For years, a master of business administration (MBA) degree has conferred a higher salary and industry respect, even if the field of study was rather limited. But increasingly, MBA degrees have diversified, expanding into a variety of fields that gives students more options and job possibilities. Those thinking about getting an MBA should be aware of the different types offered, such as accounting, finance, executive and health care management.
MBA in Accounting
An MBA in accounting educates students in the management and marketing principles of accounting. While business management is also emphasized, the MBA in accounting will focus on subjects such as managerial accounting, finance, accounting information systems, economics, operations and organization theory and analysis. The Rutgers University Business School in Newark, New Jersey, was the first school to introduce this degree and offers a full-time MBA in Professional Accounting that can be completed in 14 months. Students who graduate with this degree will be qualified to take the CPA exam.
MBA in Finance
An MBA with a specialty in finance is designed to educate students in all the financial principles of business, leading to a job as a financial analyst, accountant, investment banker or the ultimate prize, chief financial officer of a company. The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia offers the country's top-ranked MBA in finance, according to the 2010 "U.S. News & World Report" listing for best finance business schools. Wharton offers students the option of specializing in corporate finance, banking and financial institutions, international finance and investment management.
Executive MBA
An executive MBA degree is designed exclusively for mid and high-level executives with experience, usually 5 years or more, working in their companies' management structure. The main distinction with this degree compared to other MBAs is students continue to work full-time in their regular jobs while studying for their executive MBA degree. Because of the limited time commitment, executive MBAs usually take two years to complete, and are often sponsored by a student's business or firm. Successful candidates will be trained in various aspects of teamwork, leadership and innovation within the business community. Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Illinois, offers one of the country's best executive MBA programs, with courses in ethics and executive leadership, foundations of strategy, marketing management and statistical decision analysis.
MBA in Health Care
An MBA in health care combines a solid foundation in basic management with specialized courses in health care administration. Graduates can find work as hospital administrators, health care consultants and pharmaceutical project managers. Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, offers an MBA for executive leadership in health care, separated into a first-year session that teaches management fundamentals such as managing groups and teams, competition, spreadsheet monitoring and the global macroeconomy; and a second-year session specializing in health care instruction, such as managing and innovating in health care organizations, information technology for health care and health care policy, finance and economics.
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