Your Guide to Atlanta Marketing MBA Programs
With a GDP of $304 billion, the Atlanta metro boasts the eighth-largest GDP in the United States. The city features the country’s third-largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies, including Coca-Cola, The Home Depot, Delta Air Lines, AT&T Mobility, Chick-fil-A, UPS and Newell-Rubbermaid, as well as more than 1,250 multinational corporations.
According to The New York Times, nearly 43 percent of adults in Atlanta have college degrees, as opposed to national average of 27 percent. These figures, along with the high quality of business schools in the area, draw many corporations to the Atlanta metro.
Atlanta has been dubbed the Silicon Peach thanks to a growing tech sector. The city has also become a center for film and television production, thanks to the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act, which awards tax credits for all in-state costs for film and television investments of $500,000 or more.
With a growing economy and population, Atlanta is also a great metro to pursue a career in marketing and a fantastic place to get a marketing MBA. Many of the area’s business schools offer marketing MBA programs or degree concentrations to best prepare students for jobs across the ATL.
Atlanta Marketing MBA Programs
Clark Atlanta University School of Business
The Clark Atlanta University School of Business Administration graduate program was founded in 1946 and received Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB) accreditation in 1974. Clark is a historically black university, and still produces one of the largest classes of African-American MBAs in the world. CAU offers two different MBA programs: a full-time two year program as well as an Executive MBA for working professionals looking for advanced knowledge.
The Clark full-time MBA offers a marketing concentration. Students following this track must take two core courses, Marketing Management and International Business, as well as a number of marketing electives. An example of an elective course is Consumer Behavior, which explores consumer buying behavior as a decision-making process involving perceptions, attitudes and behavioral characteristics.
Goizueta Business School – Emory University
Goizueta Business School was founded in 1919 and started its MBA program in 1954, receiving AACSB in 1949. The school was named in honor of former Coca-Cola CEO Roberto Goizueta in 1994. Currently, the school offers BBA, full-time MBA, Evening MBA, Executive MBA and Ph.D. programs.
The full-time MBA features three different marketing concentrations: General Marketing, Marketing Analytics and Marketing Consulting. All Goizueta marketing courses contain experiential learning exercises, including several “lab” courses that revolve around strategic marketing projects with outside firms.
J. Mack Robinson College of Business – Georgia State University
Mack Robinson College of Business was founded in 1913 as the Georgia Tech Evening School of Commerce. The AACSB accredited school changed its name in 1998 after a $10 million endowment from Mack Robinson, entrepreneur and philanthropist. The school offers BBA, Professional MBA, Executive MBA, Flex MBA and Global Partners MBA programs.
The Georgia State University Flex MBA program at the Robinson College of Business can be completed on a full-or part-time track in a time period of between two and five years. This degree program also offers 15 different concentrations, including marketing. According to the school, MBA students earn a concentration in marketing by taking 12 hours in electives. MBA students earn a major in marketing by taking 18 hours in marketing electives, in addition to two core courses.
Michael J. Coles College of Business – Kennesaw State University
The Michael J. Coles College of Business was founded in 1983. Today Coles offers eight different degrees: BBA, MBA, MACC, MSIS, Web MBA, Executive MBA, Executive MBA for Families in Business and the Dalton MBA. The school is also AACSB accredited.
The core curriculum of the Coles MBA consists of eight required courses, one of which is Strategic Marketing. Students may then choose to tailor their degrees in the following areas: general management, operations, finance, economics, marketing, entrepreneurship, business information systems, international business and human resources.
Scheller College of Business – Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology’s Scheller College of Business was founded in 1912 and started its MBA program in 1954. Currently, the AACSB accredited school offers BBA, full-time MBA, Evening MBA, Executive MBA, Ph.D., MS in Quantitative and Computational Finance, an MS in Analytics and dual degrees combining an MBA with either an MS or Ph.D.
Students in the full-time program can complete a marketing concentrations by taking three elective courses. Possible electives include Strategic Brand Management, Digital Marketing and Understanding Markets with Data Science.
Terry College of Business – University of Georgia
The Terry College of Business was founded in 1912 and is recognized as one of the first business school in the South. The school changed its named officially in 1991 in honor of 1939 alumnus Herman Terry and his wife Mary Virginia. Today, Terry is AACSB accredited and offers six degrees programs: BBA MBA, Professional MBA, Executive MBA, MAcc, MIT, MMR and Ph.D.
According to the school, students pursuing a marketing concentration explore the traditional area of product management alongside the emerging topics of managing brands, services, and customers. MBAs with a concentration in marketing have accepted jobs with the following companies in recent years: Georgia-Pacific, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Nestle Purina, Nielsen, IBM and Lowes.