Part-Time MBA in California | Online Part-Time MBA

It’s the story of business no matter what industry you are in: there’s more that needs doing than you have time to do it.

That can include getting the education you need to build your business career. A Master of Business Administration is the universally-recognized pinnacle of operational business degrees. Elite managers and leaders across the Fortune 500, in hot Bay Area startups, major Hollywood studios, and sunny San Diego biotech firms have those letters after their names.

And for good reason… an MBA from one of California’s well-respected business schools is a ticket to not only advanced strategic planning, communication, and leadership skills—it’s also a shot at mingling with other up-and-coming prodigies on their way to positions of power and responsibility.

The best part-time MBA rankings in the country feature many of California’s top business schools.

But a typical MBA degree is two years of full-time study, chock full of in-depth projects, opportunities for networking and mingling, and corporate recruiting events. Not everyone has two years of dedicated time to put into that kind of program. Whether you’re already working and can’t afford to take the time off, or you have a family or other obligations outside work, a full-time MBA may just not be in the cards.

Which is where a part-time MBA degree from one of California’s top business schools comes in.

What Is a Part-Time MBA?

Traditional MBA programs take two years to complete and run from between 36 and over 50 semester credits of coursework. That doesn’t necessarily include non-credit internship placements, often during the summer break between the first and second year.

On top of that, the standard two-year MBA is packed with additional opportunities for networking, participating in special events and recruiting fairs, and often just hanging out with classmates… it’s all included in the valuable professional network-building that is part of the MBA package.

That makes for a pretty full schedule. For non-traditional students, it’s often way more than they can fit into an already full life.

Not only are part-time MBA programs slower, but they can often be smaller; a lower student-to-faculty ratio is another feature that may help you absorb information better than in a full-time MBA.

Part-time MBA degrees offer some slack in your schedule by allowing you to spread all those activities out over a longer period. They include the same classes, the same opportunities, and can let you make the same connections… but you can do it at your own pace, taking anywhere from three to five years to fit it in.

That’s some serious breathing room. It opens the MBA option up to anyone who needs a little more space to get a degree at their own pace.

It’s Almost All Upside with California’s Part-Time MBA Programs – Advanced Business Studies Without Major Compromises

For the most part, a part-time MBA at any particular California business school is going to closely resemble the full-time options at that school. In fact, some schools don’t really make any clear distinction between the two—like Santa Clara’s Evening MBA program, they may simply offer a program that has flexible scheduling, letting you get your coursework in when you have a block of time to handle it. In other cases, such as at CSU Northridge’s David Nazarian College of Business and Economics, the only MBA is a part-time MBA!

There are some inherent differences in most part-time programs that can impact your experience, however:

Part-time programs won’t be based on a cohort model, so you will not progress through your studies with the same group of students at each point
Many part-time MBAs have an evening or weekend format, which can have a greater impact on your personal life
Your reasons for pursuing a part-time degree (such as personal or professional obligations on your time) may rule out some extracurricular or regular business-hour opportunities, such as standard internship placements

That said, there’s a lot of different approaches to flexible business education found among California’s great wealth of business schools. The competition in the field has led to various models of MBA part-time studies, with innovative approaches to fitting in critical aspects of traditional programs. You’ll have a chance to explore various options that can deliver the kind of results you are looking for no matter what your situation.

What Is the Difference Between Part-Time MBA Programs and Professional MBA Degrees?

Since many part-time programs are aimed at working professionals, you might see California business schools offering something called a Professional MBA and wonder if it’s just a part-time MBA with a fancy name.

The answer is: sometimes!

In general, however, a professional MBA is different from a part-time MBA in that professional degrees often omit certain low-level coursework that people with more experience in the workplace don’t need. This means they will have higher standards for admissions, such as a longer history of work experience or having earned an undergraduate degree in business.

They may also be optimized for speed, so although classes can be time-shifted to evenings and weekends, or taken asynchronously online, they aren’t always delivered over a longer timeline.

Because of this, many are specifically designed and marketed as one-year MBAs.

On the other hand, some professional MBAs are more or less identical to other part-time programs, with a comprehensive curriculum that is offered at a slower or more flexible pace.

