They tend to be individually supported by employers, ranging from full financial backing for the cost of the course to giving employees time off before exams and permission to leave early on study evenings.

The course structure of EMBAs has been greatly facilitated by developments in e-learning and alliances between business schools. Indeed, some of the most significant developments in the delivery of the MBA are occurring in this area, notably partnerships between schools to combine their strongest suits. A number of business schools now offer multicenter international or global MBA programs.

Pros and Cons
Some companies allow employees to attend these programs as a reward. Because they are more senior, however, EMBA students often find the need to balance study and work commitments especially challenging.

Internet-Based MBAs

Despite the obvious attractions of online MBAs, they have some progress to make in order to become accepted as equal to traditional MBA programs. The quality and credibility of online learning courses vary.

Overall, the growing range of MBA programs indicates that the market is continuing to evolve. Business schools are responding to students whose working lives and careers demand increasingly flexible approaches to study. Some schools now allow students to move between full-time and part-time programs if their circumstances alter - a trend that is likely to grow.