Executive MBA: Companies seem reluctant to buy into MIT’s new program

Since corporate support has been declining, only 32 per cent of Executive MBA students were fully sponsored by their companies in 2009, down 5 per cent from 2005, reports the Wall Street Journal. According to the Executive MBA Council “historically the corporations were footing the bill,” but today “more individuals are paying their own way.” 

While the new program will be the first Executive MBA degree offered by the school, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been training executives in its Sloan Fellows program - a full-time year-long intensive degree - since 1940. But with three-quarters of the Sloan Fellows coming from abroad, MIT administrators realized they “weren't really serving the Boeings, Ciscos, Intels and Boston Scientifics," says David Schmittlein, dean of the business school.

MIT had long resisted launching an Executive MBA program, administrators say. Much of the faculty felt that such a program would not meet the standards to receive an MIT degree. But two years ago, the school decided to take another look. MIT officials began courting companies across sectors to figure out just how to structure its curriculum for working executives, who typically hold senior management jobs and have at least 10 to 15 years of work experience.

While most programs typically follow a model with classes held every other weekend, MIT's program will include four eight-day modules and meet every third weekend over the course of 20 months. While the degree is geared toward general management, the curriculum will also draw on the faculty's strengths in innovation and technology-based business. MIT's Executive MBA is priced around $120,000, putting it roughly in the middle of similar programs at other top-tier schools. MIT anticipates between 30 and 60 per cent of students will receive some sort of corporate sponsorship to cover tuition, but a majority of students is be expected to foot at least a portion of the bill themselves. Students paying out of their own pockets tend to be more demanding, according to Mr. Desiderio. “There's a lot of pressure to ensure that you're providing a high quality rigorous experience.”

Another challenge is the time it takes to woo firms. Companies typically choose which Executive MBA programs they will approve for employees, and which employees they'll consider for attendance, once a year. Many companies made those decisions before MIT announced its foray into the field and that means waiting anywhere from six to 18 months for reconsideration.

In the next two months, administrators say they'll reach out to alumni, companies and individuals who have worked with the business school to give them a chance to nominate candidates before the application deadline on August 15th. And of the 36 companies the school has corresponded with to develop the program, 34 have expressed interest in sending executives.

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• MIT Sloan School of Management
  Full-Time MBA