The 5 Best Dallas Executive MBA Programs
In the world of business, the Executive MBA degree is akin to an Iron Man decathlon in which one simultaneously attempts work, life, and school with equal gusto.
Designed to reskill and get mid-career professionals up to speed on the latest management trends, the value of an EMBA as a useful negotiation tool is undisputed—especially if you can get an employer to fit the bill. If not, it’ll cost you but the investment is one that will certainly go a long way to paving a future leadership position way up the corporate ladder.
And when it comes to corporate ladders, the greater Dallas metro area has got an embarrassment of riches. The region is HQ to Exxon Mobil, AT&T, American Airlines, Southwest, Texas Instruments, JC Penney, and Gamestop, among many others on the 2017 Fortune 500. You could also do a lot worse with the area’s cultural offerings, especially if you like football, art, and authentic Tex-Mex.
Let’s take a closer look at five best Dallas Executive MBA programs:
Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business
The Baylor Hankamer School of Business 48-credit, 21-month, $91,000 EMBA is designed for mid-level executives. The program emphasizes leadership skills, decision-making, human resource management, global strategic management, and contemporary business issues within a cohort lock-step structure. The 50-credit, $94,000 EMBA Healthcare curriculum does the same but specifically tailored to the healthcare sector. EMBA students arrive from a variety of companies, including Apple, AT&T, Xerox, Wells Fargo, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, and American Airlines. The EMBA does not require GMAT or GRE scores but applicants must have at least five years of work experience.
Southern Methodist’s Cox School of Business
The SMU Cox 21-month, $120,150 part-time EMBA prepares experienced business leaders to take their career to the next level by helping them move into higher executive level positions or to expand their company’s reach. The EMBA emphasizes general management practices, strategy, finance within real-world applications. Applicants are expected to have at least eight years of work experience but GMAT/GRE scores are not required.
UT-Austin’s McCombs School of Business
The curriculum for McCombs School of Business 2-year, 42-credit, $116,800 EMBA is based on a cohort system in which groups of five students “encourage teamwork and development of leadership skills” among one another and each student is paired with a mentor from the previous year’s class. The EMBA covers effective communication, risk and change management and business ethics. Of the 68 students in the EMBA class of 2018, the average age is 37 and the average work experience is 14 years.
UT-Dallas’ Naveen Jindal School of Management
The UT Dallas Naveen Jindal School of Management 21-month, 53-credit, 5-semester, $85,000 EMBA was developed to prepare “experienced professionals for careers in upper management.” The cohort structure centers on “the fundamentals of business, marketplace advancement, leadership, corporate assets strategy, and data use and interpretation.” The average UT Dallas EMBA student is 40 and with an average work experience of 16 years. Applicants must have a minimum of eight years “professional business experience with international and management experience,” although GMAT or GRE scores are not required.
UT-Arlington College of Business
The UT Arlington College of Business 15-month, 37-credit, $74,500 EMBA (and accompanying Asian Business Studies certificate) is ideal for helping mid-level and upper-level managers and executives “develop the skills needed to move their company into global markets or to increase the company’s presence in a global market.” The EMBA focuses on the “skills and knowledge needed to run multinational firms, manage data, and develop effective teams that will help firms expand into global markets, maintain customer value, and build long-term customer relationships.”
Its cohort structure allows students to gain “extensive experience working collaboratively as part of a team,” which extends to the two-week Chinese immersion trip in which students develop a project specific to the region.
The average UT Arlington EMBA student is 38 with an average of 16+ years of work experience. Executive MBA students generally pay for the program through employer sponsorship, although there are scholarship and financial aid opportunities available.
Getting Paid: Highest MBA Salaries in Los Angeles
The transmissions Los Angeles sends back out into the ether are those culled from the desires of its inhabitants but also from the people who romanticize it from the outside. As Joan Didion once wrote, “The city burning is Los Angeles’s deepest image of itself.”
Los Angeles is, admittedly, polarizing. While some may find the not-so-authentic atmosphere of Hollywood to be a downtrodden, morose landscape, the city’s expansive diversity and subtle natural wonder is enthralling in its own right. In a way, it feels alien and utterly familiar all at once.
