Let’s face it, there is hardly a more iconic kind of business for California than information technology.
From the moment Shockley Semiconductor relocated to Mountain View from New Jersey, Silicon Valley has been the place where the breakthroughs in computational technology that change the world happen:
- 1957 - Fairchild Semiconductor is foun
- 1959 - The integrated circuit is invented at Fairchild
- 1963 - The foundational ideas behind modern packet-switching networks were discussed at a meeting in Palo Alto that later led to the creation of ARPANET… predecessor of the internet
- 1971 - Fairchild alums Robert Noyce and Gordon more create the first single-chip microprocessor at Intel
- 1976 - The Apple Computer Company is founded in Cupertino; a year later, the Apple II computer is released
- 1994 - Netscape is founded in Mountain View and releases the first widely popular web browser
- 1998 - Google is launched by two students from Stanford, Larry Page and Sergey Brin
- 2007 - Apple launches the iPhone
- 2015 - OpenAI is founded in San Francisco by Elon Musk and Sam Altman
- 2025 - ?
Today, wizards working out of the same ZIP codes are coming up with computers that can think, speak, and create on par with the best human writers and artists. They’re building machines that reason and walk and engage independently… artificial intelligence is the next wave of California-based IT innovation cascading across the globe.
The Best MBAs in information Technology Drive California’s Innovation Agenda
It’s not a secret that amazing things are happening in technology. The secret, at least to many Boomer C-suite officers, is how. The IT department and development labs may as well be a coven of warlocks, summoning productivity and innovation with incantations and a flood of Red Bull.
But to guide innovation, you have to get it. An MBA in information technology management delivers the insight you need into processes like:
- Hardware development
- Software projects and coding practices
- Software supply chain concepts
- Computational theory
Without that, you may watch the next big thing be somebody else’s thing.
Hitting It Out of the PARC Is Where Tech MBAs Come In
California business lore is full of missed opportunities by leaders who didn’t get the memo. Most of the foundational technology for what you probably think of as the modern computing environment — mice, graphical interfaces, laser printing, even e-paper like you find in Amazon Kindles — was all invented at a single powerhouse company in Palo Alto in the 1970s and ‘80s.
No, it wasn’t Apple. It wasn’t Oracle or Sun or any of the other big Valley companies you think of from the era. Instead, it was a company you think of when you think about one thing… copy machines. Xerox.
All those concepts, and often both software and hardware to run them, was cooked up at PARC, the company’s Palo Alto Research Center.
But you’re not reading this on a Xerox Kindle or using Xerox Windows or making calls on an xPhone for one reason: traditional executives at the company failed to see the markets or business potential in those technologies. Instead, their lunch got eaten and their employees got poached by Apple, Microsoft, Sun, and other visionary companies.
An MBA Degree in Technology Management Is the Business Degree of the Future
Nobody wants to be tomorrow’s Xerox. So every company in California is hiring technology-enabled executives today.
Combining the Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a healthy helping of tech-centric coursework and practical training is the chocolate and peanut butter combination that modern industry craves.
In business today, it’s impossible to separate the two fields. Information technology changes fast, and it influences almost every aspect of modern management tools, from Zoom to Slack. Big data is a key player in every major strategic decision. Technology changes how every executive manages their corporation.
On the other side of the coin, big IT projects, both developmental and operational, demand rigorous quantitative analysis and strong organizational management skills. By some measures, more than 70 percent of IT implementation projects, across industries, fail. Shockingly, more than half of technology executives surveyed by KPMG in 2023 reported that they found no increase or performance or profitability from digital transformation investments. A well-trained MBA at the helm can flip that statistic on its head.
The critical work of earning an MBA in IT management is to develop enough understanding of technology systems and processes that you can make sense of what the engineers are saying, while expanding your vision of how those systems make sense in a business context.
The best MBAs in Technology Management teach you to work as a translator, putting tech concepts into business language for the C-suite, and turning business imperatives into actionable engineering projects for the techs.
While businesses of all kinds absolutely need that conduit between decision-makers and technology miracle-makers, the business environment in California that makes it particularly critical that MBAs can fill that role here.
