It’s well understood that both the cost and time commitment of an MBA can be often overwhelming, and for many students losing up to two years of income can be a deal breaker when it comes to their education. Thankfully, part-time MBA programs are an excellent opportunity for students to earn an advanced business degree while still working full time. With flexible class schedules and the chance to complete the degree on your own schedule, a part-time MBA can be the perfect option for a student to continue in their full-time job without needing to pass up the chance for an incredible business education.
Many graduate business students are choosing to pursue their MBA degree in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro—a quickly growing and robust area often referred to as the ‘Silicon Prairie’. We’ve compiled some of the top rated part-time MBA programs in Dallas—all named on the 2017 U.S. News Ranking of Top Part-Time MBA programs—which students looking for part-time programs may want to consider.
University of North Texas – College of Business
The UNT College of Business offers students ten different MBA degree options, two of which can be completed entirely online. Every MBA program consists of 36 credit hours—18 credits which all students will complete as part of the core degree program, and 18 reserved for a subject specialization. A number of options exist for students to specialize their degree, ranging from international business to strategic management and more, with a newly added Energy MBA beginning in the fall.
Students may choose to complete the 36 credit hours on a full-time or part-time basis. For students to continue working full-time while earning their degree, UNT recommends students schedule just six semester hours (two courses) per semester and just three semester hours (one course) during the summer.
The Part-Time MBA at UNT took the 204th spot on the U.S. News compilation of best part-time business programs. A number of factors helped to determine the ranking, such as part-time enrollment (303 students) and acceptance rate (85.4 percent), which led to an overall part-time score of 26.
University of Texas at Arlington – College of Business
The UT Arlington College of Business offers students an MBA Flexible program, which can be pursued in either a full-time or part-time format. Either way, the program is focused on allowing students to pursue their MBA while still maintaining a reasonable schedule. The class schedule offers classes in the evening Monday through Thursday, on just one night per week. In total, the program consists of 45 credit hours and is accredited by the AACSB.
The Flexible MBA at UTA also allows students to select a concentration of study, which may range from accounting to real estate to operations management and more.
The UTA School of Business ranks 122nd for their part-time MBA, with roughly 221 applicants, 134 accepted part-time students and 78 enrolled.
Southern Methodist University – Cox School of Business
The Professional MBA program at Cox is designed for ambitious working professionals who want to continue working full-time while earning their degree. Typically, students in the program are given the chance to take classes on a flexible evening and weekend schedule, but SMU has recently also launched two new schedules which would allow students to take classes either on weeknights or full-day on Saturday.
The Cox School is ranked 52nd among U.S. News’ Best Business Schools and 66th for best part-time MBA programs. With an acceptance rate of 62.2 percent and part-time enrollment of 225 in 2017, Cox’s was given a 52 overall part-time score to determine ranking.
Naveen Jindal School of Management- University of Texas at Dallas
Among the many MBA programs offered at the Jindal School of Management is the professional and online MBA, which gives students the chance to work on an MBA at their own pace. Students may also choose an area of concentration, which may range from managerial economics to finance and more. Also an option is combining ones MBA degree with an MA in electrical engineering.
JSOM ranks 20th in the U.S. News ranking for their part-time MBA program and 38th for the school overall. Of 507 applicants for the part-time program, roughly half were accepted (256) and 202 enrolled.