It’s this kind of uncertainty that makes Los Angeles an ideal place to pursue a business degree for a prospective MBA open to a bit of ambiguity. While Silicon Valley up north has traditionally been romanticized as a place where we can re-write the rules, LA has been catching up recently—and fast. Los Angeles has embraced the tech boom in a big way, with many Valley bigwigs and new startups alike moving their operations to Silicon Beach on the West Side. With that in mind, the new era of LA innovation is creating some lofty starting salaries, particularly for MBA graduates.
The Highest Los Angeles MBA Salaries
UCLA Anderson School of Management
Recent UCLA Anderson graduates earned an average starting salary of $121,250 with a $25,000 signing bonus, according to statistics released by the school. Over 92 percent of Anderson MBAs received job offers within three months of graduation. The top five industries to employ Anderson MBAs are in tech (30.6 percent); financial services (21.6 percent); consumer products (13.4 percent); and consulting services (13.4 percent). Top employers for Anderson graduates include: Amazon, Deloitte, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Google, Microsoft, Adobe, Amgen, BCG, EY, Mattel, McKinsey & Company, Nike, PwC, Apple, AT&T, Autodesk, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Epson, Goldman Sachs, Intel, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Disney, among others
UC Irvine Merage School of Business
MBA graduates from the UC Irivine Paul Merage School of Business posted record employment numbers for the school. Over 90 percent of recent MBAs received job offers within three months of graduation. The most popular industries to attract Merage graduates were in technology (33 percent), finance (31 percent), consulting (24 percent), and marketing/sales (27 percent). Merage graduates with tech industry positions earned starting salaries of $105,000; consulting, $100,000; consumer products, $85,000; and financial services, $100,000. Top employers included: Amazon, AT&T, Bank of America, Cisco, Dell, Deloitte, Gap, Hulu, Hyundai, IBM, Mattel, NBC Universal, Taco Bell, Twitter, and Volcom.
USC Marshall School of Business
According to employment statistics surveying the most recent USC Marshall School of Business MBA class, the average starting salary for Marshall graduates is $115,309 with a $23,431 signing bonus. The top three industries that employ Marshall graduates are within consulting (34 percent), where MBAs start at $132,000; marketing/sales (27 percent), where MBAs start at $99,497; and financial services (18 percent), where MBAs start at $112,087. Top employers of Marshall’s 2016 class include: Adobe, AT&T, Apple, Citigroup, Deloitte, Disney, Facebook, Film Roman, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Morgan Stanley, Johnson & Johnson, Samsung, Taco Bell, Warner Bros, Starbucks, PwC, Sony Pictures, Nestle, and PepsiCo, among others.
USC Marshall grad salaries, broken down by industry.
Pepperdine Graziadio School of Business and Management
Pepperdine Graziadio School of Business and Management graduates earned an average starting salary of $120,000, according to school statistics. Around 82 percent of Graziadio MBAs accepted job offers within three months of graduation.
Financial services, entertainment, technology, and consulting were the top industries to employ Graziadio MBAs.
For more information on the best Los Angeles MBA programs, check out our guide to the city. As well, learn more about which LA schools do not require GMAT or GRE scores here.
John Stankey, the Loyola Marymount and UCLA Alum on Track to Take Over Time Warner
AT&T is awaiting the federal go-ahead for its $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner. The acquisition is expected to go through, and if it does, John Stankey, head of AT&T’s entertainment group, will oversee Warner Bros., CNN, and HBO. Though Stankey has no entertainment background, he is confident in his vision for the future these entertainment avenues.
“Over time, investment in content is going to increase,” Stankey said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “My goal would be to find a lane to ramp up investment in content at a higher level than today and to benefit from some of the efficiencies, some of the synergies.”
Stankey received his undergraduate degree from Loyola Marymount University and went on to earn his MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. Though Stankey has little knowledge of entertainment, he is committed to educating himself by watching more of the shows that are being produced.
There is widespread apprehension regarding AT&T’s plan for its new assets. Optimists foresee AT&T utilizing its consumer data to develop strategies for standing out amidst competing companies. Others fear that AT&T will try to maintain Time Warner’s customer base through discounts, while trying to squeeze out as much revenue as possible.
