MBA Degree in California
You’ll Find Many of the Best Online MBA Programs Offered Through Business Schools Right Here in California
From the digital revolution to AI, California is consistently at the center of the universe as big things happen. And a Master of Business Administration is consistently the degree it takes to be part of it.
MBA Degree Formats for Students and Professionals at Every Stage
An MBA from one of California’s business schools can create opportunity at any phase of your career, offered in innovative formats custom-built to unlock potential at every level of experience.
An EMBA is the answer for senior managers who are still hungry for more knowledge, more expertise, more contacts in more industries. Designed for leaders with a high-level of real-world experience, an EMBA ups the game for professionals making the climb to the C-suite.
- Designed For: Mid to senior managers with 10 or more years of experience
- Duration: 1-2 years
Designed for students with undergraduate degrees in business or core skills gained through professional experience, accelerated MBAs leave out the basics. These programs are rigorous, covering only the most advanced MBA curriculum to get students back into the pilot seat applying new skills quickly.
- Designed For: Students with a business background looking to fast-track career advancement
- Duration: Approximately one year
With a lot of information to absorb and understand, a full-time MBA can be a lot to handle. Part-time programs come with the same level of elite business studies, but at a pace that lets students work through the content when they have time to focus.
- Designed For: Current working professionals who can’t drop other responsibilities, but whose career trajectory can benefit from graduate-level business studies
- Duration: 3 - 5 years
STEM-designated MBA programs offer a rigorous quantitative curriculum that meets the official definition for STEM education. A STEM-certified MBA prepares students to strategize, manage, and lead California’s future-forward business in any industry with all the capabilities that science and technology can offer.
- Designed For: Business students aiming for the tech industry or developing technical and quantitative expertise for other industries
- Duration: 2 years
Online and Campus-Based MBA Degrees From California Business Schools Found In Every Corner of the State
California has always been the frontier. Today, it’s a virtual one, breaking new ground in online education for MBA students and opening the field of options to students around the world.
Both online and campus-based MBA options come with ties to local communities and industries, and the chance to build a powerful network of contacts. From Alameda to Ventura, California is home to many of the most respected business schools on the planet.
Business Schools in Berkeley, Hayward, & Freemont
You can’t talk about business education in California without talking about Berkeley, which is enough to put Alameda on the map by itself. But excellence in MBA degrees can be found throughout the county serving Oakland, Hayward, and Fremont as well. Graduates from schools here have their pick of positions among skyrocketing tech businesses on all sides or more traditional industry players like Kaiser Permanente, Chevron, and Bayer.
Business School in Maraga
The East Bay doesn’t always get a lot of love in narratives around California business, but communities like Concord, Antioch, and Richmond are all critical pieces of the Bay Area tech revolution. Billions of dollars in VC funding is powering research in life sciences, clean energy, AI, and autonomous vehicle development here, all of it overseen by MBA graduates.
Business Schools in Fresno
As the top agricultural county in the nation, Fresno is host to big companies like Foster Farms and Cargill, not to mention hot new agtech startups like FieldIn. With more than billions flowing through communities like Clovis, Coalinga, and Fresno itself, there’s plenty of room for MBA graduates from the county’s well-respected business schools to make a mark.
Business School in Bakersfield
For many, it’s surprising to learn that Kern County ranks fourth in the nation for STEM jobs. But it’s no surprise to MBA students from Bakersfield, Delano, Oildale, and the surrounding area. MBAs here are helping drive that exploding tech industry forward to take its place alongside old-school petrochem and new-wave renewable energy companies that still support the local economy.
Business Schools in Northridge, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pomona, Pasadena, Gardena, San Dimas, Glendale, Culver City, Santa Clarita, San Dimas, Cerritos, Alhambra, Azusa, Rosemead, La Mirada, La Verne, Malibu, & Claremont
LA, Long Beach, Santa Clarita, and all the other storied communities here offer business students a true cross-section of the world and the many industries that cater to it. From entertainment to shipping to energy, you can find companies at the forefront of their trade here, and business schools that deliver connections and lessons from all of them.
