What are some of the ways the MBA program has made A&T proud over the past year?

Our MBA degree is a professional graduate, business degree which provides students with a thorough understanding of the basic business essentials (economics, accounting, finance, management and marketing) followed by an intense study in one of three business concentrations (e.g. Accounting, Human Resource Management and Supply Chain Management). Our courses are offered predominately in the evening and are well suited for working professionals. Students have the curriculum option of completing their degree in 2 years or 1.5 years.

We have maintained our AACSB International accreditation since 1979 (and the Accounting program since 1986). In both cases, we were the first university in the Piedmont-Triad area of North Carolina to earn the prestigious AACSB International stamp of quality. The accreditation assures the quality of the faculty, the curricula, and the learning resources.

Our MBA is among the most affordable in the state, and students are taught by faculty who are leaders in their disciplines and are dedicated to preparing our students for leadership and significance. The curriculum is ‘student centered’ to help prepare our students to achieve their professional goals. It is also ‘business mentored’ so that our students get the benefit of advice and experience from business executives.

Who can benefit most from an A&T MBA?

According to the State of North Carolina Workforce Report, our state and nation is making the shift from an economy based on traditional manufacturing to a new economy driven increasingly by knowledge-intensive, business services activities which has produced a large demand for both jobs requiring high skills and offering high wages as well as jobs requiring minimal skills; leaving a significant gap in the demand for jobs in the “middle.” The lost manufacturing jobs represented many of the ‘traditional middle jobs’ that offered family-supporting wages but did not require extensive education and training

There are not enough skilled workers to fill the high-skill, high-wage jobs in the occupations where they are now growing. Those being squeezed from their traditional middle jobs are not ready to compete for available opportunities. The result is an increasingly polarized workforce – those who have skills and access to good-paying jobs and those without skills and only access to primarily lower-paying jobs.

The major message is: future prosperity depends on achieving higher educational attainment levels.  The more education that an occupation demands, the higher the average earnings. Workers with no post-secondary education or certification are finding it increasingly difficult to compete for jobs in high wage occupations.

Individuals who are ‘re-tooling’ their skillset to leverage those newly developed transferrable skills in the new marketplace will benefit tremendously from an A&T MBA.  No matter what life a student may carve out for themselves, our MBA program is designed to propel them into the future with the transferrable skills and passion to excel in their career.

What are some of the biggest rewards you see students and graduates enjoy as a result of choosing A&T’s MBA program?

Our MBA program leverages Preeminence 2020 Goal 4 (Entrepreneurial Spirit and Engagement) by including three discipline-based concentrations that will broaden access to credentialing for our graduates as well as Goal 3 (Premier Research, Science and Technology – Focused Institution) by offering a technology-focused program which produces graduates who can:

• leverage technology and know how to make an impact (e.g., facilitate decision-making, buy-in, and knowledge sharing)
• enable capabilities (e.g. helping others to do their jobs more effectively)
• improve business efficiency by using collaborative online tools and platforms.

Are there any particular student success stories you would like to mention?

– Meisha Ross (MBA Student) won second place in the APICS (American Production and Inventory Control Society) Student Paper Contest – Title of Paper – Global Sourcing (global sourcing strategy; evolution of market and supplier; supplier selection; and implementation, documentation, and performance measurement (cost, laws, currency, lead time,  – culture, and language).  She received a $500 award.

– 100% job placement rate for the December 2016 MBA graduating class.

Do any campus offerings outside the College (such as the Entrepreneurship Center, International Programs, etc) benefit MBA students? If so, how?

– Office of Career Services – Our MBA students take advantage of several of the career fairs that Career Services sponsors.

– Graduate College – Our MBA students work closely with the STAR Associates regarding admissions assistance and Graduate Assistant-ship training.