The MBA stands for Master of Business Administration, which is a general master's degree in business intended for students with an undergraduate degree in any field. The MBA degree is intended to prepare students to enter any area of business and advance to a high level of management. The degree can be especially valuable if combined with an undergraduate degree in engineering, sciences, or other fields that enable the MBA managers to understand the people with whom they are working.
More specialized master's degrees in business, typically with designations such as MSc or MA, are intended to strengthen the knowledge of the student who already has an undergraduate degree in business. As such, students in these programs will typically have completed an undergraduate degree in the discipline. In a small number of cases, applicants with a limited background in the area of specialization, but who have a specialization in a related area, may be considered. Specialized master's degrees in business that are not MBAs are appropriate for training students who want to:
build successful careers in research or analysis in the relevant discipline;
pursue advanced studies at the doctoral level;
pursue staff positions in a specific area of business. For example, an MSc in finance prepares graduates for high level work in finance, but does not prepare them to manage a marketing or production department. Similarly, an MSc Technology would prepare graduates for high level positions in technology, but not necessarily to become CEOs of the business.
These specialized master's degrees in business typically require the completion of a research paper (as in the case of an MA) or master's thesis (for a MSc degree).
Use the links in the menu at the right for links to more information on the various specialized master's in business degrees.
AACSB Accredited Business Schools
Pre-MBA