Why Santa Clara University?
Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business runs an online Master of Business Administration degree program. The university is located in Santa Clara, California. It is a medium-sized private Jesuit institution located near the business and technology hub of Silicon Valley.
Candidates must submit either GMAT or the GRE scores, as well as a CV detailing at least three years of professional experience. There is no minimum GPA requirement for admission, but academic potential and past success will be taken into account as part of the admissions process.
Program Snapshot
| University Name | Santa Clara University |
| Location | Santa Clara |
| State | CA |
| Niche.com Grade | A |
| Name of Degree | Master of Business Administration |
| School or Department Administering Program | Leavey School of Business |
| Credits (quarter units) | 70 |
| Cost per credit | $1,234.00 |
| Tuition for Entire Program | $86,380.00 |
| Test Requirements | GMAT or GRE |
| Minimum GPA | none |
| Prerequisite Courses and Skills | at least 3 years of professional experience |
| Campus Visit Required? | yes |
| Typical Time to Complete | 2 years |
| When Can Students Start the Program? | Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer |
| Program Concentrations |
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| Synchronous classes | no |
| Required Courses |
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| Does the Program Include a Capstone? | no |
| Does the program include a practicum or internship? | no |
| Other Features that Make the Program Unique | 2 on-campus residencies; curriculum, teaching staff and alumni network influenced by Silicon Valley; students can track progress with Silicon Valley Professional dashboard to coordinate their curricular and co-curricular experiences and reflect on their professional development as well as communicate with instructors, classmates and mentors; 2 residency weekends; opportunity to take in-person classes if desired |
| Program Objectives (quoted directly from the program) | Themes of Innovation and Responsibility; Domain 1: Principled Leadership; Domain 2: Communication and Team Building; Domain 3: Analysis and Interpretation; Domain 4: Innovation and Entrepreneurial Mindset |
| Program Description | This degree requires 70 quarter units of coursework, equivalent to approximately 48 semester credits. 2 required residency weekends are included in the curriculum, as is participation in a customizable dashboard-style portfolio system. Students do not complete a capstone course or other culminating experience. There are no formal requirements for an internship or practicum. Most students complete the program within 2 years. 4 concentration areas are offered: Data Science and Business Analytics, Leading Innovative Organizations, Marketing, and Finance. The curriculum emphasized principled leadership, communication and team building, analysis and interpretation, and an entrepreneurial mindset. |
What will I Learn?
In keeping with SCU’s Jesuit tradition, the online MBA emphasizes themes of responsibility and ethics in addition to ideas of innovation and strategy. Students learn to become principled leaders skilled in communication and team building. Graduates are equipped with analysis and interpretation skills, ready to innovate with an entrepreneurial mindset.
The Santa Clara core curriculum features the following distinctive courses: Doing Business in Silicon Valley, Marketing is Everything, and Design and Management of Enterprise Platforms. Accompanying these opportunities are more traditional courses in Financial Accounting, Managerial Economics, Operations Management and Financial Management. Students learn important “soft skills” in Business Communications, Leading People and Organizations, Strategy and Challenges in Leading and Managing Strategic Change. Methods for making challenging decisions are discussed in Ethics for Managers, Quantitative Methods and Analytical Decision Making.
Students can choose to specialize in one of the following concentrations: Data Science and Business Analytics, Leading Innovative Organizations, Marketing, and Finance. In addition to the core curriculum, students take at least 12 credits within their concentration, and 14 additional elective credits.
How much will the program cost?
The price per credit is $1,234 and there are a total of 70 credits needed to graduate. The full cost of earning this degree is close to $86,380.00. It typically takes students two years to complete their degrees.
How does the program fit into my life?
This program employs asynchronous instruction for its coursework. Online courses are not attended by students in real time. Instead, they engage in self-paced online tasks and plan asynchronous encounters with their teacher and classmates. Students can begin the program four times a year. The average time for a student to finish the program is 2 years. Most students succeed in their academic pursuits when they devote themselves fully to them.
Students must spend two separate weekend “residency” periods on the Santa Clara campus.
Summary
Although Santa Clara University may not be as well known as some of its other California-based MBA counterparts, it offers an intriguing online MBA program featuring many interesting opportunities. The institution explicitly structures its MBA as building “Silicon Valley Professionals”, emphasizing connections with this innovation hub through curriculum, staffing, and alumni networks. The “Silicon Valley Professional” dashboard built by each student allows them to gather evidence from curricular and co-curricular activities and to interact with classmates, instructors and mentors.
