Special MBAs: 20 Percent Enrol In Niche Programs

Since 1990, the year that the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International, one of the main accreditation boards for business schools, changed its guidelines to encourage innovative curricula, the percentage of business school students enrolled in specialized programs has risen steadily. More than a fifth of business school students are now seeking such degrees. Especially in the current economic environment, people tend to get more focused, reports the “New York Times”.

Specialized programs aim for practical and commercial applications. It’s an approach more likely to be seen outside the top tier of MBA Programs since for many smaller schools specialization is a way to stand out amongst the more than 500 accredited programs here and abroad. After all, niche MBA programs attract students who know exactly to which industry they are heading, as well as older students with business experience who may want to change fields.

The business school at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, is widely considered the pioneer of niche MBA programs. The university ceased teaching general MBA’s in 2004, opting instead for 13 specializations, including market research and real estate. Some niche programs, such as the Energy Concentration course at the University of Oklahoma’s Price College of Business, capitalize on geography. Located in the vicinity of many oil companies, the program has a pool of local employers likely to seek custom-trained executives. With major pharmaceutical firms like Merck and Johnson & Johnson headquartered in the state, Rutgers University in New Jersey offers an MBA in pharmaceutical management.

European business schools were early adopters of the specialization model, especially in France. The international luxury brand management program at Essec Business School near Paris is conducted entirely in English and attracts about 40 students a year, most of them not French. Students in the wine and spirits MBA program at the Bordeaux Management School in Western France enhance their studies with stints at cooperating universities in Australia and northern California.

Investing time and money in a narrowly focused degree may be risky, though, especially if the market for a particular job dries up suddenly. The tightening of the real estate industry is a good example, but going deep instead of wide seems to fit right in with an increasingly segmented world.