When it comes to earning a part-time MBA, you have a lot of choices. To decide where you should apply, ask these five questions:
What Is the School’s Reputation and Accreditation?
The University of Pittsburgh’s Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business has been educating business executives since 1960. Our graduates have become business leaders, community champions, and cutting-edge researchers. The dedication of our faculty is one of the many reasons our online part-time MBA program was ranked fifth in the nation by Fortune.
We are proud to be among the 5% of business schools that earned accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). This organization’s peer-review process looks at a school’s teaching, research, curriculum, and learner success to ensure the schools that earn accreditation meet the highest standards.
Accreditation means your degree is recognized for its quality and high standards.
Will the Program Fit Your Lifestyle?
When you return to school for an advanced degree, there is so much to consider. If you travel for your job, work long hours, or have young children at home, you might like the convenience of online classes. Other people prefer an in-person environment.
Our Part-Time MBA lets you choose from classes online or, on-campus. Whichever option you choose, you will come to the Pittsburgh campus twice for residency weekends. These weekends let you network with classmates, meet professors, and earn credits.
What Are the Classes Like?
Our courses are designed to provide a strong foundation in the core management principles, necessary to succeed and lead in today’s complex business environment and include integrated and experiential learning experiences.
Integrated Learning focuses on how different subjects in business are connected. This lets you see concepts from many points of view and learn new ways of looking at things. Experiential Learning is a hands-on approach that reinforces important skills such as critical thinking, teamwork, and communication.
“My favorite part about the program was the ability to apply our coursework directly to our work in real time,” says Nina Wroniak (MBA, MS ’24).
Can You Study Abroad?
We offer a Global Research Practicum (GRP) that challenges graduate students, both full-time and part-time, to consider issues from a global perspective and expose them to business environments abroad. Recent GRP courses have studied business issues in Germany, Argentina, Chile, and Japan, with one week spent in the country they were researching.
For Tori Winter (MBA ’25), the Spring 2024 trip to Japan made a connection to her current job. Winter is earning her MBA part-time while working full-time at Emerson Automation Solutions as an engineering project manager.
“While lectures and case studies laid a strong foundation, the practical experiences abroad made the learning more relatable, memorable, and directly applicable to my life,” says Winter. “I work in a firm focusing on power plant control systems and sustainability in that sector. The conversations with executives in Japan broadened my understanding of sustainability as both a local economic concern and a core mission for companies. It became evident that a common dedication to sustainability transcends geographical boundaries.”
How Large is the Alumni Network?
It might seem strange to ask questions about a school’s alumni association before you enroll, but when alumni work with a school, they enhance the experience for students.
The University of Pittsburgh has more than 300,000 alumni and Pitt Business has approximately 33,000 alumni. These individuals help open doors and connect students to executives for the required integrated management capstone course.
“This capstone course ties together everything the students learn,” says Rebecca Badawy, associate dean for MBA and specialty masters. “The students learned about innovation, plus they learned about the powerful alumni community they will join once they graduate.”
This course is offered in two formats: a Pittsburgh capstone and a travel capstone.
Jeremiah McKain (MBA ’24) a student in the Pittsburgh Capstone course, says, “It was one of my favorite parts of my Katz experience. Our whole weekend was spent either doing or hearing directly from highly successful people about what they are doing to drive innovation in our region.”
Once you graduate, this powerful alumni network can help expand your professional network around the globe.
Ready to Learn More?
The questions above can help you narrow down the schools you are considering. To learn more about the degree options at our School of Business, we compiled answers to frequently asked questions regarding our graduate school application process or you can request more information.