A Big Boost in Mid-Career

NJBIZ, Mar 7, 2005 by Nelson, Jennifer

Working executives willing to invest the time and money can boost their prospects with an executive M.B.A.

Marti Winer wanted to take control over her professional life after spending six years in the events-marketing department at Cendant. Although she enjoyed her work at the Parsippany real estate and travel-services company, she was itching to get started running her own business.

But Winer knew she had a lot to learn about the tasks involved in managing her startup, MW Total Productions, a corporate events company she opened in Somerset last May. Winer says an executive M.B.A. program at Rutgers University is providing the tools she lacked.

"Whenever I needed something at Cendant, I could call someone," says Winer, 29. "There was an outlet for everything. Now at MW, I'm the one in charge of human resources, accounting and information technology. I felt an M.B.A. would offer strategic planning for my business."

Like other students in the program, Winer works full time and attends classes every other Friday and Saturday at Rutgers' Newark campus. The 20-month program comes with a price tag of $63,000, which she sees as an investment that will provide a competitive edge in growing her company.

Other students, who want to win-rather than escape-the corporate rat race, figure an M.B.A. on their résumé will help them land a better, higher-paying job. "It's a career upgrade; that's the way they see it," says Farrokh Langdana, who runs Rutgers' executive M.B.A. program.

Coursework digs into financial managment, entrepreneurship, leadership strategy and decision making. Students will discuss the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley and examine issues such as the role of information technology on a business.

Besides Rutgers, three other universities in New Jersey offer executive M.B.A. programs. They all cater to managers, vice presidents and presidents-adults in the midst of their careers who are willing to spend their weekends and evenings studying. Fairleigh Dickinson University runs a 21-month program at its conference center in Florham Park; the cost is $52,800. The New Jersey Institute of Technology offers an 18-month program at its Newark campus; the tab comes to $45,000. It also offers the curriculum to 27 employees at Stryker Orthopaedies' facility in Mahwah.

Stevens Institute of Technology joined the executive-M.B.A. club in January. Its program is open to executives who have completed the school's Masters in Technology Management degree. Enrollees invest 21 months and $60,000 for the two degrees.

Kean University in Union is preparing for the September 2006 launch of its own executive M.B.A. program that will focus on global management. It will be modeled after the university's regular global-management M.B.A. program that's starting this fall. Kean says it will address the growing shortage of global managers in the service and manufacturing sectors by grooming professionals to handle a multicultural workforce and tackle global business issues.

Classes in the state's executive M.B.A. courses are less crowded than they were in the booming 1980s when employers more readily reimbursed students for tuition costs.

"The economics of the day have impacted us," says Peter Caliguari, director of Fairleigh Dickinson's executive M.B.A. program. FDU admits about 40 students a year to its program compared with 80 students 20 years ago.

Hoping to spur additional interest, Rutgers has invested in new billboards at Newark Liberty International Airport. Student Winer thinks this is a good idea, saying, "[The program] needs some publicity, some notoriety."

If you're one of those shopping for a degree, New Jersey schools may seem like a bargain. An M.B.A. from the highest-rated institutions such as Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania can cost $120,000. And it may not be well-known, but schools like Rutgers sometimes share faculty with Columbia's more widely recognized business school. "The cost compared to the quality of faculty and curriculum definitely makes the Rutgers executive M.B.A. program a best buy," remarked a 2003 graduate.

Executive M.B.A. programs-inhabited by a cadre of hard-working people who are also doing full-time jobs-offer some immediate rewards. Winer says the students have fun and often build friendships that last many years beyond graduation. In addition to heading out to a local pub for a drink after classes, Rutgers students regularly meet in study groups to get projects done and prepare for tests. "You form incredible bonds with the people in your class," says Winer. "They become your family, your home away from home. They can empathize with what you're going through."

Most executive M.B.A. programs divide students into groups that stay together for the duration of the program. And unlike in traditional masters programs, these students-whose average age is in the mid-thirties-don't have choices in the classes they take. This enforced togetherness allows students to get to know each other very well.

"They help each other out," says Peter Caliguari, director of FDU's executive M.B.A. program. "There's a feeling among students that they're all in this boat together. Some cohorts are still getting together 15 years after they finished the program."