MBA degrees may be the best way for business students to master business, management and leadership skills, but some prospective MBAs enter the graduate business school setting with a clear idea of which industry they want to enter following graduation. For students in the San Francisco metro, several Berkeley-Haas dual MBA programs offer students this flexibility.
Berkeley-Haas Dual MBA Programs
At UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, these dual offerings are called Concurrent Degrees. Three are currently available: JD/MBA Program, MBA/MPH Program in Health Management and a MBA/MA Program in Global Studies.
JD/MBA Program
Haas’ JD/MBA program is designed to provide students with a solid foundation in both law and management. Most students spend their first two years in law school and their third year in business school. The fourth year of the program is comprised of elective courses in both schools. Upon completion of the four-year program, students will have earned:
- A Berkeley MBA degree
- A JD degree through either UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law or UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco
There are some differences in the curriculum if you attend law school at Boalt vs. Hastings. Students completing their law degree at Boalt must complete 118 units to graduate (43 in business, 75 in law). Students also must register and pay fees for a minimum of eight semesters at UC Berkeley.
Meanwhile, students completing their law degree at Hastings must complete 117 units to graduate (43 in business, 74 in law). These students spend five semesters at Hastings and three at Haas, which allows students to avoid paying fees at both universities for the same semester. That also means that degree candidates will carry a higher-than-normal unit load during your three Haas semesters.
MBA/MPH Program in Health Management
For those looking to enter the realm of Health Management, Haas and the UC Berkeley School of Public Health have created a partnership aimed to train students to perform highly in the following fields and careers:
- Managed care and insurance
- Consulting
- Healthcare delivery
- Biotechnology
- E-Health
- Medical devices
- Pharmaceuticals
The two-and-a-half-year MBA/MPH concurrent degree program trains students in the areas of statistics, epidemiology, health systems and policy/regulatory environments. According to Berkeley, students enter the program with an average of five years of health-related work experience and, on average, 15 students enroll in the MBA/MPH program each year. The specialized curriculum also includes the opportunity to do two summer internships.
MBA/MA Program in Global Studies
Lastly, the three-year MBA/MA program is designed to broaden students’ knowledge of international business, language, and other areas of study from departments and schools across UC Berkeley. Topics of study global business issues like:
- International trade and debt
- Investment strategy
- Global communications
- Environmental issues
- Urban and regional development
Students will focus particularly on major countries such as China, Japan, Russia, Germany and Brazil, as well as regions with special business interests such as the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia.
Students can apply to the program during their first year in the MBA program. According to Berkeley, if accepted in the concurrent degree program, students must complete all MBA requirements (51 units of core and elective courses total) as well as:
- Register for a minimum of six semesters at UC Berkeley
- Complete 24 units of international and area studies; 12 of them at the graduate level (none in business administration)
- Demonstrate proficiency in a modern language related to your area of interest.
- Submit a written thesis or pass an oral comprehensive exam based on your program of study
- If students are already proficient in a foreign language, they may earn an MA-IAS degree in one year; for others, it may take as long as two years in addition to the normal two-year Haas program