The Top Master In Management Programs In The United States

KELLOGG EXPANDS PROGRAM TO ACCEPT THOSE WITH 2 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE

A huge appeal of the MiM is that students need not spend three or four or five years working before enrolling — they can go right after undergrad. But while MiMs mostly target young college graduates with a year or less work experience, one top program is bucking the trend.

At Northwestern Kellogg School of Management, one of the highest-ranked U.S. B-schools with a MiM program, students with too much experience were until recently disqualified from the recently renamed Master in Management (until very recently known as the Master of Science in Management Studies). But in a big change, the school now allows up to two years of experience to be eligible for the program, up from a year or less.

It’s a move that broadens the field, says Steve Thompson, senior director of full-time admissions at the Kellogg School.

“The Kellogg MSMS is designed for students who have recently completed their undergraduate degree in a STEM or liberal arts field and who have limited full time work experience,” Thompson tells P&Q. “If an applicant has more than two years of full-time work experience (excluding internships and summer jobs) by the enrollment date they are ineligible to apply.

“The curriculum does not assume significant work experience and offers a broad exposure to management topics over one academic year, giving students who did not major in business in undergrad, who may be seeking a head-start, the opportunity to enter into the field with an elevated toolkit to set them up on a fast-track to success.”

Conversely, Thompson adds, “Standard MBA programs require significant work experience (typically, four to six years) and take two years, though at Kellogg our portfolio is broad. An MBA curriculum builds off that work experience, leveraging student expertise and past-challenges, to bring learning opportunities to life; and students have significant opportunities to specialize in different academic areas. The goal of an MBA at Kellogg is to prepare students for management-positions and leadership roles.”

KELLOGG MiM GRADS: 97% OF CLASS OF 2022 RECEIVED JOB OFFERS

Kellogg does not report the percentage of women in its MiM but Thompson points to the importance of another kind of diversity: background. Kellogg MiM cohorts consist of diverse groups of recent graduates, welcoming students from a variety of backgrounds and majors, from Mechanical Engineering to Opera Performance, Political Science, and more.

“We are looking for students who have a strong track record of on-campus undergraduate involvement, coupled with relevant internships or research work,” Thompson says. “Overall, our MSMS program is built to provide students with an introduction to business on top of the solid foundation they received as an undergraduate student – so they must also show an interest in pursuing their career in business as well.”

Graduates of Kellogg’s MiM program find roles in a variety of industries and functions, Thompson says, with a large portion traditionally pursuing finance and consulting roles at firms like Goldman Sachs, Deloitte and Boston Consulting Group. In the 2022 MiM class, 97% received a job offer within three months of graduating.

“However, as mentioned, our students boast a variety of backgrounds with a multitude of expertise, which has resulted in unique job searches. In 2019, one of our graduates entered the military, where he leveraged the leadership, strategy and team building skills he learned during the program!”

Does Thompson see MiMs catching on in the U.S.? Yes, and Kellogg is doing its part to make that happen.

“An advanced degree like a master’s in management is a valuable opportunity to fine tune and build an early and initial set of skills that will set you on an early path to success as you’re entering the workforce,” he says. “As some undergraduate students approach the end of their degree, they may recognize that they would benefit from enhancing their business acumen before entering the job market and our MSMS program serves to bridge that gap in a meaningful and impactful way. The employment outcomes for our MSMS students highlight that the degree is highly valued across industries, but we agree there is an opportunity to increase awareness of the Masters in Management amongst prospective students and employers. We are actively working to do that; and have seen great success thus far.”

THE 3-PLUS-1 MODEL

As MiMs in the U.S. expand, a curious thing is happening: International students have taken notice and are coming to the States to enroll, often in greater numbers than their domestic colleagues. One big reason: Many U.S. MiMs, Like Northwestern Kellogg’s, are STEM programs, which gives graduates more time to work in the U.S. while trying for a visa.

At Georgetown McDonough, where the MiM is also STEM-designated, “Demand is growing in the U.S.,” Evelyn Williams says. “I think the domestic numbers have not grown as exponentially as international. We could fill the class with international students.”

Even as U.S. MiMs have their own structure and character, she says, the market is moving toward a European model: three years of undergraduate study followed by one year in a MiM program.

“What we have done right is not gone after Georgetown students who don’t have a clue what they want to do,” Williams says. “Typically universities have gone to their undergrads who are floundering and have not figured out what to do with their lives. We get the explorers, which they should be.

“What we are going after is the three-plus-one. I see the market moving to more of a European model, three years undergraduate and one year master’s, because they are all taking AP classes. Because they have had this wonderful undergraduate experience where they have learned to write and think critically, they are so good when they graduate from a MIM program.”

‘BEING ABLE TO TEACH YOURSELF IS A BIG PART OF MiM’

Like Kellogg, Georgetown is trying to get companies on the MiM train, with considerable success: In its most recent graduating class, 93% received job offers within six months, at an average salary of $84,000. But Evelyn Williams wants companies to delay their recruitment efforts: “Not to come in the fall for a MiM student. We haven’t even pre-heated the oven at that point,” she says. “Instead of coming in the fall, wait until spring for some gems. They will be much more learned in their interviews.”

The MiM, she says, is a “bridge to the world of work” with huge upside. “It is a multiplier of their trajectory early on in their career,” she says. “To add value from day one — that is what employers are expecting. They are less patient with long training times. Being able to teach yourself is a big part of MiM.

“So they have to figure out the answer themselves as opposed to being told, like how to do a pivot table in Excel. And human dynamics — leadership and teamwork — is something that is pretty darn important, too.

“Right now we are at parity with international students because a lot of U.S. students aren’t aware of MiM programs. It’s been a really good diverse class. In my mind the big piece is first-gen. I think MiMs play an incredibly important role in giving them that bridge to the world of work.”

See the next page for a complete list of the top Master in Management programs in the United States.

AND DON’T MISS SPOTLIGHT ON U.S. MiMs: THE MASTER OF SCIENCE IN MANAGEMENT AT ILLINOIS GIES COLLEGE OF BUSINESS and SPOTLIGHT ON U.S. MiMs: THE MASTER OF SCIENCE IN MANAGEMENT AT GEORGETOWN McDONOUGH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS