Over the past couple of years, the top 25 MBA programs have certified their programs (or portions of them) as STEM (science, technology, engineering, math). A STEM designation for an MBA program allows international students with F1 visas the eligibility to extend the Optional Practical Training (OPT) period to work in the United States from 12 months to 36 months. This, in turn, helps graduates of qualifying programs to be more attractive to US employers and gain additional work experience in the States before having to go through a visa lottery or be sponsored.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison began offering its Operation and Technology Management certificate in 2016. In 2018, the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester was the first to have its entire MBA program receive STEM designation. More recently, all top schools have built STEM-qualifying components into their program.
Currently, 16 leading business schools offer a STEM designation for their overall MBA program:
- Carnegie Mellon Tepper: Full-time MBA
- Chicago Booth: Full-time MBA, Evening MBA, Weekend MBA, and Executive MBA
- Columbia: Full-time and Executive MBA, MS in Financial Economics, MS in Accounting and Fundamental Analysis, and MS in Marketing Science
- Cornell Johnson: One- and two-year MBAs, Cornell Tech MBA, MPS in Management, and MPS in Management with Accounting specialization
- Duke Fuqua: Full-time MBA
- Emory Goizueta: One- and two-year MBAs, Evening MBA, Master of Finance, and MS in Business Analytics
- Harvard: Full-time MBA (new for Class of 2025)
- MIT Sloan: Full-time MBA, Sloan Fellows MBA, and Executive MBA
- Northwestern Kellogg: Full-time MBA, part-time MBA, Executive MBA, Master in Management, and MMM (MBA + Master of Engineering Management) degree, which includes an MBA from Kellogg and an MS in Design Innovation from Northwestern University’s Segal Design Institute
- NYU Stern: Full-time MBA and one-year Andre Koo Technology and Entrepreneurship MBA
- Rice Jones: Full-time MBA, part-time MBA, online MBA, Professional MBA, Executive MBA, and all master’s programs
- Stanford GSB: Full-time MBA and MSx degrees
- UC Berkeley Haas: Full-time MBA, Evening & Weekend MBA, and Executive MBA
- UCLA Anderson: Full-time MBA, Fully Employed MBA, and Executive MBA
- UNC Kenan-Flagler: Full-time MBA, Evening Executive MBA, Weekend Executive MBA, Charlotte Executive MBA, and online MBA@UNC
- USC Marshall: Full-time MBA, part-time MBA, and one-year MBA,
In addition, eight schools have a subset of their MBA program (e.g., a track, concentration, major) that qualifies for the STEM designation:
- Dartmouth Tuck: Management Science and Quantitative Methods option
- Georgetown McDonough: Management Science major in full-time and Flex MBA programs
- Indiana Kelley: Business Analytics, Finance, Marketing, Strategic Analysis of Accounting Information, and Supply Chain and Operations majors
- Michigan Ross: Management Science specialization
- Texas-Austin McCombs: 14 of 22 concentrations
- UPenn Wharton: Business Analytics; Business Economics and Public Policy; Business, Energy, Environment and Sustainability; Environmental, Social and Governance Factors for Business; Finance; Operations, Information and Decisions; Quantitative Finance; Social and Governance Factors for Business; and Statistics majors
- UVA Darden: Management Science specialization
- Yale School of Management: Management Science concentration and MS in Global Business and Society
Employers continue to seek graduates with strong data analytics experience, and a STEM designation can help provide these skills—along with increased eligibility to work in the United States after graduation.
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