Weekend MBA program offers more starting dates

Krannert’s Weekend MBA Program is being offered more frequently to meet the demand of working professionals waiting to join.

The program has run every three years since it began in 1994. For the first time starting in January, a new group of students began the trek to a future MBA while another class began its second year.

“This is a prime example of responding to market demand,” says Chuck Johnson, director of master’s and executive programs at Krannert. “The weekend MBA program was so popular, we had waiting lists of applicants who all had to wait until the current class graduated. This gives them more options and allows us to further develop an already successful program.”

Students meet on the West Lafayette campus 26 Saturdays a year to attend classes taught by Krannert faculty. “Location is a key ingredient to the program,” Johnson says. “We rely on classroom interaction, student to student, student to faculty. Even though they come to West Lafayette once a week, students in the weekend program receive a standard classroom experience and become an integral part of the university community.”

Most of the students are from the surrounding area or live and work an hour to an hour and a half away. The weekend program is one of three executive MBA programs at Krannert designed to help professionals get their MBAs while maintaining full-time job responsibilities.

“The weekend schedule allows students to compartmentalize their schedules and balance work and family responsibilities,” Johnson says. “Because the classes are held on Saturdays, most folks can disengage from work and become totally immersed in the educational process.”

The class starts at 8:30 a.m., with breakfast and lunch provided, and is over by 4:30 p.m. Coursework covers all the functional areas of management ­­— economics, management, accounting, finance, human resources, quantitative methods, marketing operations, and strategic management. Students attend six semesters of Saturday classes but are off during the summers.

“This is not MBA ‘lite,’” Johnson says. “Our weekend students have more experience and are a little older than the full-time MBA candidates but have the same admission requirements, and our faculty expects them to perform equally.”

Jerry Lynch, professor of economics and academic director for the master’s and executive education program, oversees most of the operations and finds faculty to fit the non-traditional nature of the students.

“Because the weekend students are under a time crunch, coordinating work, family, and school, they’re looking for pragmatic answers,” Lynch says. “But in terms of their overall goals and commitment to completing their education, they’re the same as our full-time students.”

The weekend program students fall between the demographics of full-time MBA students, whose average age is 28 with four years experience, and the students enrolled in the Executive MBA program, who are on average 35 years old with 12 years experience, Lynch says. Currently, 62 students are enrolled in the weekend program.

Tuition for the weekend master’s degree program is $13,000 per year for the class starting in January 2008, not including books and case packets. Most students receive support or reimbursement from their employers.

— Maggie Morris

The 2008 weekend MBA entering class attends an orientation session in January in Rawls Hall.