The 5 Best Northeast Part-Time MBA Programs
As applications to full-time MBA programs have waxed and waned in recent years, there is understandably quite a bit of speculation about the future of the degree. While full-time applicants might be dipping in the U.S., the explosion of part-time programs making the business school experience more accessible to a whole new swath of people.
We’ve already taken a look at the best part-time offerings in the Midwest and DC metro, but which programs come out on top when it comes to the Northeastern U.S.?
The 5 Best Northeast Part-Time MBA Programs
The NYU Stern School of Business’s Langone part-time MBA rates as the fourth best part-time MBA program by U.S. News and World Report.
The program features an accelerated option allowing students to opt for a flexible class schedule, as well as evening and weekend courses to complete their MBA in two years without interrupting their work schedule. Current Langone students, faculty, and alumni have access to the Langone Speaker Series, which “… provides a unique platform to deepen conversations about timely events with the decision-makers that are helping shape today’s industries.”
Students can also expect the Langone LAB, a concentrated one-day orientation program that connects incoming participants with classmates, professors, clubs and other opportunities.
The current tuition rate for the NYU Stern part-time MBA is $2,228 per credit. Over the course of the required 60 credits, this total comes to $133,680; which does not include the cost of living on campus for those opting to live near the university.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst Isenberg School of Management, one of the more underrated business schools in the crowded academic metro, offers a customizable part-time MBA to fit the student’s preferred focus, available in one of six areas: business analytics; entrepreneurship; finance; healthcare administration; marketing; and sports management.
Classes can be taken either completely online (Isenberg’s online MBA was first in the country, founded in 2001) or in-person at the Amherst campus. To help expedite the education process, part-time MBA applicants can even choose to take up to two courses during the application process. In addition, the UMass Amherst part-time MBA tuition is among the most affordable in the entire Northeast, at a total cost of just $35,100 ($900 per credit). For the 17th highest ranked part-time MBA program in the entire U.S., the cost saving is hard to ignore.
The Boston College Carroll School of Management’s part-time MBA program, ranked 28th overall by U.S. News & World Report, operates much like the aforementioned Amherst part-time program, with the option to take classes both in person or online. However, the entire program cannot be completed remote, with a maximum of 30 percent of classes available online.
A staggering number of electives are available in the program: over 150 overall. Students can complete the program on a fairly flexible schedule, with the option to complete it in two, three, or four years. In addition, the BC Carroll part-time program is one of the only ones on the list that does not require GMAT/GRE scores for entry.
The part-time FLEX MBA program at Lehigh University’s College of Business and Economics is geared toward working professionals who want more control over the pace of their MBA learning experience. Program formats include part-time, accelerated, and online. The ClassroomLIVE feature offers students the option to attend classes in-person, on campus, or in real-time online.
Students can also opt to get their feet wet with an Executive Certificate as part of the part-time MBA track. Tuition for Lehigh’s Flex MBA program $38,700 for the full 36-credit program, with the current cost per credit hour at $1,075.
Villanova School of Business, the 35th ranked part-time program in the country, offers part-time MBA students two distinct format options: The accelerated “Fast Track” program, and the “Flex Track” program, which offers evening, weekend, half-semester, and online course choices so students can work at their own pace.
Tuition and the length of time to complete Villanova’s various part-time programs varies. The Fast Track program costs $1,190 per credit and takes 24 months to complete, while the Flex Track costs $1,065 per credit and typically takes three years to complete. However, the Flex Track can last as long as seven years.
Revolutions in Big Data, Housing, and More – Boston News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from Boston business schools this week.
So Much For The Robocalypse – Everett
BU Questrom School of Business Richard C. Shipley Professor in Management Iain M. Cockburn, an expert in innovation, was recently interviewed by the business school’s magazine, Everett, about his new paper “The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Innovation.” His research, written alongside members of Harvard and MIT and published in the National Bureau of Economic Research, explores the long-standing potential of artificial intelligence, which can become a more all-purpose technology, rather than a niche concept or simply a tool to replace every degree of human labor.
Cockburn argues that AI, if used wisely, can replace the menial tasks associated with white collar employment, such as legal services.
“What a lot of people are sitting up and noticing is that this form of automation or replacement of human work with a computer is now percolating into areas that have been largely unaffected by previous technological revolutions,” he says. “Take legal services. It turns out that by using this technology, you can create systems that will do a lot of low-level legal work, like scanning contracts, reviewing contracts, or reviewing documents.”
A pessimistic view could say developments like this could lead to job loss, which may be true. However, in the evolution of the modern job environment, flushing out repetitive tasks that do not require critical or imaginative thinking could allow people to focus on larger issues, rather than bogging down daily routines.
“Then there’s a second question: ‘If I didn’t have to spend so much of my day doing that, what could I be doing that involves imagination, insight, critical thinking?’ So, for some people, their jobs are going to get much more interesting.”
You can read more from the Everett interview of Cockburn here, and check out the “The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Innovation.”
Could Big Data Replace the Creative Director at the Gap? – Harvard Business Review
Assistant Professor Ayelet Israeli, “an expert in channel management, pricing, online marketing, and eCommerce” took to HBS’s Cold Call Podcast to discuss Gap CEO Art Peck’s move to eliminate its creative director and “turn to big data to predict what the big next designs are going to be.”
Since Gap is now identified as a basics brand, Israeli explains that “maybe it’s okay to sell the trend that everyone else is selling. If you’re selling something that is more fashion forward, then you’re in a bigger problem because you need someone to create this new trend and not just spot the trend that everyone else is doing.”
“The other part of [Peck’s big data] strategy is essentially to shorten production cycles that they had at the Gap. They were from traditional companies that take about 10 months, almost a year, from when they decide on something and it reaches stores. Now they shortened it to about eight to 10 weeks for most of their product categories.”
You can find the full HBS article here.
Corcoran Center to Debut Housing Case Competition – Boston College News
BC Carroll’s Corcoran Center for Real Estate and Urban Action announced a new case competition and panel discussion moderated by Boston Capital Vice President and Director of Communications David Gasson entitled, “The Future of Housing.”
The competition is “intended to hone students’ analytical skills in the field, raise awareness about issues connected to affordable housing development, and offer an in-depth look at the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit as a tool that helps both communities and developers of affordable housing.”
Corcoran Center Executive Director Neil McCullagh writes, “This competition will be a way for students to understand that housing challenges are deeply connected to every facet of our lives. It will also provide them great vision into an industry where they can do well while doing good.”
“In the competition, students will be analyzing a real housing deal. They will need to present their best understanding of the policy and their analysis of the deal outlined in the case. They will then present their solution and recommendations to the judges. The best team will walk away with the grand prize.”
Read more about the “Future of Housing” case competition here and the full Boston College News article here.