How MBAs in Technology Drive Innovation Beyond the Tech Stack
If you think all that happened and is happening entirely because of tech breakthroughs, think again. Sometimes, the real innovation happens at the level of the business model.
The iPhone is a great product, generating over $200 billion in revenue in 2022 selling at better than 100 percent markup. But the company’s App Store, a walled garden in which every iPhone app must grow, shaves off around 30 percent of every transaction, which analysts estimated raked in more than $20 billion in pure profit.
That’s a smooth business move from the world’s most valuable company. It didn’t come out of a hardware lab.
Additionally, those labs, their high-value staff, and legions of support and supply specialists must be built, organized, managed, and led to achieve great technology advances. In a space where even a tiny startup with around 200 employees can hit multi-billion dollar valuations in two or three years, like San Francisco’s Anthropic did, the adults need to be in the room from day one.
An MBA in information technology is your ticket to be a part of it.
MBA in Information Technology Management Admissions May Be Even More Competitive Than Other Business School Programs
As with every other kind of MBA program, the real trick isn’t earning the MBA in information technology: it’s getting accepted in the first place.
When you consider the doors that these degrees open, that’s not surprising. You are justified investing substantial time and energy getting into the most competitive MBA programs in California for information technology professionals.
That can mean putting an even greater emphasis than usual on elements of your application that draw attention to your quantitative reasoning skills. That can be:
- An undergraduate degree or heavy course load in quantitative fields
- Superb GMAT or GRE Quant scores
- ECAs (extracurricular activities) that show interest and capability in technology fields
Many students come to information technology MBA degrees with a strong background in technology and less experience in business.
It’s sometimes an assumption that MBA degrees primarily attract business leaders who need to bone up on their technical proficiency, but the opposite is often also true: many students with strong technology chops opt for MBA degrees to pave their way toward senior leadership in tech companies, or to give them the business heft to raise capital and forge ahead in the startup world.
For these students, it’s less about proving your technical chops than showing your commitment to big-picture business and leadership. Your ECAs should demonstrate broader interests and an interest in organization. Your interviews will likely focus on the story of how you came to realize that you needed to add business heft in order to achieve your technical dreams.
Candidates from either sort of background can make a strong case for being admitted to the best California technology MBAs. But your application will have to beat out the competition, too.
How To Find the Best Colleges for an MBA in Information Technology in California
Fortunately for you, California is awash in excellent universities where the business school has a happy marriage with computer science department.
Our analysis found at least twenty different MBA options in California with some sort of technology concentration or focus option. They span a range of different topics even within the technology space:
- Energy and Clean Technology
- Biotechnology
- Business Analytics and Technologies
- Technology Management
- Information Technology
- Digital Innovation and Information Systems
- Artificial Intelligence
- Cybersecurity Management
- Analytics in Digital Leadership
Some even break down the topic into even more specialized concentrations; Alliant International University has a Business and Technology Track that has concentrations in:
- Information and Technology Management
- Marketing and Digital Trends
- Management Leadership and Decision Sciences
You’ll find other tech options at schools like UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business, Golden Gate University, and Claremont Graduate University.
STEM-certified MBAs May Be a Good Bet Even Without an IT Specialization Attached
One way you can tell that MBA programs in general are becoming more heavily technology focused is that more and more of them across California are starting to adopt the curriculum required to become STEM certified.
STEM, or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math is shorthand for a category of degrees and fields that revolve around the hard sciences. While degrees like CompSci, Engineering, or Astrophysics are shoe-ins for STEM, an MBA can get there too.
It comes through the addition of courses in areas like Quantitative Methods, Data Analytics, Econometrics, Advanced Calculus, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing. These are hardcore tech and science courses, but can be critical to forming a business understanding of technology concepts.
For international students coming to California to earn an MBA, this designation has another, even more important meaning: the program offers an extended Optional Practical Training (OPT) period that allows them to extend their student visa for up to three years after graduation for on-the-job experience.
There are also plenty of programs at California business schools that don’t specifically offer a concentration in IT, but still integrate it tightly with their typical MBA program. Schools like UCLA, University of San Diego, Stanford, and Santa Clara University don’t have specific MBA concentrations in tech but have incorporated enough technology studies in their curriculum to earn STEM designation.
