The Master of Business Administration (MBA) is one of the university degree programs, usually focused on management (but also marketing, project management, or finance), and its culmination is the award of an MBA, following the name. The study is usually at least two years old, often in English, but often already in other language and is usually conceived as remote, as most students decide to study at work.
The MBA program deviates from a common understanding of higher education in a number of aspects – as already mentioned, one of the specifics is the great emphasis on practice and the coherence with the employment of the student. Students are not only presented with a lot of theoretical information, but also the leading managers from established companies are giving lectures, which also add “outside view” to the modules.
The MBA study is a guarantee of a shift in the career ladder for almost half of its graduates, which also includes salary increases. However, it is not possible to expect miracles from the study itself, the activity of the student itself is also necessary, for example, in establishing contacts during the course of education. Even so, the study usually pays off, though it is quite expensive – the price of tuition fees is hundreds of thousands. However, it is necessary to choose a good educational institution, ideally one that has international accreditation (otherwise it will be useless for the graduate of the given education abroad).
As far as the degree of study is concerned, the MBA study corresponds to a certain “intermediate level” between master’s and doctoral studies; therefore, a university degree is usually a condition for admission to study (this can be replaced by proven managerial practice in several years).
Thus, to recapitulate the main differences from “ordinary” universities, MBA studies are specific, for example, in the following aspects: