MBA Programs Dare to Improve

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By Ted Johnson

The MBA is back. Not that it really ever went away, though this segment of continuing education did take a hit after 9/11, a swoon that can be traced to a downturn in the economy and tighter immigration restrictions. But in the last two years, applications for graduate business programs have increased, and the trend is expected to continue for some time.
    It’s easy to understand why: The Graduate Management Admission Council reports the average annual starting salary of a recent MBA graduate is in the neighborhood of $92,000 ­— about twice the annual household income in America.
    Money is not the only consideration, however. Many mid-career professionals return to school seeking a change, and they see a graduate degree in business as the ticket to making it happen. Few things are more alluring than having more control over the way things are done.

California Dreaming
Northern California enjoys a worldwide reputation as a leader in graduate business education. The state has innovation embedded in its genes, if only due to the American tradition of moving west for a better way of life. There was no other place to go. Dreams had to come to life here, and they have.
    Coming up with the big idea (transcontinental railroad) or overcoming the impossible (Golden Gate Bridge) or creating new technology (personal computer) or developing new ways to communicate (internet) with ultra-cool products (iPhones) that, either singularly or collectively, transform entire industries are part of everyday life here. We establish styles of business such as open cubicles and “business casual” dress and develop new mandates in business culture, perhaps the most influential being today’s belief, rooted deep in Silicon Valley, that if you haven’t failed, you haven’t reached far enough.
    No wonder advertisements for continuing education are seen and heard everywhere in Northern California; in effect, this region is all about continual improvement — “constant innovation,” as business guru Tom Peters once put it. In this environment, it’s only natural that the region has some of the nation’s top “B schools,” including traditional Eastern schools that have set up shop here to tap into this talent-rich pool.

Mid-Career Crisis
Few decisions will have a greater impact on your life than the decision to return to school in mid-career to pursue a graduate degree in management or business. The biggest hit is the reduction in free time to spend with family and loved ones. And there’s the financial cost, with programs ranging from $7,000 to $145,000.
    Most of the schools in this region have full-time programs that hark back to undergraduate schedules — five days a week, nine months a year, with summer spent in an intern program. To capture the local working professional market, local grad schools, as well as professional schools such as National University and the University of Phoenix, offer programs that are meant to meet the needs and time constraints of those already working. These programs offer part-time schedules, with classes held one or two nights a week or on Saturdays or online. These degree programs can take up to three years to complete.
    The Berkeley-Columbia MBA program at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, and Wharton West’s MBA Program for Executives in San Francisco offer classes in two- or three-day shifts once or twice a month for 18 months. These programs are geared to attract applicants from the western United States, and the tuition
includes stays at local hotels but not travel costs. (It almost goes without saying that these programs tend to
attract people who are sponsored by their employers. Your HR department can tell you if your company offers stipends for this type of education.)
    Major universities strive within their part-time offerings to maintain the quality of instruction found in more traditional full-time programs. “This is the same strength of curriculum, the same number of hours, as the full-time program back in Pennsylvania,” says Professor Leonard Lodish of Wharton West. “The brand is just as strong. The good news is the work is just as rewarding as back East. But you have to earn it. It takes time and effort, and there’s pressure. And in these part-time programs, students still have obligations to their jobs, so when they enroll, they greatly increase their workload. It is a life-changing program.”
    “It is a huge commitment,” notes Andrew Shogun, associate dean at Haas. “People who join us usually have been planning this for some time. They know that’s what they want to do. That’s why we have so few dropouts. People get into it and want to do it.”
    Failing to prepare for the rigors of an MBA program, or to prepare family and loved ones for what the rigors will require, can be costly, points out Ray Sylvester, associate dean for University of Pacific’s Eberhardt Graduate School of Business. “The cost can be much higher than just tuition.” 