You’ll recognize many of those as heavy hitters in both business education and technology innovation. An MBA earned at any of them may have as much information technology management training as you could need.
Every MBA in California With a Technology Concentration
For the reasons mentioned, it’s not necessarily going to hold you back to get an MBA that doesn’t have a specific IT concentration listed. Still, given the choice between a graduate who has a strong official focus on technology as part of their program and someone who didn’t, there is a good chance a résumé from the former will wind up at the top of the stack for tech positions.
There are plenty of options, spanning both public and private universities in the Golden State. Here are all your choices:
Public
University of California - Berkeley
Haas School of Business
Berkeley, CA
Master of Business Administration - Energy and Clean Technology Career Path
University of California - Davis
Graduate School of Management
Davis, CA
Master of Business Administration Technology Management Concentration
University of California - Los Angeles
Anderson School of Management
Los Angeles, CA
Master of Business Administration Technology Career Path
Fully Employed MBA Tech Management Specialization
University of California - Riverside
School of Business
Riverside, CA
Master of Business Administration Information Systems concentration
University of California - Irvine
Paul Merage School of Business
Irvine, CA
Master of Business Administration Analytics in Digital Leadership
San Diego State University
Fowler College of Business
San Diego, CA
Master of Business Administration Information Systems concentration
California State University - San Bernardino
Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration
San Bernardino, CA
Master of Business Administration Cybersecurity concentration
California State University - Long Beach
College of Business
Long Beach, CA
Master of Business Administration Information Systems concentration
California State University - Fullerton
College of Business and Economics
Fullerton, CA
Master of Business Administration Information Systems concentration
California State University - Los Angeles
College of Business and Economics
Los Angeles, CA
Master of Business Administration Information Systems Concentration
Private
University of Southern California
Marshall School of Business
Los Angeles, CA
Master of Business Administration Information Systems and Technology Concentration
Master of Business Administration Technology Development & E-business Concentration
Pepperdine University
Graziado Business School
Malibu, CA
Master of Business Administration Digital Innovation and Information Systems concentration
Claremont Graduate University
Drucker School of Management
Claremont, CA
Master of Business Administration Information Technology Management concentration
Santa Clara University
Leavey School of Business
Santa Clara, CA
STEM Master of Business Administration
Golden Gate University
Ageno School of Business
San Francisco, CA
Master of Business Administration Information Technology Management Concentration
California Lutheran University
School of Management
Thousand Oaks, CA
Master of Business Administration Information Technology emphasis
University of La Verne
College of Business
La Verne, CA
Master of Business Administration Information Technology concentration
DeVry University
Keller Graduate School of Management
Various Locations
Master of Business Administration Specialization in Management of Information Technology Services
Abraham Lincoln University
Glendale, CA
Master of Business Administration Emphasis in Cybersecurity Law
Touro University Worldwide
School of Business and Management
Los Angeles, CA
Master of Business Administration Artificial Intelligence Management track
Master of Business Administration Information Technology Management track
Master of Business Information Cybersecurity Management track
Westcliff University
College of Business
Irvine, CA
Master of Business Administration Applied AI in Business concentration
Master of Business Administration Cybersecurity concentration
Master of Business Administration Information Technology Management concentration
Master of Business Administration Information Technology Project Management concentration
Master of Business Administration Web Development & Design concentration
Naturally, it’s always a good idea to check out the school’s technology programs as well as the business school. In fact, at some schools, the two are combined, such as in the College of Business and Information Technology at the University of Phoenix – California. Other universities offer specialized degrees such as the Master of Science in Technology Management at Notre Dame de Namur University, which tells you they have faculty that are thinking hard about how management and IT connect… even though their MBA doesn’t have a tech management concentration.
Depending on your personal interest in business and technology, you may also want to explore the best universities for business incubator and accelerator programs. These offer entrepreneurs in the tech space extra fuel to launch new startups. With connections on both the computer science and capitalization sides of business, these can be the difference between success and failure for new ventures.
What Will It Cost To Earn an MBA Degree in Technology Management?
There’s nothing inexpensive about California, and that includes graduate business degrees.
