The Shorter, Faster, Cheaper MBA

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Other schools are reporting similar upticks. At Notre Dame, applications were up about 14% this year for the school's one-year MBA program and the school matriculated a class this fall that is 30% larger than last year's, says Brian Lohr, the school's admissions director. At the University of Pittsburgh's Katz Graduate School of Business (Katz Full-Time MBA Profile), which has one of the longest-running one-year MBA programs in the U.S., applications more than doubled this year, says Bill Valenta, the school's assistant dean for MBA programs. Part of that increase was driven by international students, who are looking for programs similar in length to those offered in their home countries, Valenta says. "There are a growing number of one-year programs in Europe, so we are seeing more international students who identify with the one-year program model," he says.

Meanwhile, some institutions that offer one-year MBA programs are seeking to make their programs more cutting-edge and appealing to students. The University of Oregon's Lundquist College of Business (Oregon Full-Time MBA Profile) recently revamped its one-year MBA curriculum, a move that now allows students to finish the program in either 9 or 11 months, making it one of the shortest one-year MBA programs on the market. Previously, students completed the school's accelerated program in 15 months, says Andrew Verner, the school's assistant dean of graduate programs. He's hoping the new curriculum, which allows specialization in tracks such as sports marking and sustainable business, coupled with the new program length, will strike a chord with applicants. "The preponderance of MBA programs in the U.S. are still two-year MBA programs, so if you can add a one-year program, that helps give you a leg up on the competition," Verner says.

However, admissions directors concede that accelerated MBA programs are not for everyone. There is not always as much flexibility when it comes to electives and concentrations in particular disciplines, and students are often so busy that they don't have time to get involved in campus activities.

No Summer Interning Option

And unlike two-year MBA programs, which require a summer internship between the first and second year, one-year programs typically doesn't offer students this option. In this tough job climate, when many companies are only making offers to students from their MBA summer internship cohort, that can leave one-year student at a disadvantage when it comes to the job hunt, concedes Huntsman's Snyder. The school has had to be creative about helping students prepare for the job hunt and find opportunities.

"Sometimes when we talk to the big companies, they'll say we have most of our MBA hires locked up from the summer," Snyder says. "We have to work hard to make up for the challenges of not having that summer internship."

But this is a downside that most students who enter the one-year programs say they are willing to overlook. Those who enter the one-year MBA programs tend to be more focused than the typical two-year MBA student and the internship experience is not necessarily as important for them in their career advancement, admissions directors say. Admissions officers also say they carefully screen the applicants for the one-year MBA programs, typically requiring them to have an undergraduate degree in business and several years of work experience. Many programs seek out students who are not career changers, but career advancers. "Generally, the one-year student is pretty well focused and on a career path where they are not making a large transition," says Lohr. "They are staying in essentially the same area but moving back at a higher level,"

This is the case for Allison Fromm, a one-year student at Pittsburgh's Katz School who previously worked in the accounts payable department at health-care giant Bayer (BAYG) before business school and plans to return to the field after graduation. But with nearly 10 years of work experience under her belt, she didn't feel that she needed the summer internship and other perks that come along with a two-year MBA. She wrestled with the decision to go back to school until she learned about the one-year MBA program. Her decision came with a trade-off, she says. "Sure, I regret the things I can't do, but would I rather have done the two-year program? Not at all," says Fromm. "With this, I can get my business foundations, not spend too much time out of the workforce and get right back in."

Not everyone in the management education world is pleased about the growing popularity of the one-year programs. A shortened MBA program may be an appropriate model for a handful of talented students with significant business experience, but it is not the right model for the majority of students, says John Fernandes, president of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), one of the leading accreditation agencies for business schools.

His association has been tracking the number of U.S. accredited schools that offer accelerated MBA programs, which they define as programs that can be completed in less than two years. There were 31 accredited schools that offered accelerated programs back in the 2005-06 academic year, a number that has since skyrocketed to 44 schools this year, AACSB data shows. "It's a very sharp increase," he says. "I'm concerned that there is a race to acceleration."

The growing popularity of these programs comes at a time when the AACSB is encouraging, and in some instances requiring, schools to add more materials and concepts to their two-year curriculum, such as ethics, sustainable development, and how to operate in a global market, Fernandes says. The new one-year programs could be flagged by accreditation officers in the next few years if they are not up to AACSB standards, he says. "If the school has a program that is not covering sufficient curriculum, that can be a slippery slope," he says. "Unless you have very experienced high-performing students, I think it's another 'buyer beware' market, both on the student and employer side"

Damast is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com.

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