Program Basics

• • USC Marshall Executive MBA (EMBA) Program
  • Marshall School of Business
  • 630 Childs Way
  • Popovich Hall 308
  • Los Angeles, 90089, California
  • United States
  • Status:
    • Private
  • Length of program (months): 21

• Classes meet:

  • • Alternate weekends

• Tuition and fees for entire EMBA program:

  • Resident: $114,000.00
  • Non Resident: $114,000.00

• Graduate business school is accredited by:

  • • Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
    • Other
  • WASC

SCHOOL BASICS

• Graduate business school enrollment:

  • Total: 1,980
  • Full-Time MBA: 519
  • Part-Time MBA: 785
  • Executive MBA: 330
  • PhD Program: 75
• • Undergraduate business school enrollment: 3,533
  • Other graduate degree programs: Master of Accounting, Other

ADMISSIONS

• • Rolling admissions? Yes
  • GMAT Required? No
  • Are applicants allowed to submit the GRE? Yes
  • If applicants are not required to take the GMAT, how are EMBA applicants' quantitative abilities checked before enrollment? Transcripts;Job responsibilities/titles;CPA/CFO;
• • Is the TOEFL required for non-English speakers? Yes
  • Application fee: $150.00
  • Number of applications to the newest class: 237
  • Applicants accepted: 73 %
  • Admitted applicants enrolled: 76 %
  • Applicant interviews are: By invitation only
  • Applicants (admitted and denied) who were interviewed: 98 %
  • Admitted applicants who were interviewed: 100 %

CLASS PROFILE

• EMBA students in newest entering class who are:

  • Female: 16 %
  • International: 14 %

• Entering students are from the following regions:

  • Africa: 0 %
  • Asia: 11 %
  • Europe: 2 %
  • North America: 87 %
  • Oceania: 0 %
  • Latin America and the Caribbean: 0 %

• Entering U.S. citizens are from the following regions:

  • West: 98 %
  • Midwest: 1 %
  • Southwest: 1 %
  • South: 0 %
  • Mid-Atlantic: 0 %
  • Northeast: 0 %
  • Possessions and territories: 0 %

• U.S. students in newest entering class who are:

  • African American: 5 %
  • Asian American: 25 %
  • Hispanic or Latino American: 5 %
  • Multiethnic/Multiracial : 1 %
  • Native American: 1 %
  • White (Non-Hispanic): 59 %
  • Chose not to report: 4 %
  • Other: 0 %
• • Average months of work experience: 182

• Middle 80% range work experience in months:

  • From: 88
  • To: 288
• • Average age: 39

• Middle 80% age range:

  • From: 31
  • To: 49

• Work background:

  • Have advanced degrees: 24 %
  • Work in the nonprofit sector: 8 %
  • Work at an organization with 100 or fewer employees: 11 %
  • Have title of president, CEO, or chairman: 8 %
• • EMBA students living within 45 miles of campus: 75 %
  • Average base salary for new EMBA entrant: $172,000.00

• Middle 80% base salary range:

  • Low: $95,000.00
  • High: $340,000.00

• Students work in these functional categories:

  • Consulting: 9 %
  • Finance/Accounting 19 %
  • General Management : 9 %
  • Human Resources: 4 %
  • Marketing/Sales: 17 %
  • Management Information Systems : 16 %
  • Operations/Logistics: 15 %
  • Other: 11 %

• Students work in these industries:

  • Consulting: 5 %
  • Consumer Products: 8 %
  • Financial Services: 11 %
  • Government: 6 %
  • Manufacturing: 8 %
  • Media/Entertainment: 8 %
  • Non-Profit: 8 %
  • Petroleum/Energy: 4 %
  • Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology/Health Care: 9 %
  • Real Estate: 6 %
  • Technology: 21 %
  • Other: 6 %

FINANCIAL AID

• • Does the school offer a guaranteed loan to EMBAs, regardless of nationality? No

FACULTY

• • Faculty employed by the B-school: 255

• Full-time faculty:

  • Tenured: 75
  • Non-Tenured: 135

• Adjunct/Visiting Faculty:

  • Tenured: 0
  • Non-Tenured: 46

• Women on Faculty:

  • Tenured: 12
  • Non-Tenured: 59

• Minority Faculty:

  • Tenured: 19
  • Non-Tenured: 47

• International Faculty:

  • Tenured: 19
  • Non-Tenured: 49

• Faculty with PhDs:

  • Tenured: 75
  • Non-Tenured: 106

STUDENT LIFE

• • Does the program include a mandatory international trip or project? Yes
  • Description: MBA students and many of our faculty are sent to visit companies in countries surrounding the Pacific Rim
  • Does the school offer pre-program orientation for all EMBA participants? Yes
  • Does the school offer temporary housing/accommodations for EMBA participants? No
  • Do EMBAs have access to a health club or gym? Yes
  • How far away from a major airport are most EMBA classes held? (miles) 15

TEACHING/ACADEMICS

• Teaching methods:

  • Case Study: 25 %
  • Distance Learning: 0 %
  • Experiential Learning: 10 %
  • Lectures: 25 %
  • Simulations: 10 %
  • Team Projects: 20 %
  • Other: 10 %
• • Faculty also teaching in full-time program: 100 %
  • Tenured/tenure-track EMBA faculty: 43 %
  • Average class size, core EMBA class: 64

• Estimated hours per week in class and outside classwork:

