The top 25 MBA programs have all certified their programs or a specific major, pathway, or concentration 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, 19 leading business schools offer a STEM designation for their MBA programs:
- 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
- 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 IBEAR MBA
- UVA Darden: Full-time MBA
- Vanderbilt: Full-time MBA, Master of Marketing, and MS Finance
- Yale School of Management: Full-time MBA, Master’s in Systemic Risk, and Master’s in Asset Management
In addition, six 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 McCombs: Financial Mathematics and Management Science/Quantitative Methods concentrations
- UPenn Wharton: Artificial Intelligence for Business; 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
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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