Master of Business Administration

Post-graduate degree in business and management.

In the USA, courses tend to run for two years while in Europe, most courses, with a few notable exceptions such as those run by the London School of Business, tend to run over one year. In two-year courses the first is taken up by core curriculum in essential business disciplines such as finance, economics, and organizational structure. In the second year the student can tailor the degree using electives, or specialist courses. Once an automatic passport to a six-figure salary, the increasing numbers of students taking the qualification have reduced its value slightly in the eyes of employers. Nonetheless, despite the expense and difficulty of getting in to the top programmes, including Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, and Sloan, an MBA is still a good means of obtaining a senior position with an excellent salary.