According to our analysis of accredited MBA degree programs in California, the average total tuition cost ranges from just over $40,000 for private schools, to about $45,000 for public schools. The lower average for private universities is the result of one low-fee, tuition-free private school skewing the average lower.
The median cost for public can private university MBAs in California is nearly identical, just shy of $30,000, and represents a closer estimate of what most students pay.
Top programs in either category are into the six figure range.
Once you start looking at compensation packages that MBA graduates with a technology focus can get, even the high-end doesn’t seem unreasonable. But it’s still a good idea to look for degrees that offer the highest possible ROI for your time and money.
MBAs in Information Technology Find a Natural Home Online, Keeping Costs Down and Flexibility Up
What could be more normal than earning an MBA in tech management in the most tech-centric way possible: online.
An online MBA in information technology isn’t conducted any differently than any other online MBA program, but it comes with all the same advantages:
- Flexibility - While many online MBA classes are synchronous, meaning you attend in real-time, you still retain the option to do so from any location—whether it’s a home office, your local library, or a quiet conference room at work. Not having to pack up and put your life on hold to learn from the experts has massive value.
- Savings - That freedom of location also leads to real savings, particularly in pricey California. With the high cost-of-living in areas near some of the best business schools, you can save a bundle by sticking close to home and attending online.
- Selection - California has some of the most respected online technology MBAs in the country… and you can take advantage of them no matter where they might be based. Avoiding having to relocate doesn’t stifle your shot at finding the perfect pick for your purposes. All these degrees are on the menu, increasing your chances of getting in with the right match.
And if you’re worried about giving up some of the all-important networking and connection-building with your cohort and professors, you should know that most online IT MBA degrees in California also come with some residential component that will put you on-campus for at least a few days.
These consist of on-site intensives once or twice a year that bring you together with all those online avatars for some real in-person discussion and instruction. This is a time to bond and get the irreplaceable face-to-face connections that will pay dividends over the long years of your career.
A Look at the Curriculum for an MBA in Technology Management
Whether you opt for a STEM MBA or go into a specific concentration like IT management, you’ll find that your studies are split between core business concepts and foundational technology knowledge.
From the business side, students learn:
- Fundamentals of Business
- Quantitative and Data Analysis
- Effective Business Communications
- Financial Accounting and Managerial Economics
- Leadership Theory and Practices
- Strategic Planning
And in the critical informational technology training, they study:
- Software and Hardware Engineering Leadership
- Information Security, Privacy, and Compliance
- Digital Transformation in Business
- AI and Data Science
- Opportunity Recognition in New Technologies
You’ll also find electives that put the two sides together in ways that make particular sense in California business careers. Courses in Doing Business in Silicon Valley or Innovation in Silicon Valley, such as SCU offers, go right to the heart of why you would earn a tech-focused MBA here. Haas has a Start-up Lab course for applied innovations, a perfect fit for Bay Area technology specialists.
An Executive MBA in Technology Management Can Kick-Start a Career in Today’s Hottest Field
Technology moves pretty fast. If you earned your undergraduate degree even a decade ago, it’s long out of date in the world of high-tech business.
While it’s a good bet you’ve been keeping up in your own field, whatever it is, that leaves you with limited options to shift over into the IT world.
This is where an executive MBA in information technology comes in. Executive MBA programs are aimed at current professionals who already have a decade or more of experience on the job and have ascended to senior positions under their own steam. They are specifically structured with the flexibility to allow you to stay engaged in those jobs through the course, and with a focus that embraces business lessons you’ve already learned.
An EMBA in tech management will focus more on the technology side of the equation and helping you adapt your current expertise to the IT world. Courses and electives in emerging technologies and markets helps you adjust to the current landscape, and exploring new tools for business analysis, strategic planning, and product development can be the shot in the arm your career needs to get to the next level.
Real-World IT MBA Projects Can Lead To Real-World Career Success
One reason to prefer an MBA as your ultimate management degree in any field is the practical focus on the degree. That’s as true in information technology as any other specialty, and it most often comes out in the kind of hands-on, real-world projects that you engage in during your studies.
At many California business schools, this happens through consulting or capstone projects. Those aren’t any different than any other IT management capstone anywhere in the country, except that here in California, they are far more likely to be tied to major tech sector companies and serious real-world technology projects.