There’s no Official Office of American MBA Program Naming Conventions, so any school is free to call their degree whatever kind of MBA they like. If you’re hunting for degrees that you can finish at your own pace, there are many professional MBAs that may meet your needs — a close look at the coursework and duration will tell the tale.

Top Part-Time MBA Programs From California Business Schools Come In Formats To Fit Your Schedule

For some part-time MBAs, the real prize isn’t necessarily the ability to spread classes out—it’s the time of day or the format in which those classes are offered.

The UC Davis part-time MBA actually has a fast-track option that allows you to complete your part-time degree at a full-time pace: two years.

Typically, that means evening or weekend class options that keep school outside of business hours for working students.

Of course, with the increasing popularity of online course options, many of the most innovative part-time MBA programs are also taking advantage of virtual classes. Unlike an online MBA degree, though, these programs usually go with a hybrid format, in which some of your classes are virtual and others are in-person. You may, for example, go with the USC part-time MBA Saturday option, which has some on-campus requirements but allows you to complete other classes through online connections.

If you want to earn the MBA at UCLA part-time, you have three scheduling options to choose from.

There are also a number of business schools in California that cater to all those format options. The UCLA part-time MBA, called the Fully Employed MBA, offers 27 or 33 month options that take place:

If that isn’t enough, there’s also an option that allows you to set your own schedule, as long as you ultimately complete your studies within five years.

How Part-Time Online MBA Degrees Deliver Unmatched Flexibility and Respect for Your Time

While online studies are a feature of many of the top part-time MBAs in California, part-time MBA online degrees are also their own sub-genre in the field.

Like full-time online degrees, these deliver flexibility, affordability, and alternatives for getting a graduate education in business. When you put that in the blender with the more variable scheduling that is offered in online options, then you have an MBA option that you can fit around almost any level of commitments in your personal and professional life.

For starters, many online MBA degrees offer asynchronous classes for at least part of their curriculum. These allow you to study on your own time. You not only have the option of studying from anywhere, but also at any hour—if midnight cram sessions are your thing, you have that choice. On lunch break at work, while waiting for the kids after soccer practice—anywhere you can get internet, at any hour you have free, you can study.

There’s also the greater selection of schools that part-time online MBA programs unlock. While even evening and weekend MBAs restrict you to business schools that happen to be within commuting distance, fully online part-time MBAs can come from any school anywhere in California. You are free to choose the program that has the best fit for your career, with the concentrations you need, with the reputation you deserve.

Finally, online part-time MBAs can generally be more economical than the alternatives. Not only do you have options of more affordable schools than you might find in your neighborhood, but the fact you don’t have to relocate or commute to attend will give your bank account a breather.

What You Will Study in One of California’s Top Ranked Part Time MBA Degrees

One place you don’t have to worry about any corners getting cut in a part-time MBA is when it comes to academics. You’ll generally find the same set of elective class options, the same concentrations, the same professors, and the same core courses as a school offers in their full-time program.

In fact, since you have more time to spread out your coursework in those studies, you can really take your time and absorb the material.

These degrees don’t come with “part-time” written on the diploma. Employers will expect that you come out the other side with an education fully equal to any other MBA offered at the same school. You’ll find the same range of options and opportunities available, even if they are sometimes delivered in a slightly different format.

What You Should Consider in Choosing Between Executive MBA vs Part-Time MBA Degrees

Executive Master of Business Administration degrees are available at many of the same schools in California that offer part-time MBAs. If you look at the format and scheduling, you’ll notice they are also offered at a relatively unhurried pace. Both types of degree are designed to be accessible to working professionals. So if you are already in the workforce and can’t commit to a full-time MBA, you might wonder if an EMBA is a better choice for your part-time studies.

That’s true for only a very limited subset of candidates.

The major difference between an executive MBA vs a typical part-time MBA is that most part-time programs are accessible to anyone who is qualified for regular MBA studies. That is to say, if you have an undergraduate degree, can sit through a GMAT exam, and pull some good references together, you can apply for a part-time MBA with some hopes of acceptance.

