Recently Columbia Business School has announced a new dual degree program MBA x MS: Engineering and Applied Science, in partnership with Columbia Engineering.

The program is 20 months long and will officially be launched in the Fall 2023. The degree will allow students to earn both an MBA and an Executive Master of Science in Engineering and Applied Science. The students will take courses with both Columbia Business School and Columbia Engineering Faculty with a curriculum that covers core engineering and essential business courses.

To give an overview of dual degree programs: A dual degree MBA allows students to combine a business degree with a different graduate study program. Some examples of other disciplines students of Dual Degree programs participate in are- engineering, law, public health, health administration, bio-medicine, social work, economics, and nursing. MBA Dual Degree programs often take one less year to complete than if a student was pursuing both degrees separately, but this time frame varies depending on the program and the university.

There are some pros and cons of dual degrees:

Pros:

  1. a) Completing two degrees in a shorter amount of time while also saving on tuition
  2. b) Expanding one’s network outside of Business school
  3. c) Enhancing marketability for certain career opportunities
  4. d) Personalizing and individualizing your academic experience to meet your specific learning goals

Cons:

  1. a) Limited capacity for electives that don’t count toward either degree program
  2. b) Possibly not graduating with your MBA cohort (depending upon your program)
  3. c) Additional moving expenses and logistical challenges if pursuing a program in a different location
  4. d) Not being able to participate in specific activities or courses that occur during a quarter that you are away from either school

Prior to Columbia Business School, many top business schools are already running dual degree programs. Here are a few examples (a list of the top dual degree programs can be found here: https://aringo.com/joint-mba-programs/) :

  1. Kellogg School of Management – Northwestern University offers an MMM program which is an immersive dual-degree program that gives students a rigorous business education integrated with a strong foundation in design innovation. MMM graduates receive an MBA from Kellogg and an M.S. in Design Innovation from the Segal Design Institute at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.
  2. Haas School of Business – University of California, Berkeley offers MBA/MEng program which will prepare students to become leaders in technological innovation in any industry. Students earn two master’s degrees in the time it takes to complete just one.
  3. MIT – Sloan School of Management provides MIT’s Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) Dual Degree program. The student in this MBA/MS program can leverage the tool they gain from the Sloan School of Management and School of Engineering at MIT to become an innovative business leader with the technical skills to implement complex operations, manufacturing, and data analytics solutions across industries.
  4. Wharton School – University of Pennsylvania’s MBA in Health Care Management provides students with strengths in health economics and a focus on health management. As dual MBA and healthcare programs become more popular, this program has become increasingly competitive. Apart from Health Care Management, Wharton School also offers 13+ dual degree programs like- MA/MBA (School of Advanced International Studies or SAIS + Wharton), MBA/DMD, MBA/MArch, MBA/ MLA, etc.
  5. Harvard Kennedy School with Wharton Business School also offers a dual degree program MBA/MPA which prepares students to operate in both business and public policy or public administration fields. For students with an interest in crafting solutions for public problems across the business, government, policy, and more, the dual degree MBA in public policy may be the path for them.
  6. Stanford Graduate School of Business along with Stanford School of Medicine provides MD/MBA which is a 5-year residency program. Apart from this dual degree, Stanford Graduate School of Business gives the option to pursue a dual degree with any graduate program at Stanford University. Candidates must apply to and be accepted by the other program separately, and then notify Stanford GSB.

Pursuing an MBA Dual Degree can be rigorous and challenging but the results can be very rewarding both professionally and personally. ARINGO helps each year many candidates applying for dual degree programs. Register with us today to get started: https://aringo.com/mba-process-registration/