It’s entirely possible to spend your MBA IT capstone project on research and planning that eventually turns into a hot new tech startup. With connections in the world of Sand Hill Road VCs or major San Diego biotech players, it’s easier here than anywhere else in the country to get relevant experience during your MBA that shifts quickly into legitimate career gains.
An MBA in Information Technology Management Unlocks Jobs in Every Kind of Industry in California
If it’s not immediately obvious to you why this field is so important in California’s business world, go back and check the tape: at many schools, and particularly those located in or around Silicon Valley, around a quarter of graduating MBA classes go into the technology industry. At top schools like Haas, it can be thirty percent.
Another major industry for top MBA graduates, consulting, is often equally concentrated in information technology positions.
Even among those that don’t, it’s tough to find management roles these days that aren’t completely wrapped together with technology questions. Going into finance? All the hot trading is rooted in quantitative algorithms and high-speed, high-frequency market moves. Manufacturing? If you don’t get the latest developments in robotics, you’ll be left in the dust. Even entertainment, in many ways the most hands-on and humanistic industry in the state, AI is becoming a major player in production and filming.
According to analysis by the California Foundation for Commerce and Education, the tech sector alone in California accounted for nearly 20 percent of the gross regional product in the state in 2022. Together with knock-on effects and supporting businesses, it’s a $1 trillion industry that employs 4.2 million Californians.
In that environment, it’s hard to overstate how big a shot an MBA degree in technology management can be to your career.
What are the Salary Expectations in California with an MBA in Information Technology?
It should be clear that when you start talking about a trillion dollar industry, you are talking about an industry that can afford to cut some substantial paychecks to key executives.
This shows up clearly in Bureau of Labor Statistics data for 2023 in the categories of chief executives and general and operations managers.
In California, chief executives earn an average of $281,030 per year, well above the national average of $258,900. For general and operations managers, still important executives in the tech industry, the California average is $155,170 compared to $129,330 nationally.
When you zoom in on the beating heart of the tech sector, though, the numbers skyrocket. Chief executives in the San Francisco metro area bring in an average of $325,920 per year.
Of course, that’s actually a phenomenally low number compared to the total compensation package that most of these tech CEOs and executives really earn.
You Almost Need an MBA Just To Understand Tech Industry Compensation
The technology industry didn’t create the concept of extreme job perks and equity packages, but it sure accelerated them as an accepted, even expected, part of tech exec compensation.
Attend a typical business school party anywhere in the Bay Area and you’ll hear people throwing around terms like RSUs (Restricted Stock Units) and discussing their signing bonuses and ISO/NSO (Incentive Stock Options/Non-qualified Stock Options) splits.
That’s because the real value in many tech executive positions comes through equity and bonuses, not base salary levels. For founders and entrepreneurs, that ownership equity is almost always the real draw. Even for other execs, it can be the largest part of their total take-home.
There are also the over-the-top perks that tech companies famously use to attract and retain top talent. Extravagant travel stipends, furniture allowances, extended leave, catered lunches, complimentary laundry and dining on-site, healthcare provider visits at the corporate campus, and corporate cars can all offer an extra draw to certain positions. Pretty soon, it’s probably going to involve cryptocurrency or other exotic instruments.
These are far more complicated to assess than a straight salary, however. Valuing options and grants can depend on vesting schedules, strike prices, your assessment of the overall market, tax implications, and liquidation preference. It’s another good reason to get an MBA if the tech industry is your destination!
An MBA will help you maximize those numbers beyond simply boosting your basic qualifications for these tech exec jobs. With the assistance of career services teams and even specific elective courses in negotiations, you’ll develop a better understanding of the options and tactics available in getting a superlative compensation deal.
It’s also true that as a senior executive, you’ll find yourself on the other side of the table in salary matters. So you’ll need an in-depth understanding of how tech industry compensation works to land the best coders and engineers for your company.
Whether you choose to pursue an MBA in information technology for the big bucks, or for a shot at changing the world, you’ll get your best opportunities with a degree from a California business school.
2023 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary and employment figures for Top Executives reflect national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed December 2024.