In a stunning improvement over last year’s list, UIC Liautaud’s Part-Time MBA program was ranked #78 by U.S. News & World Report’s 2017 Graduate School Rankings. According to a press release on the UIC website, this was an impressive jump of more than 30 spots from the 2016 rankings.
Sid Balachandran, UIC accounting professor and director of the MBA programs at Liautaud said in a statement:
“This is wonderful news indeed. We have in recent years had several areas of focus and change that I believe helped us attain this new higher ranking, including an increased focus on hiring new faculty with stellar teaching quality and excellence in research, curricular innovations such as our professional presence program, and increased focus in business readiness and career placement activities at our career center.”
As we explain on our Liautaud information page, Part-Time MBA students complete this program in three to four years and can register for one or two courses per semester. Each course meets once per week for 16 weeks, from 6:00pm – 8:30pm, Monday through Thursday, though certain electives are offered on Saturday mornings.
Students begin their curriculum by completing six core courses, which are designed to deepen functional business knowledge: financial accounting, corporate finance, marketing, microeconomics, operations management, and organizational behavior. The remaining courses can be made up of advanced electives, which MBA students can customize to meet their individual career interests.
Students who complete at least three courses within one of the following fields of study may earn a concentration in: accounting, economics, entrepreneurship, finance, international business, management, management information systems, marketing, real estate, and a self-directed option developed on an ad hoc basis with faculty advisors.
Lastly, a unique part of the program is the Professional Topics Series, which provides students the opportunity to enroll in up to three, 8-week courses. These offerings change frequently, reflecting current business trends as well as student and faculty interest.