Where Are You Going?
If you dream of running Goldman Sachs, a master’s of science in taxation from Sacramento State probably won’t help you much. At the same time, if you need management, marketing and financial skills for a small manufacturing firm, an MBA from Wharton West could be a tad much. The latter definitely has a higher tuition price and thus a correspondingly high waiting period for ROI (return on investment), and that brings up a major consideration: How much time at the higher income will be required to pay off the tuition, if it is you, not the company, paying the fees?
    When making this decision, many applicants scan business school ratings in Business Week and the Wall Street Journal. These rankings are to be taken with a barrel of salt. Some gear their rankings on the starting salaries of a grad school’s graduates, while others take into account the experience of corporate recruiters at the colleges (one school gained praise for handing out parking passes).
    “We don’t comment on ratings. They all look at a different slice of the pie,” says Ute Frey, associate director of communications at Haas, which is ranked in the top five by many publications. The Berkeley-Columbia program, for example, came into existence in 2002, which makes it too young for some rankings. “Students have to do their research and find the right school for them.”

Real-World Reality
In the past, B schools have garnered criticism from corporate recruiters who felt curricula did little to prepare students for the complexities of the modern business world. In response, schools have changed. Gone are lectures. In their place are highly interactive classes, in which all students are expected to participate, analyze and advance conversations on critical issues. Generally, case studies are the most popular, with some of the cases being current, real-world issues facing local and national businesses today.
    There are plenty of hands-on projects geared toward giving students real-time, real-life experience in making managerial decisions. All programs bring in business leaders to hash out current obstacles. To name one example, students at UC Davis’ Graduate School of Management get training in making decisions without complete information, a needed skill for a global economy in which prices of key supplies around the world can change by the hour.

Great Connections
This interactive group learning creates bonds, and thus it follows that schools market networking and personal experiences as the real benefits of their B school programs. Taking it further, the Sloan Master’s Program at Stanford seems very much geared to the contacts made during its one-year program. The Sloan slate aims to develop critical thinking skills leaders need for today’s markets, but future business issues can be easier to handle if you have to deal with, say, Singapore’s minister of the treasury, who happens to be a former Sloan classmate.
    In contrast, the Eberhardt School of Business at the University of Pacific has focused on the fresh-out-of-school student. It’s an untapped market, says Christopher Lozano, the school’s director of student recruitment.
    “If you teach undergrads, you hear them say they plan to go on right into an MBA program, but there are no schools that will let them in. They feel thwarted,” Lozano says. “They are in the learning groove, and they worry that if they go out and get a job, they will have a harder time getting back.” 
    These schools require college transcripts and Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) scores, but school administrators emphasize that grades and test scores are not as important as what “you can bring to the program,” as Shogun at Haas puts it. Having an interesting work experience with creative ideas for a specific business or product is just as likely to attract a B school’s attention as a high GPA. 
    That’s why this alphabetical rundown of six graduate business school programs in Northern California doesn’t go just by rankings or salaries. It is meant to give those who wish to renovate their career aspirations some insight into executive-oriented programs with the intent to show the feel of a program.

University of the Pacific Eberhardt School of Business
Cost/Duration/Location: $50,000/ 18 months full-time/Stockton campus.
Student average age: 25 (national average: 28)
Number admitted: 40 per session
Allure: Once students get through the boot camp of B school basics, they will find small classes (many with fewer than 20, some fewer than 10, students) with plenty of contact with professors. The program’s strong elements include interaction with local businesses, as well as enterprises of Eberhardt alumni. The faculty’s focus is on teaching. “You’re going to find out right away if you don’t want to be here,” says Associate Dean Ray Sylvester. “It’s for the aggressive learner; we want the student who follows you around and comes into your office a lot.” In turn, students get a “shepherd,” who can, for example, help navigate the steps needed to become a chartered financial analyst (CFA). Eberhardt also offers a program aimed at people who want to work in creative industries, such as music or art. The pharmacy and law programs work with Eberhardt to offer dual degrees and the school offers a unique Inventor Evaluation Service that brings marketable ideas together with business students.
Contact: www.pacific.edu/esb

UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, Berkeley-Columbia MBA
Cost/Duration/Location: $130,000/19 months on a Thursday-Saturday schedule every third week, with two weeks spent at Columbia University in New York. Fees include hotel stays in Berkeley and New York City.
Average age: 35-37
Number admitted: 70 per class
Allure: Haas has built a worldwide reputation for a well-rounded program that is among the best for developing CEOs with an innovative approach. The diverse Bay Area business community offers a vast array of case studies, with local companies and former Haas grads participating in class work. Haas also wants to tap into the university’s other world-class departments like life sciences, engineering and biology to see if new products can be developed, with MBA candidates playing key roles in the process.
Contact: berkeley.columbia.edu