  • Hours per week in class: 6
  • Hours per week outside of class spent on classwork: 20
• • Last revision of core EMBA curriculum: 2011
  • Distance-learning EMBA via the Internet, videoconferencing, or some other medium? No
  • Joint degree programs: MBA/JD (Law), MBA/ME (Engineering), MBA/MD (Medicine), Other, MBA/MS (Science), MBA/MA (Arts)
  • Leading areas of study: Accounting, Finance, Leadership, Strategy, General Management

• Graduation Requirements:

  • • Students must have attended a minimum number of classes
    • Students must have earned a pre-determined GPA/Letter grade average
    • Class participation accounts for some percentage of students' grades
    • Other
  • Marshall has a commitment to improve student awareness and understanding of economic, institutional, and culture issues pertinent to business, markets, policies, and international trade. Each year MBA students and faculty visit companies in countries surrounding the Pacific Rim. These global programs expose students to issues faced by global managers through coursework, projects and travel that allow them to compare and contrast the US business experience with those of companies outside the U.S
• • Significant recent changes to EMBA program: 2011

• TECHNOLOGY

  • Technology improvements in the last three academic years: Disaster recovery site, pervasive wireless coverage, thin client laptops, behavioral lab, interactive ethics class, remote access to lab software, doubled email quotas for students, web accessible file storage, public calendar, online testing for graduate prerequisites, automated classroom captures & dual projectors, emergency contact & notification system, online student public calendars, online student organizations support, networked copier/printers, blade-based research computers

B-SCHOOL ALUMNI

• • Living MBA alumni: 23,457
  • Active MBA alumni clubs: 50
  • Countries in which MBA clubs exist: 24
  • Living MBA alumni who gave in past year: 17
  • Mean gift from MBA alumni: $1,533.00
  • Median gift from MBA alumni: $275.00
  • Did school receive an individual gift in exess of $10 million in the past academic year? No
  • Does the main university offer career placement services for alumni? Yes
  • Does the main university have an alumni networking Web site? Yes
  • University alumni networking site: http://www.usc.edu/alumni
  • Does the B-School have an alumni networking Web site? Yes
  • Business school alumni networking site: http://www.marshall.usc.edu
  • Does the B-school offer career services for alumni? Yes
  • Do current MBA students have access to an alumni database? Yes

CAREER SERVICES

• • Do EMBAs have access to career services? Yes
  • Does the school allow its EMBA students to interview on campus with corporate recruiters targeting executives for full-time jobs? Yes
  • School's policy regarding recruiters targeting EMBAs: We offer a broad range of services to our EMBA students on a case-by-case basis

SCHOOL COMMENTS

• • Additional school comments: The EMBA Program is a lock-step curriculum that offers a “deep generalist” perspective and is designed for mid-to-senior level professionals and managers. The EMBA is offered in Los Angeles, San Diego & Shanghai and focuses on 10 distinct business themes. Classes are sequenced to allow integration of various functional disciplines that are relevant to the overall theme topic. There’s a 7-day international residential in which students travel outside of the US to study business practices.

• • -The power of the alumni at USC is hands down, no comparison. USC offers an online directory with email and phone numbers of all current and former students including the companies they work for and the positions held. I have 'cold called' many SC students and have always received 100% support on anything I needed. The power of the alumni and the tools to keep the network together are amazing.
    
    -The school should place more stress in helping student in their career after graduation and enable more coaching after graduation.
    
    -I wish we had more time to spend on the subjects. Many in-class discussions were cut short because of time. However, many of us got together frequently to continue the discussion. It would be better to have everyone participate in the follow up discussions.
    
    -The logistic support of the staff was exceptional. I commuted from the San Francisco Bay area to San Diego. The talent of the staff eliminated the complexity of the trip. Material logistics and scheduling was always handled flawlessly.
    
    -USC is cutting edge in administering an Exec. MBA in all realms of business, Finance, Marketing, Accounting, and Operations with an international/pacific rim experience that rounds out an experience that produces not only well-rounded managers, but leaders.
    
    -USC ensures that the best professors from the business school are teaching the EMBA classes and that the academic rigor exceeds the full time program. Theme based approach is very effective and the skills developed while in the program are very useful for career growth. Very good experience and well designed program.
    
    -Marshall exceeded my expectations on preparing me as a leader in the new global business environment. However, it was a little light on developing overall analytical skills. I would recommend adding a few optional electives for people who would like to develop those particular strengths.
    
    -There should be more planned opportunities to network with colleagues of the professors. Many professors introduced experts as guest speakers, which was invaluable and enriching. The opportunity to network with these individuals would have enhanced the experience.
    
    -One of USC's great strength is the sense of Trojan community it instills in its students. There were frequent social activities outside of the classroom to help foster this community. Also, USC's EMBA staff was all VERY helpful in making sure that logistically, all the students were taken care of by frequently communicating with the students.
    
    -The school should be more selective; in general students are good and very strong, but a few (4 or 5 out of 30 cohort) were not qualified and detracted from the classroom experience. Logistics and administration are understaffed.
    
    -Many classmates entered the program looking for a change in their career. It would be helpful to have career services specifically dedicated to the EMBA program help members of the program to understand their options as a result of completing the program. This came into effect at the end of the program but would have been valuable throughout.
    
    -There were several courses during the program that would have benefited from a better setup, by encouraging us to think about the issue one or two terms before the studying began. I also felt the China program needed more context. We should have been discussing China during the first year. The administrators give the sense that the international component is undecided when students enter the program, but it's very clear that China is the destination, so rather than keep everyone in suspense just put it out there and pay more attention to it in during the first year. I really enjoyed the China trip, but would have preferred to go to India.