bba/mba option taps into trend
Internship is key advantage to new program
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| BBA/MBA student Kristin Ludden (BBA ’07) spent this summer as an intern for the Chicago Bears, helping to organize sponsorship events including family night at Soldier Field. |
Now, a growing number of business school undergraduates are opting to pursue an MBA immediately after receiving their bachelor’s degrees.
The factors behind the trend range from a tightening job market to companies placing more restrictions on employee tuition reimbursement. Loyola’s SBA has responded by creating a program in which students can earn their undergraduate and graduate business degrees in five years.
The BBA/MBA program is completing its second year, and more than 50 students have already received their dual degrees. A pilot program graduated 17 students, and 27 are now enrolled.
“The program is young, but it’s already showing signs of success,” says Mary Ann McGrath, PhD, associate dean of the GSB.
To be considered for the five-year BBA/MBA program, undergraduates must have a 3.2 grade-point average at the end of their junior year. Juniors with a 3.5 GPA can apply without having to take the GMAT, the national standardized test for graduate school applicants.
If accepted to the program, undergraduates take one graduate elective and one core MBA course in the final semester of their senior year. Before beginning one year as full-time MBA students, they spend the summer taking MBA classes and a required supervised internship.
INTERNSHIP GIVES HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE
“The supervised internship is a valuable program,” McGrath says. “It provides students with practical experience and helps them build an expertise to prepare them for the marketplace. It’s also useful in helping students learn what they don’t want to pursue as a career.”
Kristin Ludden (BBA ’07) is enrolled in the BBA/MBA program and is spending the summer as an intern for the Chicago Bears. She’s gaining experience in marketing, helping to organize sponsorship events like fan days at summer training camp and family night at Soldier Field.
“This internship is a great opportunity to work with a reputable and quality organization like the Bears,” Ludden says. “Ideally, I want to be in sports management and marketing. This is a way to get my foot in the door.”
Ludden was attracted to the BBA/MBA program because she didn’t want to wait until mid-career to pursue her graduate degree in business.
“I’m young. I’m not married. I have no kids — no responsibility except for myself. Going back in five or 10 years is not necessarily going to be as easy,” she says.
It’s this kind of input that suggests to McGrath that the BBA/MBA program is meeting the expectations of today’s students.
“There’s a demand for this type of program,” McGrath says. “With the number of participants growing so rapidly in the first year, we’re already addressing a real need.”.