MBA makeover

University Business, Jan, 2006 by J.M. Angelo

WITH APPLICATIONS TO FULL-TIME MBA programs dropping, B-schools are getting creative about designing new options. Enter the "specialty MBA." Methodist College in Fayetteville, N.C., for example, is promoting its Professional MBA at Pinehurst program, which has a focus on golf, tennis, and resort management. (The sumptuous Pinehurst luxury resort and spa was home to the 2005 U.S. Open.)

The University of Wisconsin-Madison, which reportedly saw its full-time applications drop by 30 percent in the past three years, is now offering 13 different MBA degrees that focus on subjects like arts administration and real estate economics. Northeastern University in Boston, Mass., has found a way to stand apart from neighbors such as Harvard, by focusing on supply chain management. It may not be as sexy as, say, sports management or entrepreneurship, but it is an area of expertise for Northeastern.

"Full-time programs are suffering the greatest effects right now," says Tom Hyclak, interim dean of the College of Business and Economics at Lehigh University (Pa.). He has helped overhaul his business school, focusing on part-time students and four core areas: people, resources, prices, and products. The university also had added MBA programs in engineering and educational leadership. His next step is to push more of the MBA offerings online.