Business Schools in Orange, Viejo, Fullerton, Anaheim, Garden Grove, & Irvine
Orange County has long been synonymous with wealth in the LA area, and that’s never a bad thing for MBA students building business networks here. Irvine and Santa Ana are home to Fortune 100 companies like Charter Communications and JP Morgan Chase that host internships and foster relationships. And, of course, the presence of big mouse ears over Anaheim also makes this a terrific place for MBA students to engage with the entertainment industry.
Business Schools in Riverside
There’s more to Riverside County than Coachella, and MBA graduates here have a lot to do with the up-and-coming businesses in manufacturing, tech, and logistics that are helping Moreno Valley, Corona, and Riverside thrive. Business schools here are well-positioned to tap into expertise from nearby LA as well as big regional players like Amazon and Walmart.
Business School in Sacramento
Right in the heart of California’s agricultural industry, Sacramento has historic connections to the most stable industry in the Golden State. Companies like Blue Diamond and Sunsweet carry on that tradition in Elk Grove, Arden-Arcade, and Sacramento, while business schools here supply them with MBAs who have the technical and managerial skills to lead biotech and agribusiness into the future.
Business School in San Bernadino, Ontario, & Redlands
Stretching from the urban landscape of LA all the way across the Mojave to touch the neon-lit Nevada border, San Bernardino is unique among all California counties. That’s equally true of the business schools offering MBAs to students in the Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana, and San Bernardino areas.
Business Schools in San Marcos, San Diego, & La Jolla
Life sciences, biotech, and defense contracting are all big here in San Diego, plus a thriving import/export sector fueled by the state’s number one trade partner, Mexico. The strength of those sectors offer an advantage to MBA students studying, interning, and making connections in and around Oceanside, San Diego, and Chula Vista.
Business Schools in San Francisco
Plugged in with the tech powerhouses of Silicon Valley, San Francisco is the center of the AI revolution and home to corporations on the cutting edge. It’s also a focal point for international trade and finance, the Pacific Rim titan is where fortunes have long been made. Earning an MBA here puts you in line to be the next visionary and fortune-finder in a long line.
Business Schools in Stockton
Centered on Stockton, the agribusiness that powers the Central Valley is what most people think of here. But in Tracy, Manteca, and other San Joaquin cities, companies like Amazon, Kubota, and Blue Shield are making waves in transportation, logistics, renewables, and other 21st century business drivers. Business schools here offer MBA students a ticket to internships and connections that have value throughout the world.
Business School in Belmont
Business students in and around Daly City, Redwood City, Belmont, and San Mateo get the best of both worlds—a thriving technology industry and all the financial expertise and international reach of a world-class city. In an area that hosts Meta and Visa among other major global players, San Mateo business students make connections across the spectrum of national and international business.
Business School in Santa Clara, Stanford, & San Jose
Getting your MBA in the heart of Silicon Valley puts you on the doorstep of some of California’s biggest corporations. San Jose and Sunnyvale are home to NVIDIA and Apple as well as some of the most prestigious business schools in the country. When you want an MBA that will open doors to VC firms and give you connections to the next generation of tech industry leadership, this is where you come.
Business Schools in Camarillo & Thousand Oaks
MBA students in and around Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, and Camarillo can access a world-class business education with global reach without leaving Ventura County. With strong manufacturing operations in Simi Valley and major agricultural producers in the county, plus the only deepwater port between LA and San Francisco, business with major regional and international ties happens right here in Ventura County.
MBA Concentrations Offered Through California Business Schools
MBA concentrations offered through California business schools are designed to steer careers in the direction of high-demand industries and positions.
MBA in Accounting
As one of the most fundamental and inseparable components of business, accounting concentrations are consistently among the most popular focus areas for MBA students in California.
MBA in Entrepreneurship
Going it alone and blazing new trails is part of the California ethos. A concentration in entrepreneurship sets students up for success in bringing new ideas to life and to market.
MBA in Finance
In a state where industries are awash in capital, professionals with advanced training in financial instruments and the skill to analyze markets, identify value, and spot new opportunities are gods among men. Those skills come through a lot of experience and a concentration in finance.
MBA in Healthcare Administration
Californians are getting grayer, and health tech is getting smarter. This has spiked the demand for MBAs who have mastered the ins and outs of health systems, insurance, and regulations with the help of a concentration in healthcare administration.