When asked about what kind of leader Stankey will be, Peter Chernin, the founder and CEO of the Chernin Group, a one of Hollywood’s largest investment firms, said, “I don’t think you’re going to see John trying to green light movies and looking at rough cuts. You’ll see him trying to unlock the opportunity.”
Stankey has indicated that customers may have more original content to look forward to, and that AT&T may use its data to create more tailored advertisements. “We can’t continue to jam advertising down consumers’ throats in 30-minute block,” Stankey said.
The acquisition was announced in October 2016, and, if the buy goes according to plan, AT&T will have officially gained control of Time Warner by the end of 2017.
The Best of Baltimore’s Part-Time MBA Programs
Committing to graduate school can be both exciting and daunting. Earning an MBA gives aspiring industry leaders an undeniable competitive edge, but going back to school full-time can bring other areas of students’ lives to a screeching halt.
Fortunately, many schools offer part-time MBA programs that allow the flexibility to maintain their career and family commitments while still continuing education. Choosing a program that is the right fit is essential to success. That’s why we put together a rundown of the best part-time MBA programs in Baltimore metro.
Carey Business School — Johns Hopkins
The Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins recently expanded its Flexible MBA track to include more online opportunities. Students opting for the Flexible MBA generally complete their 54 credits over the course of three years. An online or online-on-campus hybrid format for students with concentrations in Leading Organizations, Financial Businesses, or Health Care Management. Students pursuing the on-campus option enroll in eight-week sessions that take place Monday through Thursday from 6-9 p.m. in the evening. Carey offers classes on both the Baltimore and Washington DC campuses. Graduates of the Flexible MBA have gone on to hold powerful positions in companies like AT&T, UBS, and World Bank.
Perdue School of Business — Salisbury University
At the Salisbury Perdue School of Business, students can complete their part-time MBA in two years. Perdue offers a 100 percent online program as well as an online-on-campus hybrid. This MBA curriculum includes access to the SAP University Alliance Program, a global network that allows students and faculty to integrate SAP technologies and resources into the classroom. Gaining this technological know-how may give graduates an immediate edge in the marketplace. The program is excellent for students looking to completely shift trades, or aspiring to pursue the business side of an ostensibly unrelated area. Perdue’s MBA does not require that applicants have an undergraduate degree in a business-related field. In fact, Perdue has embraced students with undergraduate degrees in fields like archaeology and art history.
Sellinger School of Business — Loyola University Maryland
The part-time MBA at Sellinger School of Business is designed for students already balancing full jobs. Business school students on this track take their classes in the evenings, after the work-day is finished. Selling offers hybrid and online options for those who cannot consistently make it to campus for their classes. This program is ideal for students who would like to begin their business education on their own time frame, as applicants can enroll at the beginning of any term. Sellinger boasts an emphasis on “reflections, discernment and ethical commitment,” that distinguishes the program from many others.
Merrick School of Business—University of Baltimore
The Merrick School of Business Flexible MBA upholds University of Baltimore’s emphasis on offering programs that let students continue their educations without putting their lives on hold. All of the classes in this program take place in the evening, and 50 percent of the course are offered online. Courses are offered in seven-week terms. Students in this program set their own pace, and those in different time zones are not at a disadvantage, as online courses are offered in an asynchronous format. Students in the Flexible MBA can choose a full-time or part-time course load, without notifying anyone or navigating any administrative channels.
University of Maryland R.H. Smith School of Business
Students earning their MBA through the R.H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland’s part-time program have the benefit of an extremely flexible pace. MBAs can finish their degree in 24 months, 28 months or they can set their own speed and take up to five years. Smith might appeal to those who wish to learn more about the international marketplace, as this MBA program integrates global experiences into the curriculum. Students can choose to attend classes on University of Maryland’s Baltimore, Washington DC, or Rockville/Shady Grove campus. This program was ranked among U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Part-time MBAs.”
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Washington DC Executive MBA Programs You Need To Know
Are you working professional in the Washington DC metro who really wants to get to the top of the corporate ladder? Do you have significant managerial experience, but want to take the next step and assume a leading role in your organization. If this sounds like you, than an Executive MBA (EMBA) is what you’re looking for. Continue reading…
