Making the most of spare time

By Jane Porter and Geoff Gloeckler

updated 3:43 p.m. ET Nov. 6, 2007

Anyone who has considered a full-time MBA program already knows about the ugly economics. Tuition and living expenses can set you back more than a year's salary, and taking two years off adds another two—in all, more than 300 large for a top program.

That's why many managers opt for one of three basic alternatives: an executive MBA program, typically offered on weekends and designed for senior managers; a part-time degree program, designed for mid-level managers and offered in a nights-and-weekends format; and executive education, shorter nondegree courses that in many cases are created for specific corporate clients. BusinessWeek has been ranking executive MBA and executive education programs since the 1990s, and this year we are launching a new ranking of part-time MBA programs as well.

To find out what it takes to create an extraordinary program, we decided to delve deeply into three of our top-ranked schools. In their own unique ways, all are attempting to give part-time students something akin to a full-time MBA experience by being global, hands-on, and academically rigorous.

At the University of California at Los Angeles' Anderson School of Management — our top part-time MBA program nationally — we discovered a school that challenges students to apply everything they have learned in a final project that takes them well outside their comfort zones. At Harvard Business School, one of the top executive education programs in the open enrollment category, we found an already successful program in the midst of a game-changing overhaul, with a new array of programs targeting every level of the corporate hierarchy. And over at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, our longtime No. 1 executive MBA program, we found a program where the customer is king and teamwork is part of the school's DNA.

UCLA
This year, UCLA Anderson received a record number of applications for its part-time MBA program — 740, up from 452 in 2004. Not only are more people recognizing the benefits of a part-time program, they also expect a more rigorous experience. No longer is it enough to offer evening classes with light workloads taught by whichever professors are willing to cover the night shift. Students are looking for all the trimmings of a full-time MBA program — better networking opportunities, global exposure, and the best professors. Says Gonzalo Freixes, the school's associate dean for Professional MBA Programs: "MBA education has woken up and said, 'Whoa, this is what our population is clamoring for.'"

More from BusinessWeek Top Part-Time MBA Programs The Best Executive MBAs The Best Full-Time MBAs

No part-time program can match the depth and breadth of a full-time MBA, of course, but Anderson has designed its curriculum to be as close to the real deal as possible. Most schools give part-timers up to six years to complete what is traditionally a two-year degree. Students at UCLA's Fully Employed MBA Program take three. Attendees are required to complete two courses a quarter, for a total of 10 core classes and eight electives on top of a six-month-long project. Unlike many programs where students rarely have classes with the same people, Anderson groups students into "cohorts" of 65 that complete all of their core classes together so they can network. "It has been great to have a group to bounce ideas off of," says third-year student VanAn Tranchi, a manager at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Anderson's part-time program has made several improvements that helped put it at the top of the ranking. One long-standing complaint from part-time students is that they get little in the way of career services. Anderson has made two career counselors available exclusively to its part-time students. The school also added an Executive Career Night that brings 20 companies to campus expressly for its working students. "The companies are very excited about that prospect," says Freixes, because part-timers often have more work experience than their full-time counterparts.

Most schools put a premium on international experience. Anderson believes its Global Access Program is a step above what's out there. Robert F. Foster, who runs it, says other schools offer the "look-see international experience," where students "visit the Toyota factory and write a 10-page paper." At Anderson, students work in groups for six months and develop a business plan for a small business in another country. That involves intense industry research and providing strategic advice for executives.

Tranchi has been working with a family-owned machine manufacturer in Italy. So far the project has involved a trip to Germany for a trade show, weekly 7 a.m. conference calls, and parsing the company's organizational structure for flaws. By the time she makes her presentation to the company's executives in December, Tranchi will have put 500 hours into the project.

She acknowledges the pace is grueling. But as far as UCLA Anderson is concerned, that's what Tranchi and her colleagues asked for. "We have exactly the same expectations whether you're in the full-time or part-time program," says the school's dean, Judy Olian. "We make no excuses."

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