Why Consider A One Year MBA

The Pros and Cons of a One Year MBA

Does a one year MBA work for you?

The MBA isn’t just a degree; it’s an investment.  The right MBA can not only fill in critical gaps in your business knowledge, it can boost your resume and provide you with a branded credential upon which to build your future career.

But the pursuit of an MBA isn’t to be taken lightly.  The average program requires two years of your life; a significant investment of time and effort preparing applications and studying for the GMATs; and a loss in revenue, not only for the two years of salary that you will miss but also for the money spent on the program.  But if you’re unsure that you can make the commitment to a traditional MBA program, there might be another choice: the one year MBA.

A one year MBA program can be an excellent choice under a range of circumstances.  These include a faster time to completion, lower cost, and less downtime in terms of your career. But there are a number of potential downsides as well that are worth considering in terms of your unique situation.

Points to consider before you embark on a one year MBA

Time in school – A one year MBA is going to greatly minimize the amount of time that you need to spend in school, reducing the time from matriculation to graduation from 24 months to 12 month.   This will limit the amount of time you’ll be out of the work force, which has direct implications for your earning potential.  It will also put you through the experience at a more intense pace, forcing you to absorb more material more quickly and allowing less time to ramp up foundational knowledge, study skills, and more.

Costs – An MBA is expensive.  Over the course of two years at a top traditional program, the average student will go tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.  While scholarships, student loans, and employer incentives can help reduce these costs, the reality of graduating with massive student debt can be daunting.  This is compounded if you already have debt from your undergraduate education, are supporting a family, or work in a lower income field.  A one year program can slash your costs in half.  By both reducing the amount of money you need to pay for the education as well as eliminating a year of time you’ll need to go without income, a one year MBA can make an MBA more economically feasible to pursue.

Program Focus – A one year MBA program may be more tightly focused in terms of content on core MBA subjects or a specific specialty focus such as marketing or supply chain management.  In a traditional two year program, the first year is often dominated by core content dictated by the curriculum and the second year of the program may be electives chosen by the student.  A one year program is more likely to follow a structured content but if the program is chosen carefully, this content may address the student’s most pressing information gaps.  Little time will be wasted studying non-essential topics.

Credentials – In some cases, students are motivated to pursue an MBA just to obtain the credential.  It might be necessary to advance in their current position or to serve as the basis of a career change.  What may be less essential though is the quality of the experience itself; instead, the student is focused on the goal of achieving the MBA so that they can move on to their next professional challenge. In this instance, a one-year MBA makes perfect sense.

Outside work experience – One factor to consider when choosing an MBA program is how important getting some related work experience is to achieving your goals with the program.  For many students, the summer internship between the first and second years of the MBA provides a critical professional experience that opens professional doors later in the student’s career.  Many companies are willing to hire interns with credentials they would never take a risk on, as a fulltime employee.  With a one year internship, you may miss the opportunity to get some professional life experience that could change your career.  But if this is not a concern, then a one year program can be the perfect choice.

Prestige – Many of the country’s top programs only offer the signature two-year MBA program.  As a result, some of the top branded prestige programs can be only accessed by following traditional programs.  But more and more this is changing as many of the country’s best institutions, including Thunderbird and Babson, are offering accelerated tracks for students that want the best learning (and teaching) offered but within the constraints of a one year program.

Freedom to explore – As discussed above, the second year of a traditional MBA program is often focused on areas that a student may want to explore.  For specific skill building courses to those that allow students to take a deep dive into a specialty area, these electives can allow the space and intellectual freedom to explore a variety of topics.  But in some cases, students are looking to acquire very specific knowledge, or to fill core knowledge gaps in areas of the core business curriculum.  In these cases, or for very fast learners, one year programs can offer ample intellectual challenges.

Networking – Finally, one last factor to consider is the value of the network that you are building.  Many of the individuals who attend business school are looking to build connections that will help them in business for a lifetime.  The bonds that form during the stressful and competitive environment of business can form the basis of deep and sustained friendships and business partnerships.  It’s may be easier to form meaningful connections with a wide range of people over two years.  But strategic networkers can also achieve the same goals during the more focused period of a one-year MBA.

The one year MBA can be a fantastic choice.  It can allow you to compress the stress, learning, and costs of a graduate business education into a single year, while allowing you to achieve the lifelong goal of having your MBA.  But with less time to waste, It’s doubly important that MBA students be clear about their goals both during and after the program, and ruthlessly pursue them during the experience to make it a success.

The decision to pursue a one year MBA should not be taken lightly, but by thoroughly considering all the pro’s and con’s you can make an informed decision that will stand you on good ground for the future.