An article from the United Kingdom publication The Independent last year on MBA trends for 2015 noted, “Ever since its inception in the late 19th century, the Masters in Business Administration is the one academic postgraduate qualification that has never stood still. The constantly evolving requirements of employers, the changing demands of students, and the revolutionary changes caused by waves of new technologies have been met by a willingness by the best business schools to change the what, the how, and (increasingly) where they teach.”

The University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics is one of those business schools that has focused on providing its students with both the theory and practice to master new knowledge and skills, expand graduates’ career options and enhance their earning power.

Consequently, Lerner’s Graduate and MBA Programs has rolled out all new majors in its MBA program including business analytics, entrepreneurial studies, finance, health care management, or strategic leadership and has added new concentrations in health care, business analytics and strategic leadership.

“The innovation in the redesign of our MBA is our focus on majors. Other MBA programs have concentrations, but our five majors each have 15 credits, allowing the student to gain much deeper knowledge and expertise in a field when compared to any of the other many MBA programs that we benchmarked,” said Jack Baroudi, associate dean of MBA and Graduate Programs, who added, “We think this is a real differentiator.”

Baroudi noted, “The MBA program provides a select group of students with a relevant, advanced business management education. Coursework integrates the functional areas of business, while preparing graduates for positions of greater responsibility in corporations, small businesses, consulting firms, government or non-profit organizations.”

The core of the program offers students the tools, analytics and frameworks necessary to drive effective evidence based decision-making. This set of skills, knowledge and competencies allows for the successful management and leadership of organizations operating in an environment of scarce resources, rapid change and global competition.

Upon completion of the core, students may elect to advance their careers through a variety of options. Those pursuing a more focused career strategy may select a major within the MBA by completing 15 credits of coursework in one of five major areas of study: business analytics, entrepreneurial studies, finance, health care, or strategic leadership. The majors are designed to help students change their career or enhance their careers within a particular industry or job category.

Students may instead choose to complete one or more of the following concentrations by choosing nine hours of prescribed elective course work in accounting; finance; health care; hotel, restaurant and institutional management; information technology; international business; marketing; entrepreneurial studies; museum management; strategic leadership and sports management.

The concentrations allow students to gain some depth while still providing for other elective course choices. The goal of the concentration is to improve an individual’s knowledge in a particular topic.

Students interested in a broad MBA curriculum need not pursue a major or concentration and may instead choose electives from a wide variety of academic areas both within Lerner and across the University. Small class sizes and intense interaction among students of diverse backgrounds and experiences are hallmarks of the program, which took more than three years to plan, get approved and implement.

For more information about the UD MBA, visit the MBA website or contact mbaprogram@udel.edu.