Vanderbilt University, Owen Graduate School of Management

The Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management is one of the world’s top business schools, widely recognized for its strong student-to-faculty ratio, challenging academics, stimulating and innovative research environment, and a spirit of teamwork. Our curriculum and extracurricular activities are geared toward building a résumé for your chosen field. And you won’t find faculty, staff, alumni or classmates more committed to helping you achieve your goals. Nashville offers a quality of life that is urbane and cosmopolitan, yet friendly and affordable.

The MBA Curriculum

Flexibility is a hallmark of the Vanderbilt MBA curriculum. The seven-week modular calendar gives students a fast start by allowing them to complete significant study in their chosen career field before beginning a summer internship. Students begin with the Vanderbilt MBA Core, which consists of 14 required courses that provide an intense and immediate immersion in the fundamentals of management. Students also have multiple options to customize their degree to their personal career goals, including market-driven concentrations, specializations and emphases. A concentration represents a minimum of 12 hours in a single discipline that is usually the foundation for the student’s chosen career. Areas of concentration include accounting, finance, general management, human and organizational performance, marketing, operations and strategy. Specializations are intensive programs that require a minimum of 20 credit hours of coursework beyond the Core. These programs are designed to meet specific market needs, including brand management, corporate finance, health care, human and organizational performance and investment management. An emphasis consists of eight credit hours of courses that allow students to delve deeper into a particular industry, area of interest or corporate function. Emphases include entrepreneurship, international studies and real estate.

Cross-Campus and International Learning Opportunities

Students can also earn credits toward their MBA degree outside of Owen by taking classes in another graduate or professional school at the University or by spending a semester abroad at one of many international exchange partners. Vanderbilt offers several dual-degree programs in conjunction with other schools on campus, and many individuals take advantage of the opportunity to obtain a dual degree. Current dual-degree programs include MBA/JD (law), MBA/MD (medicine), MBA/MALAS (Latin American studies), MBA/MDIV (divinity), MBA/MTS (theological studies), MBA/PhD (medicine) or MBA/PhD (engineering).

Faculty and Research

Vanderbilt’s accomplished faculty infuse the classroom with academic research and professional experience to create a cutting-edge and relevant learning environment. The program exposes students to practical business applications using a balanced mix of lectures, classroom discussions, case studies, group projects and experiential learning opportunities in the community. The spirit of respect and intellectual curiosity that binds faculty and students in the classroom often extends beyond the B-school walls and leads to many lifelong friendships.