Information about 1 year or accelerated MBAs

Try to think about the following concerns you get when you think about an MBA.

• Do you think 2 years is too much of time to be spent on a MBA course ? 
• Do you think you have sufficient business experience which makes a accelerated MBA model ideal for you ? 
• Do you think 1 year MBA model is more cost effective in terms of investment and the opportunity cost ?
  

If you answer yes for the above questions, then this post can help you. 1 year MBA or accelerated MBA models  are always in vogue for experienced candidates. 

I would like to mention 2 great posts which break down this topic.

Wall Street Journal wrote a informative post  " The Top M.B.A. Programs if You're in a Hurry". Some important excerpts.

Accelerated M.B.A. programs, which take between 10 and 15 months to complete, have been around for decades and are the norm in Europe. Although these programs are much less common in the U.S., they're growing increasingly attractive especially among older students, who are becoming less willing to spend two years out of the work force.

These schools [which topped 1 year MBA rankings] stood out by delivering a strong curriculum and cramming in a healthy dose of international exposure. The best schools also cultivate relationships with local and global companies, giving students the chance to work on real-world projects.

Read the full article here

FT.com also published a detailed article about one-year MBA programs which are growing in prominence and quality across Europe and Asia. It says the following about the increasing popularity of these programs

In 2004, there were just six one-year programmes ranked in the top 50 of the Financial Times global rankings; in 2009, 15 of the top 50 programmes ran for 12 months or less; Insead still runs the shortest programme at 10½ months. Over the same period the number of two-year programmes in the top 50 dropped from two-thirds (33) to less than half (23).

The article also predicts that many U S schools will shortly follow this  model

Prof Sullivan believes some of the top US schools will soon offer one-year, full-time degrees. Indeed, he points out, Stanford and MIT Sloan already teach the one-year Sloan programme. He argues that such degrees would sit well alongside the two-year MBA, which has been targeted increasingly at younger students.

 Read the full article here

At the end its a personal choice whether to take up a 1 year or a 2 year MBA.


Update as on 24th September 2009: WSJ published the rankings for accelerated MBA. Check out the rankings and more at http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/st_mbamainchart_20090910.html
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