Academics
Offering “more of a technical leadership program than a traditional MBA,” the School of Business at Worcester Polytechnic Institute unites a broad-based degree in business essentials with highly specialized instruction in technology and technology management to fit the needs of graduate-level biz-savvy technophiles. Students appreciate the value of this approach; “The technology focus is great, considering where the business world is headed,” one MBA observes. Another explains that the program “works very well in the intersection of business and technology, teaching us how to create and extract maximum value” from that nexus.
WPI’s forty-eight-credit hour program features ten highly-integrated required courses; two major projects; and four electives. All coursework is taught from a technological perspective and practical applications to business theory are emphasized. Students tailor their education via electives in cutting-edge fields such as information security management, process design, or technological innovation. In addition to electives offered through the business school, WPI students can enroll in graduate-level electives in other departments, including computer science, biomedical engineering, and electrical engineering. Students may study on campus, online, or switch back and forth between the two formats, an arrangement they love. “You can take classes online or portions of it online in case you are away on business and can’t make the class one night,” creating a “high amount of schedule[ing] flexibility.”
WPI is committed to keeping up with the Data Age, with “courses updated frequently” and online course delivery “allowing for larger numbers of students to take classes, so I have never been closed out of a class.” It isn’t just all-tech, all-the-time at WPI; professors “express strong concerns with teaching us the importance of ethics applied in business management.” Course work, students warn, “is fairly extensive, averaging about three to six hours per week per credit for reading and homework,” but “professors are fair in their grading and flexible to accommodate working student schedules,” which helps. Administrators “operate the program seamlessly,” another plus.
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