MBA in Information Technology
Silicon Valley is synonymous with the tech industry, but every company in every industry needs business experts capable of organizing, optimizing, and managing systems and the teams that administer them.
MBA in Marketing
Understanding market complexity, and how to establish and sell a brand are the key skills that almost every company relies on. This is the heart of business and the core of what an MBA in marketing delivers.
MBA in Sustainability
Securing the future of any industry relies on sustainable practices that ensure communities thrive and resources remain abundant. In a state that leads the world in green approaches to industry, a concentration in sustainability can be a natural path.
MBA in Project Management
Every business breaks down into a series of projects. Develop the communication, planning, and resources allocation skills to get them done on time and on budget with a concentration in project management.
MBA in Supply Chain Management
California is the end-point for millions of global supply chains. Companies rely on skilled MBAs to eliminate pinch-points and keep products and resources flowing.
MBA in Sports Management
Not everyone can participate in the glory of competition on the field with one of California’s revered collegiate or professional teams, but a concentration in sports management will teach the ins and outs of the business of signing stars and filling seats.
MBA in International Business
As a jumping off point to the Pacific Rim and a multicultural driver of innovation, California business schools deliver natural advantages to MBA graduates doing business around the world.
MBA in Business Analytics
In the Golden State, data is the new gold. Business analytics concentrations hand students the tools to excavate it, refine it, and draw out the insights it takes to put businesses in the lead.
There are few limits to what you can do with an MBA in the Golden State.
From launching new tech that changes the world to leading legacy corporations into the future, every path there is to take in the business world is open to MBA graduates in California.
MBA Student Resources to Help with Everything from School Selection to the Application Process
MBA programs teach the art and science of making informed decisions when the stakes are high. It takes a little bit of that just to find the right business school. Our diverse selection of resources will help.
Few MBA hopefuls apply to the most intensely-competitive and highly-selective California MBA programs. But the practical guidance we provide here can streamline the process and up the chances of getting into any MBA program in the state.
The reputational luster of California’s private universities shines bright enough to attract students from coast-to-coast and around the world. Many offer an affordable path that makes an MBA accessible long before earning that first million.
In California’s well-funded public university system, residents have access to affordable MBAs with elite reputations.
More business schools are forging standardized testing for MBA applicants in favor of more holistic and reliable methods for determining readiness. You can find every single one of the California business schools right here that don’t require entrance exams.
California is well-known for innovation due in part to next-level incubator and accelerator programs that host and fund new startups.
Business schools that host thriving business accelerator or incubator programs can deliver exactly what launch-ready student entrepreneurs when heading into California’s soaring startup environment.
Return on investment is your key performance indicator for any business venture—including your MBA education. Find out which schools in California are tops for getting results for your tuition dollars quickly.
The opportunities that come with an MBA from one of California’s respected business schools aren’t restricted to US citizens. Many MBA programs here offer exceptional social and academic supports for international business students.
If you are an international student interested in studying business in California, look no further for a guide to help you prepare, apply, and get accepted to an American MBA program.
All the best resources for understanding your financial aid options to help pay for an MBA in California, all in one place.
As a group with proven dedication and discipline, service members and veterans have a lot to offer to the world of business, and plenty of extra assistance to help in earning an MBA.
California doesn’t care where you came from, only what you choose to do. But MBA students from marginalized backgrounds often need extra supports, and you can find them here.
If you need ideas, resources, or simply a better understanding of the importance of extracurricular experiences on your MBA application, you’ll find them all right here.
The biggest question that everyone has about MBA studies deserves its own discussion: what can you really make after earning an MBA in California. We’ve got the numbers right here.
Not every path to success in business runs through an MBA. California universities offer niche options that may be an even better fit for certain career goals.
A big part of being successful in business is finding value where others do not. The schools on this list present with quiet confidence and offer exceptional value.
From admissions to career prospects, everything about an MBA is a bit mysterious when getting started. Find answers to the big questions California business students have about earning an MBA.
The MBA holds an almost mythical status. Serious business students need to understand the reality of what an MBA means in the world today—as an education and as a career driver.
Keep Up On the Latest Developments in Business Education in California
Business doesn’t stand still while you’re thinking about an MBA. Keep up with the latest developments in California commerce and business education.