Executive MBAs, by design, are aimed at senior leadership with considerably more business experience. They are tailored for students who may have decades of leadership experience and considerable expertise in their fields. Naturally, the kind of curriculum that you feed to such students for maximum impact is going to be a lot different than what you need to deliver to students just starting their careers.

So an EMBA can indeed be a solid part-time MBA choice… if you happen to be a senior business executive. On the other hand, there are also executives who can take home valuable education and information just from a standard part-time MBA.

With Top Part-Time MBAs, Business Schools Deliver Plenty of Specialized Study Options

One terrific advantage of the best part-time MBAs is that they can bring a business school’s A-game to the table – and do it without making exorbitant demands on your time. By slowing things down a little bit, you can really dive in and get to the meat of what interests you most in business.

This is in contrast to fast-paced one-year programs or even some full-time online MBAs, which don’t always offer much in the way of concentration options. You can’t always squeeze in the electives you want, or find them in the proper time or format.

California, however, is absolutely loaded with top-ranked part-time MBA programs that can go toe-to-toe with the most impressive traditional MBAs. The SFSU part-time MBA, for example, is ranked as one of the top 10 best Green MBA programs in the country… an in-demand specialty in a world that increasingly needs skilled professionals who can keep environment, sustainability, and social responsibilities in mind when making executive decisions.

A Top-Ranked Part-Time MBA in California Finds Innovative Ways To Deliver Real-World Experience

Although the reasons people go into part-time MBA programs are often the same reasons that keep them from taking on traditional internship placements, some schools offer alternatives that can still give you realistic on-the-job experience without the same full-time commitment.

At the UC Davis part-time MBA, that takes the shape of one of three different industry immersions. These co-curricular programs offer site visits, provide corporate connections, and tap into university expertise in particular fields. The school uses the same immersion programs for full-time students, and they can lead to internships, but they are an option rather than a requirement.

In other cases, you’ll have a chance to incorporate other experiential learning opportunities. In the Loyola Marymount University program, for instance, an optional one-week overseas immersion trip is available as an international business elective.

Schools at the Top of California’s Part-Time MBA Rankings Won’t Cost an Arm and a Leg

The costs of part-time MBA degrees in California are comparable to their full-time counterparts. After all you’re not taking any more credits—they’re just more spread out.

At the margins, you may find yourself spending a bit more on fees and other fixed costs that come with college studies. These aren’t usually significant compared to the flexibility that these programs offer, however.

By giving you the option to stretch out your studies, you can keep your job and keep the income rolling in even as you improve your business education.

It’s also the case that a part-time MBA can help you optimize your cash-flow. Since you are scheduling your coursework outside of some set schedule, you can shift it not only for availability, but also to line up with when you are feeling a little richer. This can really boost your MBA ROI.

Tuition bills can ratchet up or down from semester to semester so you’re not running into a jam where your Maserati payment is going to compete with your educational expenses. Or if you just need to concentrate more on work for a while to rebuild the coffers, you can put your school expenses basically on pause.

Looking At the Best Part-Time MBA Programs in California Today

Some top-ranked schools consider the full-time cohort model to be critical to their success and reputation. There is no Stanford University part-time MBA, for example.

On the other hand, the University of California Berkeley part-time MBA takes all the reputation and expertise of a T10 program and packs it up for students that don’t fit the mold. The Haas part-time MBA gives you everything one of the best business schools in the country can offer and lets you do it in anywhere from two and a half to five years. Despite the flexibility, they retain the cohort model that allows you to plug in to a supportive network that will stick with you for the rest of your career.

Part-Time Can Be In the Eye of the Beholder When It Comes to California MBAs

Part-time can be a pretty subjective subject for MBA degrees. After all, it depends on what a full-time MBA looks like at any given university; the default in the United States is for an MBA to take two years, but if a one-year MBA takes two years, does that make it part-time?

We leave it to the schools themselves to decide such thorny questions; if a program is described as part-time, even though it takes two years, we will list it here. On the other hand, we do not automatically include one-year MBAs that can be completed in two years.

However, we have thrown in programs with descriptions like Evening MBA, Professional MBA, or Evening and Weekend MBA if their timelines go beyond two years, even if they aren’t expressly described as being a part-time program.

The result is a great mix of public and private schools, located in every region of California.