Discover How Elective Courses Work for the Foster Hybrid MBA Program

Beyond the traditional full-time and part-time MBA program options available at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, there is also the Hybrid MBA program. This unique work-compatible MBA option allows students to complete 95 percent of their program work online with only 5 percent of sessions requiring a visit to the campus. It’s a two-year program that’s ideal for working parents, business travelers, and young professionals.

In a recent Foster blog post, the school broke down how elective courses work as part of the Hybrid MBA. Just like for full-time and part-time students, hybrid students can enhance their academic studies by enrolling in five, unique two-credit elective courses during their second year.

Here’s how it will work. The Hybrid MBA is broken down into four quarters:

• Q1: Autumn, year one
• Q2: Spring, year one
• Q3: Autumn, year two
• Q4: Spring, year two

During quarter one of the Hybrid MBA, all students are required to participate in a preference survey. This survey reveals the areas of knowledge that are most interesting to the class. From there, the program team and faculty work together to determine which course topics and, thus, electives would best fit the Hybrid MBA class. Then, early in their second quarter, students receive a list of all possible electives—broken down by quarter—so that they can begin to plan their coursework for year two.

As for when students start to take their electives and how many electives they can choose between:

• Three courses offered: Students choose one elective during autumn, year two.
• Four courses offered: Students choose two electives during winter, year two.
• Four courses offered: Students choose two electives during spring, year two.

All elective courses are determined based on the interest survey completed by the Hybrid MBA students. Most often, the areas of highest interest include Finance, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Leadership, and Data Analytics. It’s important to note that elective courses are, most likely, only offered once during the second year, so if a student sees an elective they want, they should take it when they have the opportunity.

To learn more about how the Hybrid MBA program works, take a look at this infographic designed by the Foster School.

regions: Seattle

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