MBA Programs with STEM Designation

In the past few years, several top MBA programs have earned a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) designation. Because STEM fields are considered essential to U.S. economic competitiveness and growth, the government grants non-citizen graduates of programs with STEM designation a dispensation to work in the United States longer without needing a visa. International graduates of U.S. business schools currently may hold U.S. jobs for only 12 months before needing an H1-B visa —  a visa that has become harder to get amid a heated and protracted political debate on immigration. To address a shortage of qualified workers in STEM fields that by some estimates will grow to more than a million jobs by 2024, the federal government in 2016 created the STEM Designated Degree Program, which makes it possible for international graduates to remain stateside for an additional 24 months after graduation and receive training through work experience.

STEM designation of MBA programs is important to international applicants who are subject to work permit requirement and would need an H1B to stay in the United States after their OPT (Optional Practical Training) expires. MBA programs with STEM designation allows applicants to get a 3-year OPT instead of the 1-Year which in turn allows a much longer time-frame to find a job and provide applicants with four opportunities to get an H1B instead of just two, so it doubles the chances and buys time.

The STEM MBA degrees have proven popular, helping to increase MBA applications at many schools and increase interest among corporate recruiters, and from the perspective of post-study careers, a STEM MBA is increasingly popular among employers. The skills that graduates acquire while studying these degrees—a mix of technology and management—can go along way in the current workplace.

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The following schools offer MBA or masters programs with STEM designation or a concentration with STEM designation:

  • Harvard Business School (Management Science Track in Full-Time MBA)
  • Wharton Business School – Several majors in the MBA program are STEM certified:
    • Business Analytics
    • Business Economics & Public Policy
    • Business, Energy, Environment & Sustainability
    • Operations, Information & Decisions
    • Quantitative Finance
    • Statistics
  • The University of Chicago Booth School of Business (Chicago Booth’s MBA program is fully STEM certified)
  • Stanford
  • MIT Sloan (Full-Time MBA, Sloan Fellows MBA, Sloan Executive MBA, Master of Finance program)
  • Kellogg School of Management (Management Science major)
  • Columbia Business School (Full-Time MBA and Executive MBA programs)
  • NYU Stern (the two-year Full-time MBA program and the one-year Andre Koo Technology and Entrepreneurship MBA both have STEM designation)
  • Duke University Fuqua School of Business (The Management Science and Technology Management track in Daytime MBA program and Accelerated Daytime MBA program carries a STEM designation)
  • Haas School of Business – University of California, Berkeley (Full-Time MBA, Evening & Weekend MBA, Executive MBA)
  • Yale SOM (To be eligible, students in the MBA and Master of Advanced Management (MAM) programs will complete a newly created concentration in management science)
  • Cornell Tech (All Cornell Tech master’s programs are STEM-designated)
  • Cornell Johnson (Johnson’s portfolio of STEM-designated programs includes: Two-Year Management Science MBA ; One-Year Management Science MBA ; Johnson Cornell Tech MBA ; MPS in Management ; MPS in Management)
  • Tuck (Students who have taken significant coursework in management science and quantitative methods while at Tuck may receive formal recognition for their course of study)
  • The Tepper School of Business – Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper’s full time MBA is STEM-designated program)
  • The Stephen M. Ross School of Business – University of Michigan (STEM-designated track within the Full-Time MBA program)
  • The Kenan–Flagler Business School – University of North Carolina
  • University of Southern California (USC) – Marshall School of Business (Full-Time MBA & IBEAR MBA)
  • University of Virginia Darden School of Business (the Management Science Specialization is designated for STEM)
  • UCLA Anderson (the full-time, fully-employed and executive MBA programs are all STEM designated)
  • Georgetown McDonough
  • Texas McCombs
  • Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business
  • Emory University’s Goizueta Business School
  • Iowa State University Ivy College of Business
  • Arizona State (Carey)
  • Foster School of Business at the University of Washington
  • University of Connecticut School of Business
  • UC Davis
  • University of Delaware Lerner College of Business and Economics
  • Pace University Lubin School of Business
  • Johns Hopkins (Carey)
  • Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management
  • Case Western University Weatherhead School of Management
  • University of North Texas Ryan College of Business
  • Purdue University Krannert School of Management
  • University of Rochester – Simon Graduate School of Business Administration
  • University of Massachusetts (UMass) Dartmouth – Charlton College of Business
  • University of Notre Dame – Mendoza College of Business
  • University of Georgia (UGA) – Terry College of Business
  • University of Wisconsin, Madison – Wisconsin School of Business
  • Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University
  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) – Foisie Business School
  • The Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University