Executive MBA Programs

Executive MBA Programs

The Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) degree program can change your business perspective and paradigm, boosting your skills and transforming your leadership capacity to exceed your current personal and global vision. An EMBA doesn't just open new doors, it can knock down walls. Depending on your EMBA program, you may combine international business education with international travel, work with mentors and business leaders from around the globe and build a new flexibility to explore your career options.

EMBA Programs

EMBA programs are organized around building a peer network and professional associations that extend beyond the degree program. The Executive MBA Council reports that more than half of the EMBA classes meet weekly or twice a month. Students average 37 years of age and have at least eight years of management experience. Participating corporations with one university EMBA program reported an 85 percent rate of achieving revenue gains surpassing the cost of tuition after students graduate.

Students are immersed in the latest business knowledge and best practices in some of the following:

  • Industry associations
  • Management and leadership development
  • Financial or wealth management
  • Negotiations
  • Marketing
  • Business strategy
  • Technology
  • Corporate governance
  • Health care

Typically, EMBA programs take up to two years to complete in evening or weekend campus courses, online or in a hybrid mixing online and campus-based meetings. The average time to completion is 20 months. The EMBA program was initiated to assist working professionals and managers to update their mid-career skills and options without disrupting their business lives. Students get to test their newfound insights and skills in their immediate roles. You'll also discover a shift in focus from a current functional leadership paradigm to one of broad-based or global leadership.

EMBA Curriculum and Coursework

Short courses, seminars, research projects and workshops make up much of the EMBA curriculum. Students typically work in teams. Often you'll begin by taking personal skills assessments to best tune the educational experience to meet your career goals.

Foundation MBA courses in accounting, information systems, statistics, finance, strategy, team building, marketing and management are part of the core curriculum. Other studies include:

  • Business Law and Theory
  • Entrepreneurship
  • International Business
  • Statistics
  • Organizational Behavior
  • Operations Management

Following core or fundamental courses, students often participate in off-site workshops in or out of the country where they delve deeper into strategy, operations and integrative management. Frequently workshops include discussions with experts in the management field, allowing students to probe industry-specific issues as well as build lifelong mentorships and personal associations with leaders.

Online Executive MBA

Those with a busy schedule may opt for a distance learning program to earn their EMBA online. The essential differences between distance and campus-based MBA programs are the learning locations, the flexibility in scheduling and the method of communication. An online education has numerous benefits for busy professionals and families, including:

  • Accessible educational achievement leading to career advancement
  • Development of personal qualities such as discipline, self-confidence and critical thinking
  • Financial savings compared with campus-based educations
  • Flexibile scheduling
  • Savings in time due to no need to travel to sites

The EMBA is one degree that leads to a high-paying career, although no pay is ever guaranteed. The EMBA is a common educational achievement for those employed as chief executives and general or operations managers, according to the BLS. 

EMBA Accreditation

A common concern for potential EMBA candidates is the accreditation of schools. Accreditation is extremely important since it identifies an institution of higher learning as one that meets standards set by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). A school lacking accreditation may or may not provide a quality education and the MBA will be suspect when employment or promotional opportunities become available.

There are six regional accrediting agencies under the auspices of CHEA. Candidates should ensure that the business school selected is accredited by one of them. These accrediting institutions include:

  • Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
  • New England Association of Schools and Colleges
  • North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
  • Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
  • Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
  • Western Association of Schools and Colleges

Applying for admission to an MBA program depends on the admissions policies of the schools selected. All MBA programs require completion of a bachelor's degree prior to application. Most MBA programs require that the Graduate Management Admissions Test, or GMAT, be successfully completed and the results forwarded to the school prior to the admissions deadline. Students pay the cost of the testing.