Sacramento State University Executive MBA
Cost/Duration/Location: approximately $30,000 for
15 months: classes held at local companies such as Intel or Pride
Average age: 35-38
Number admitted: 30-36
Allure: CSUS offers masters in science degrees in taxation and accounting and information, but some students take an on-again, off-again track. The executive program is in the “cohort” format, meaning the program starts at a prescribed time and must be finished at the deadline. Dropouts lose tuition and must reapply. The focus is local. “People who come to us are from Sacramento. They have local connections and, to a large degree, they want to stay here,” says Chiang Wang, associate dean for graduate and external programs. Local companies and local issues receive a great deal of focus, with professors bringing in local business leaders to lay out the issues at hand. About a third of the time is spent in case study and another quarter spent in in group discussion, with emphasis on large-scale projects steered towards future business issues. “That’s what makes us a tremendous asset to the local region,” Wang adds.
Contact: cbaweb.cba.csus.edu/emba

Stanford University Sloan Master’s Program
Cost/Duration/Location: $89,000 for one year at Stanford and fees do not include housing.
Average Age: 37
Number admitted: 56, with international students accounting for about 30-35 per class
Allure: Few universities can say they have fueled a business transformation on par with the Industrial Revolution, but Stanford’s influence on Silicon Valley is hard to dispute. (Just one example: Google’s founders are Stanford grads.) Nor is the fact that MBA instructors include the likes of Mark Leslie, founder of Veritas, and Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel. Stanford regularly integrates B School students with engineering students, which helps enhance the university’s entrepreneurial focus. The Sloan program includes field trips, such as the recent jaunt to Beaverton, Ore., for a sit-down with Nike executives. But it’s not only whom you meet but with whom you study. It’s not uncommon to have classmates who are successful multimillionaire entrepreneurs or executives but who enter Sloan to learn more about becoming a leader. And it’s also a who’s who of international trade. Just one example: The person who runs the Joint Strike Fighter program for the U.S. military is a Sloan grad.
Contact: www.gsb.stanford.edu/sloan

UC Davis Graduate School of Management
Cost/Duration/Location: $45,000 for full-time degree/two years/Davis. Part-time programs are $60,000/Monday-Thursday classes for three years/downtown Sacramento; $75,000/Friday-Saturday classes every other weekend for three years/San Ramon
Average age: Full-time, 28-29; 35-36 for part-time programs
Number admitted: 40 full-time students, 60 per part-time program
Allure: The relatively small size eables students to develop strong relationships with professors. The Davis program has a strong financial slant (a good place to learn how to write derivatives) but also features plenty of case studies with local industries, including work with CalPers. The Financial Times puts the UC Davis Graduate School of Management as the world’s best in organizational behavior, which examines how people, individuals and groups act in organizations — essential if you hope to manage at the highest levels. Overall, the UC Davis management school is ranked 47th among U.S programs and 76th in the world, belying its sleepy-town setting with a first-rate faculty whose emphasis is on taking class concepts into the real world.
Contact: www.gsm.ucdavis.edu

Wharton West MBA Program for Executives
Cost/Duration/Location: $145,000/two days every other week for two years/San Francisco (cost includes hotel stays and meals)
Average age: 33
Number admitted: 90 per year, split into two classes of 45
Allure: Wharton regularly tops business-school rankings as the nation’s top institution for developing business leaders. The University of Pennsylvania-based program places graduates in the nation’s top financial institutions and investment banks. The school prides itself on having the nation’s top B school faculty in all fields of study. Case study classes feature group discussions in which students have been known to say, “Well, that may be true in that example, but it didn’t happen that way when I ran my business.” In other words, the students are experienced, innovative business leaders who see time spent at Wharton as a chance to broaden and enrich their success.
Contact: mba.wharton.upenn.edu/mba  

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