List story

0

Executive Summary

Local universities offer a variety of options for those pursuing advanced business degrees, including full-time MBA programs, part-time or evening tracks, executive MBA programs and other specialties. USC’s Marshall School has the largest program with 758 full-time and 777 part-time students. Enrollment in local MBA programs overall has been increasing. Of the 15 schools on the list, there are 5,148 part-time and 3,015 full-time students enrolled in MBA programs. This is up from 4,889 part-timers and 2,406 full-timers on last year’s list. Tuition ranges from $60 a unit for California residents at Cal State Los Angeles to annual costs of more than $20,000 for out-of-state residents at UCLA’s Anderson School. The business schools of two local universities USC and UCLA are ranked among the top 50 in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report’s annual rankings. UCLA’s Anderson School is No. 8 and USC’s Marshall School is No. 21. For those pursuing advanced business degrees, the job market couldn’t be better, according to Michael Duffy, vice dean of MBA programs at USC’s Marshall School. Duffy said consulting, finance and marketing are the three fields in which most recent graduates are hired.

The Pacesetter

The University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business has the largest MBA program in L.A. County with 1,535 students enrolled in either part-time or full-time programs. Michael Duffy, vice dean of MBA programs, said applications for the school’s full-time MBA program are up 10 percent to 15 percent this year. Duffy expects actual enrollment numbers to remain about the same due to target class sizes. But in the fall of 1999 he expects the average class size to increase by 20 percent when the program moves into the larger Popovich Building, currently under construction. Duffy said the school is expanding coursework for all students in international business and electronic commerce. Under its Pacific Rim Education Program, the school sends its entire first-year MBA class abroad for a week to work on consulting projects for major multinational firms around the world. Duffy said the job market for USC’s MBA grads is outstanding in all fields. Two hiring trends he has noticed lately are more interest in MBAs from the entertainment and sports-management industries and more employers seeking graduates who are fluent in Chinese.

No posts to display