A Cursory Guide to the MBA Program
If you are a recent graduate of high school or just beginning college, then you might be curious about the different careers and degrees that are out there for you. When searching for this information, you might stumble upon the term MBA. If you are just encountering this term for the first time, then you will probably be thinking to yourself, “What is MBA?” First of all, it stands for Master of Business Administration. Basically then, with the degree, you would be gaining in-depth knowledge on the administrative end of running a business, as the title suggests. This consists of learning about the management and performance of business operations, including marketing, human resources, accounting, operations management, etc.
In order to understand how, when, and why the degree got started, it is important to provide the history of it when answering “What is MBA?” The program and degree was first developed in the United States in the late 19th century and introduced in the early 1900s. It emerged as a result of the industrialization of the country, when companies began seeking out scientific approaches to business management. While the Turk School of Business of Dartmouth College, established in 1900, was the first graduate school of business to give advanced degrees in the commercial sciences, Harvard University was the first graduate school to offer an MBA program in 1908. Now universities in countries worldwide, both developed and developing, offer this program, putting their own spin on it.
As with most degrees, there are different areas to specialize in with the MBA. For those who might be asking themselves “What is MBA?” it would be worth it to look into what these different fields of study are within the program. The different areas to specialize in include finance, technology, marketing, accounting, leadership, and many other areas of focus. There are also different types of MBA programs offered. The basic types include the two-year full time MBA, the one-year full time MBA, the part-time MBA, the Executive MBA program, the online MBA program, and dual programs.
The one-year full time program is a lot more intensive than the two-year program, the part-time MBA offers more flexibility, the Executive MBA is for managers and executives who work full-time, and dual programs are for students who would like to get two separate degrees but save time and money at the same time. Online MBA programs are a lot more prevalent these days and being offered by many respectable schools. Information like this is readily available for those wondering "What is MBA?"