International MBA students studying on an F1 visa in the USA gain access to the American job market through the OPT or the Optional Practical Training. OPT allows international students temporary employment of up to 12 months in the USA buying them time for applying to the lottery-based H1B visa – that holds the fate of thousands of international professionals to ransom every year.
With the ongoing anti-immigrant political scenario in the US, and tightening of the H1B visa law, finding jobs has become increasingly challenging. Getting an H1B visa is a gamble anyway; add to this, the reluctance of employers- even traditionally favorable ones- to hire international students. The result is, prospective students are now shying away from applying for American MBAs, leading to drastic falls in applications across US business schools.
In this glum scenario, b-schools offering a STEM designation for their MBA programs bring tremendous hope for international applicants. STEM designations were traditionally granted to academic programs focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. These programs are allowed a 24-month extension to the OPT, thus allowing students a 3-year stay in the US without needing the H1B visa. So far, only technical Masters programs were STEM-designated, but since the past 2-3 years, MBA programs are also becoming STEM certified for certain MBA specializations or the entire MBA programs.
So, how do MBA and STEM degrees work together? The purpose of an MBA program is to develop future business leaders. As businesses increasingly employ data and analytics for superior decision making, acquiring advanced quantitative skills and analytical frameworks become crucial skills for MBA students. The STEM MBAs focus on building exactly these technical skills while also imparting core business education to students. This combination of technical and management skills makes MBAs more attractive to employers.
We at MBA Decoder are excited about these changes and have compiled a list of the b-schools that have started offering the STEM designation.
STEM DESIGNATION FOR ENTIRE MBA PROGRAM
Simon Business School at the University of Rochester was among the first MBA to offer a STEM MBA in 2018. At Simon, you can select any of their 10 areas of specialization (Asset Management, Banking, Corporate Finance, Venture Capital & Private Equity, Brand Management, Product Management, Operations, Pricing, Strategy, Technology) and still receive a STEM designation. Simon has no special application for applying to the STEM MBA. All you need to do is make your choice known by ticking the right box when you are filling up your application.
Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper MBA gained the STEM designation this year (2019). Tepper has since long positioned itself as a b-school that integrates business, technology, and analytics. Last year, Tepper launched the Tepper Quad- an innovation hub where the MBA program is housed, providing it access to all other colleges of Carnegie Mellon University, bringing together students studying cutting edge technology, entrepreneurship, analytics and other technical degrees for making business magic together. The Tepper MBA has an intense focus on developing students’ advanced quantitative skills across all specializations of the MBA, therefore the STEM designation for the entire MBA sounds a natural step in the program’s evolution.
Berkeley Haas MBA is the latest to receive the STEM Designation for its Full-Time MBA program, EMBA and the weekend MBA programs. According to Haas’ press release, after review from the National Center for Education Statistics, the Haas MBA degree programs were changed from “Business Administration and Management, General,” to “Management Science,” which is considered a STEM MBA. F1 visa students can apply for visa extensions in their first year of work after completing their MBAs.
STEM DESIGNATION FOR SOME COMPONENTS OF THE MBA PROGRAM
In April 2019, Darden announced its STEM-designated MBA concentration in Management Science. This has been launched for students who want a quantitative and analytical focus in their MBA studies. The students must complete selected courses with a quantitative and analytical focus. The courses include Accounting, Economics, Finance, Marketing, Quantitative Analysis, Strategy, and Technology and Operations. Forty electives currently taught at the b-school satisfy this requirement.
At Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, the Management Science and Technology Management track (MSTeM), which is part of the regular 2 year MBA helps students earn the STEM degree and prepares students for careers in healthcare, consulting, technology, manufacturing, entrepreneurship, and finance
At the Wisconsin MBA program, two of their ten specializations are STEM-designated. The Operations and Technology Management specialization is for students who have backgrounds in engineering, science or other areas of technology and operations. The specialization further offers 5 informal tracks depending upon the electives a student takes. These are: Business Analytics, healthcare management, entrepreneurial management, technology product management, and productions systems management. The Supply Chain Management specialization is the second STEM-designated course at Wisconsin. As part of these two specializations, the students can also focus on their area of interest by earning a certificate in business analytics, entrepreneurship, strategic innovation, and sustainability.
At USC Marshall School of Business, the management science specialization of the regular MBA course qualifies as a STEM degree. Students can apply for the STEM designation after they complete the core component of the first semester. To qualify for the management science MBA, students should have a GPA of atleast 3.0
At Mendoza College of Business, Notre Dame University, the MBA/MSBA dual degree program is offered as STEM-designated.
Krannert School of Business at Purdue University announced its STEM MBA in June 2019, for four specialization areas: Business Analytics and Information Management, Finance, Global Supply Chain Management, and Marketing. The STEM-designated MBA will “offer an immersive set of quantitative classes grounded in statistics, computer applications and data analysis, along with core business classes that will develop students’ analytical and problem-solving skills”.
The Vanderbilt MBA offers its finance concentration as a STEM degree program. In the words of Sue Oldham, Associate Dean, MBA Programs Operations, “This STEM designation is a direct result of the leadership team here listening to what our students are saying, specifically our international students”.
The Weatherhead MBA at Case Western University also offers a STEM MBA. The program features two STEM -approved core courses: Business Analytics and Statistics and Decision making in addition to a roster of STEM electives that include Quantitative Risk Modeling, Advanced Marketing Analytics, Six Sigma and Quality Management, Predictive Modeling and Artificial Intelligence.