• An MBA is a graduate business degree focused on management, business, and entrepreneurship.
• MBA students can also focus on other aspects of business, like finance or risk management.
• Many schools now offer specialty programs, like sports management, the entertainment business, or healthcare management.
• Executive MBA programs are available for experienced professionals who cannot commit to a full-time schedule.
• MBA programs may be full-time, part-time, online, or international, and each program usually has a varying degree of requirements for acceptance.

How a Master of Business Administration (MBA) Works ? 

A master of business administration (MBA) is a level up from an undergraduate business degree and generally places the graduate well above those with only undergraduate degrees. Most major universities and colleges provide MBA programs, which usually last two years. To get into an MBA program, an applicant needs to take the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and be accepted by the program based on its selection criteria.

MBA programs typically include core classes in accounting, management, finance, marketing, and business law. Management training is at the heart of any MBA curriculum, with a focus on leadership, planning, business strategy, organizational behavior, and the more human sides of running a large or small business.

Increasingly, MBA programs are broadening their focus to include training in international business and to focus on the responsibilities and corporate accountability of businesses within their communities.

The MBA degree is seen as essential to enter certain fields, including strategic planning, hedge funds, and private equity firms. Other financial services fields, however, may no longer consider an MBA an entry-level degree to get started.