Business degrees in the US that could save the world

Uncertain times call for business leaders with the know-how to solve pressing issues effectively. Consumers demand this — a 2018 report by Edelman indicates that 64% of consumers want brands to drive positive change; 46% expect businesses to solve a country’s problems better than the government.

Racial unrest, severe weather changes, and now, a pandemic — these are upending lives all over the world. Solutions, however, can be found — and more often than not, they are coming from creative business leaders. PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta announced a commitment of US$400 million “to lift up Black communities and increase Black representation at the company.” Through backing from ARM, Autodesk and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Cambridge-based startup Simprints is providing hardware devices that allow the world’s poorest to access public services. L’Oréal USA is currently donating surgical and N95 respirator masks to hospitals.

A transformative graduate business degree — like the ever-popular MBA — can equip the young and idealistic with the ability, knowledge and experience to come up with such fresh ideas. Harvard Business Review found that almost a third of the top 100 names on the Fortune 500 list have an MBA degree. Here are four US universities to kickstart your MBA journey:

Thomas Jefferson University: School of Business

To step into a Thomas Jefferson University (TJU) School of Business classroom is to step into a dynamic learning lab. Students actively join forces with faculty members and their peers in a way that is immersive and engaging. They gain cutting-edge skills, collaborate across programs for an interdisciplinary, team-based and entrepreneurial environment , and get a feel of what their future workplaces will be like — graduates call this combination the “Jefferson advantage.”

Source: Thomas Jefferson University, School of Business

Two TJU programs showcase this best. The Innovation MBA has been heralded by The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and Wired Magazine as the type of degree businesses today want. Why? It has features such as TJU’s signature Nexus Learning™ approach, the unique innovation core, International Business Trip, foundational modules that get students of all backgrounds up to speed in a single semester and access to top internship and employment opportunities with companies such as Comcast, Johnson & Johnson, JP Morgan Chase, Verizon, and others. Concentrations include Accounting (CPA Preparation), Analytics, Biopharmaceutical commercialization, Finance (CFA Preparation), Leadership, Marketing and Fashion Business.

“My goal, as a project manager, was to establish a solid business acumen and ramp up my knowledge in finance and accounting. The iMBA program at Jefferson was rewarding and shaped a holistic experience and equipped me with the tools I needed to reach my career goals,” says graduate Mohammed Tashkandi.

The MS in Global Fashion Enterprise focuses on global fashion development and apparel ecosystems throughout the value chain, producing graduates with the skills and networks to develop, innovate, and transform existing fashion enterprises with fresh, creative, and viable solutions to complex business problems. Like the iMBA, this master’s has a 36-credit curriculum made up of three integrated components: strong business foundation complemented with innovation core and specialisation in a specific area.

More perks at TJU? Small classroom sizes, high-touch active learning, accomplished faculty who bring invaluable real world experience and are prominent in their field, vibrant urban vibes in the city of Philadelphia, networking opportunities, international exposure — these are the features that provide TJU business students with the highly desirable skills sought after by today’s firms.. Learn more about this ACBSP-accredited business school here.

University of California, Berkeley: Haas School of Business

The second-oldest business school in the US, the Haas School of Business has degree programmes that are consistently ranked among the world’s best. Around 2,300 undergraduate and postgraduate students come to California each year to join a network of ovher 41,000 graduates that strive to thrive in their professional lives across a range of sectors.

Source: UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business

Haas boasts a different take on leadership, believing that the best leaders are the ones that are authentic, working with and through others to create unexpected solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. Programmes such as the Full-time MBA, Evening & Weekend MBA, MBA for Executives, Master of Financial Engineering and more offer professionals the opportunity to gain a business education that will equip them to become sustainable leaders of tomorrow. 

A strong sense of culture, a campus located at the epicentre of the innovation economy, and a Nobel Prize-winning faculty — the Haas School of Business has been breaking barriers in business education since its findings that date all the way back to 1898.

University of Georgia: Terry College of Business

State-of-the-art facilities, an unmatched academic experience, world-class faculty and vast alumni network — these are the components that empower Terry College of Business students to realise their full potential both professionally and personally. 

For over 100 years, the school’s mission has been to develop professionals with the knowledge to spearhead effective and ethical approaches to business. It also takes great pride in its role supporting economic growth in Georgia and graduating ethical leaders who are prepared to compete in the global economy. 

Source: University of Georgia, Terry College of Business

It offers a popular residential undergraduate programme, a wide range of specialised master’s degrees and eight different areas of research in its PhD programmes. When it comes to networking, the opportunities are equally diverse with 70,000 alumni, many of whom enthusiastically engage with the college as employers, mentors and donors. 

The Terry College of Business has been continuously accredited since 1926 by AACSB, and classes are taught all across AGA’s campuses in Athens, Gwinnett and Griffin, as well as the Terry Executive Education Centre in Atlanta.

University of Texas, Dallas: Naveen Jindal School of Management

The Naveen Jindal School of Management is the largest of UT Dallas’s eight schools. When it comes to designing its programmes, corporate and industry needs come first. This ensures students receive rigorous training and the relevant skills for professional success. 

Programmes are offered at all levels from undergraduate to postgraduate and executive levels focusing on six areas of business specialisations such as Accounting, Finance and Managerial Economics, Information Systems, Marketing, Operations/Supply Chain Management and Organisations, Strategy and International Management.

US News & World Report ranks the school’s Full-Time MBA 33rd in the nation and 12th  among public university programmes in the US. In the same ranking, the Part-Time Professional MBA (PMBA) programme comes in at 19th place nationally and ninth among public university programmes in the US. The school’s online graduate business programmes ranked sixth in the US News & World Report’s 2020 Best Online Graduate Business Programme rankings, as did its online MBA in the US News & World Report’s 2020 Best Online MBA Programme rankings.

With a broad array of internship and scholarship opportunities available, the opportunities for growth here are endless. With the Career Management Centre ever-willing to help, students are supported and guided throughout their courses too. 

*Some of the institutions featured in this article are commercial partners of Study International