Top 11 MBA Programs for IT Leaders
These leading university masters programs could help you take your IT career to the next level.
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Most CIOs spend their entire careers working in IT. As a result, many understand technology very well but are less familiar with the bigger picture of how the business operates.
However, today more than ever, IT leaders need to have a solid understanding of business principles if they are going to do their jobs well. According to the 2017 Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey, 62% of CIOs now sit on their executive boards, up from just 38% in 2005. Having a seat at the table results in much higher job satisfaction for CIOs, but it also requires them to be well-versed in topics like finance, marketing and strategic planning that might not have been a part of their previous education or work experience.
One popular way to fill that gap is with an advanced degree. A master's in business administration (MBA) gives IT leaders the business foundation they need to contribute as a member of the executive board, and a growing number of top business schools now offer MBAs with a concentration in an IT-related area like information systems or business analytics.
Many schools also now offer masters of science (MS) degrees in information systems, and the number that have MS programs in business analytics has risen sharply over the last year. In the CIO survey, six out of ten respondents said their departments consistently experience skills shortages, and the two skills most often lacking were big data/analytics and business analysis. Universities are responding with programs that aim to fill this need.
So where should IT leaders go to get these advanced degrees?
The answer depends on whether they want to attend a full-time program or keep working, where they want to live, their particular specialized interests, their learning preferences, their budget and their academic background. The following slides take a closer look at the top 10 business schools with graduate information systems programs as ranked by U.S. News and World Report. (The list actually has 11 schools because two were tied in the rankings.) It offers an overview of the key features of the programs and links to the business schools' websites for more information.
The publication ranked schools using weighted scores for peer assessments, recruiter assessments, graduates' mean starting salaries and bonuses, employment rates for graduates and selectivity.
Robert H. Smith School of Business
Website: https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/
Location: College Park, Maryland
Annual Tuition: $44,766
Enrollment: 5,335
Programs for IT Leaders: MBA, Master of Science in Business Analytics, Master of Science in Information Systems, Master of Science in Marketing Analytics
For students seeking an MBA, the Smith school offers a variety of options: full-time, part-time or online. Its part-time MBA program is particularly popular with 820 students, compared to 230 in the full-time program. The full-time MBA is a two-year program (54 credit hours) that also requires a summer internship. Students are discouraged from working while attending the program. The part-time MBA generally takes between 24 and 28 months with classes either two nights per week or on weekends. The online MBA includes a track for Information Systems and Business Analytics. The curriculum is the same as the in-person programs, and the coursework can be completed in as little as 24 months.
The other master's programs can be completed in one or two years. Smith currently has 785 students enrolled in these courses.
The Wharton School
Website: https://www.wharton.upenn.edu/
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Annual Tuition: $70,200
Enrollment: 4,993
Programs for IT Leaders: MBA, eMBA
Founded in 1881, Wharton was the world's first business school, and it continues to be one of the most well respected. For IT leaders, it offers majors in business analytics and information: strategy and economics, as well as in other areas of business.
For the class of 2019, Wharton received 6,692 applications and enrolled 863 students. Incoming students had a mean GPA of 3.6 and a mean GMAT score of 730. Graduates earn a median salary of $125,000, and 95% of graduates accepted full-time jobs shortly after graduation.
The school also has an executive MBA program in both Philadelphia and San Francisco. The program has the same curriculum but takes slightly longer as students primarily take courses on weekends. It caters to older students with more work experience.
Carlson School of Management
Website: https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Annual Tuition: $38,208 (in-state, full-time); $48,936 (out-of-state, full-time)
Enrollment: 4,629
Programs for IT Leaders: MBA, Master of Science in Business Analytics
Carlson offers full-time, part-time, part-time distance and executive MBA programs for IT leaders interested in improving their business skills. For the fall of 2017, the full-time MBA program had 565 applicants, of whom 208 were admitted and 88 matriculated. Entering students had a median GPA of 3.43 and a median GMAT of 690. The part-time program had 369 applicants, of whom 317 were admitted and 268 matriculated. Ninety-six percent of its full-time MBA students had accepted job offers within 90 days after graduation. The master of science in business analytics program had an even more impressive employment rate, with 100% of students accepting jobs within 90 days after graduation. Graduates work at companies like McKinsey & Company, Amazon, Facebook, Ford, Expedia, Ameriprise, Google and others.
The school has 191 full-time faculty members, including 16 who teach information and decision sciences.
Tepper School of Business
Website: https://www.cmu.edu/tepper/
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Annual Tuition: $64,000 per year (full-time)
Enrollment: 1,754
Programs for IT Leaders: MBA, Master of Science in Business Analytics
The Tepper School offers undergraduate, masters and doctoral programs, and its MBA program has a concentration in business technologies, as well as business analytics and technology leadership tracks that might be of interest to IT leaders. In addition to the full-time MBA program, it has a three-year, part-time online hybrid option and a three-year, part-time on-campus option. In the fall of 2017, the entering class had an average GPA of 3.3 and an average GMAT score of 691. The Master of Science in Business Analytics program takes 18 months to complete and will be enrolling its first class in the fall of 2018.
The school boasts 145 full-time staff, and it is included on numerous best college lists. This fall it will also open a brand new state-of-the-art building called the Tepper Quad (see above).
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