The difference between an EMBA and MBA

What is the difference between an EMBA and MBA?

An Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) is an increasingly popular degree for experienced professionals to attain that often means they can keep working at their current position while completing the degree much quicker than it would otherwise take them to complete a Master of Business Administration (MBA) which traditionally takes longer.

Many MBA programs are fulltime ones that typically mean you become a fulltime student for 1-2 years. Other options exist to complete an MBA part-time and of course online options are now prevalent too.

I did my undergraduate degree in Business Administration, an Honors degree in General Management. I haven’t completed my MBA but it is something I’ve thought about from time to time.

The first EMBA program was offered back in 1940 at the University of Chicago so it has been offered for decades but really came into prominence during the 1990s. The University of Chicago set the program up for working professionals so that they could continue working fulltime while still completing their EMBA.

So in that regard, one difference between an EMBA and MBA is that the EMBA program tends to allow people to complete the degree while continuing to hold their jobs.

Executive MBA programs are now offered at many universities who also offer traditional MBA programs as the EMBA programs tend to be very lucrative and high profile programs that can garner the school a great deal of money and publicity.

The EMBA also tends to attract managers and executives – hence the “E” in EMBA – who typically have more experience than MBA program entrants. I know people who have literally gone right from completing an undergraduate degree to entering an MBA program with little to no work experience but you typically won’t find that with EMBA applicants.

Another major difference between the EMBA and MBA can be the schedules. The typical MBA program will run Monday-Friday during hours similar to what other university classes run. The MBA program at the school I graduated from in fact shared some classes with undergraduates like me so I often had classes with MBA students in them. With the EMBA, their schedules can differ but at the school I graduated from, the classes run from Thursday-Sunday once per month. The actual school year runs for three five month terms with one term starting in February and another in September.

If you’re interested in an EMBA program, start researching the schools you’re interested in to see what options are offered as they might differ and provide more or less flexibility for you. Obviously, the time commitment is going to require buy in and a thumbs up from the important people in your life ie. your family and employer among others.

One thing that the two programs have in common is their cost in that they tend not to be cheap especially for the more prestigious schools. A quick check of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania’s website shows that a 2-year EMBA program starts at $156,600 US for people who began the program in May 2009. Similarly, the first year of their traditional MBA program is estimated to cost $81,100 with the second year expected to increase.

Financing options are typically available but at the end of the day, such programs are expensive and will cost you. Of course the benefits of graduating from such a program can significantly benefit you during the rest of your career.

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