Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles - Weekend MBA

Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles Weekend MBA Program Structure

The Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles Weekend MBA is a 16-month program with a module-based approach to learning. Classes are held on weekends to accommodate working professionals. The program is designed to accommodate the working lives of executives.

Modules are designed to help business professionals integrate external business information with the strengths and opportunities of their organizations.

Module 1 – Setting the Stage: Understanding the External Global Business Environment

Module 2 – Designing the Organization’s Future: Internal Strategy

Module 3 – Implementation of Strategy

Module 4 – Culminating Consulting Project and Concentration

Once students are in Module 4, they can choose from the following MBA concentrations:

Entrepreneurship and Social Entrepreneurship

Organizational Leadership

Project Management

The program also affords students the opportunity to do an international field-study in China that examines global competition.

Students who were not Business majors or have not taken pre-requisite business courses must take Foundation Courses before they are fully admitted into the MBA cohort program. While the program is designed to take 16 months, students requiring these Foundation Courses will need 18 months to complete the MBA program.

Curriculum

Weekend MBA students must complete 36 units over a 16-month period. Foundation Courses, which are required for those who did not major in business in undergrad, add nine units to this total.

The 36 units are spread across four modules with nine units of coursework for each. Module 1, Setting the Stage: Understanding the External Global Business Environment, covers topics such as the business environment, economic conditions, competition and more.

The second Module, Designing the Organization’s Future: Internal Strategy, hones in on finance, brand management, operational support and more. Subsequently, nine more units are dedicated to Module 3, Implementation of Strategy, during which students study the nuts and bolts of leadership, management, accounting and leadership. Students also have the opportunity to study abroad during Module 3.

The Mount Saint Mary’s MBA program immerses students in an international market as a complement to the study in their third semester. MBA students examine global competition in a nine-day guided exploration of China. Participants visit Shanghai, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province and Hong Kong, and visit manufacturing companies and financial exchanges with Chinese executives and professors that provide students with a deeper appreciation of the Chinese business, cultural and management environment.

The academic experience caps off in Module 4, Culminating Consulting Project and Concentration, with one of three concentrations:

Entrepreneurship – The Entrepreneurship concentration focuses on preparing students for personal and financial success through the starting of their own firms, taking their place in the management of a family firm, or assuming a position of leadership as a corporate entrepreneur introducing new products or services.

Organization Leadership – Organizational Leadership focuses on building leadership skills that are applicable across industries. The curriculum is both strategically focused and innovative, matching contemporary leadership theory with today’s best leadership practices.

Project Management – Project Management provides students grounding in multiple skills including the initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, controlling and closing of projects.

During the last semester the participants work on a real life project either in their own organization or another. The project can be to solve a problem, develop a new approach or create something entirely new. The projects are submitted by organizations. As part of the process, each team of students bid on a project and under the supervision of a faculty member complete the awarded project. Upon completion of the semester, there is a reception featuring the projects with a presentation, inviting the participating companies and all those involved in the MBA program.

Careers

Students in the Mount Saint Mary’s MBA programs, regardless of chosen structure, will receiver career coaching by their first semester in the program. In that time, students will assess their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their primary fields of interest. During students’ third semester, they complete a three, six, and 12-month road map to assess their career directives.

Tuition, Scholarships, and Financial Aid

Tuition for the Weekend MBA at Mount Saint Mary’s Los Angeles is currently $41,216. Foundation courses cost an additional $905 per credit.

Mount Saint Mary’s offers several scholarship and financial aid opportunities, which are the same for international and domestic students. The Ahmanson Veteran Scholarship Initiative is designed to provide financial support for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Additionally, Graduate Academic Scholarships are offered in the amount of $2,500; a minimum 3.0 GPA is required for eligibility. Hispanic American students may also be considered for the Transitions Scholarship, which covers $5,000 in tuition credit. Those who demonstrate academic excellence are also eligible for a $2,500 Graduate Merit Scholarship. Six scholarships worth $2,500 in tuition credit are also sponsored by the MBA Alumni group. The Archdiocese and Southern California Gas Company also offer tuition discounts to qualified students.

Financial Aid includes typical options such as Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Unsubsidized Loans, and other alternative, private ones.

Admissions

Applicants to Mount Saint Mary’s MBA program must have completed a Baccalaureate degree. A minimum of three years of work experience and 3.0 GPA are also required. The GMAT is not required for admission. If it is necessary to take the TOEFL, a minimum score of 79 is required.

Applicants must respond to an essay and provide two letters of reference. Interviews will be conducted at the discretion of the admissions committee in person, over the phone or via Skype. The application fee is $50.

Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles - Weekend MBA