Overview

When people think about top business schools in America, they think about those schools that offer two-year MBA programs. However, a growing number of people want to attend one-year MBA programs. They need to be open-minded and consider attending schools in the UK (Cambridge/Oxford), Europe (INSEAD/IMD), or Asia/India (IBS/IIM.) There are many other options in other countries around the world in terms of top graduate business schools.

A One-year MBA program in India or abroad may be attractive to many because these tend to be more affordable financially. The tuition, room and board, books, and opportunity costs tend to be much lower.

People who prefer to work as soon as possible also prefer to enroll in one-year MBA programs.

This article will describe American MBA programs that are as not as well known (these are also called accelerated MBA programs.)

Should you do a one-year MBA program in America?

In general, you should attend a one-year MBA program if one or more of the following applies to you:

• You’re older, more mature, and you actually want to learn something in graduate school.
• You already have world exposure
• You intend to keep your current job after graduating
• You want to save money when going to school and you want to start earning as quickly as possible.
• You already have a BBA or BBS degree, you have strong quantitative abilities, and you don’t need to learn about basic business.
• You want to start school in the summer
• You want to learn quickly and are not as interested in having opportunities to network with classmates
• You don’t care about going to a ranked school – most one-year MBA programs are not ranked even if they’re of good quality.

Student body profile

Students who do one-year MBA programs in America tend to be older, hence they have more work experience. This is what the typical student body profile of more highly regarded American one-year MBA programs looks like:

If you look at the table you’ll see that the average applicant has more than 5 years of work experience.

Class Profiles for the best one-year MBA programs in America

One Year MBA V.S. Two Year MBA

One-year MBA programs may be currently in vogue in America. This has long been the case in Europe. However, two-year MBA programs in America continue to suffer their worst application downturn in years. The reason for this is that international and domestic students are giving alternative programs a hard look. Some popular alternatives include online MBAs, part-time and weekend MBAs, and specialized MBA programs. Many people are researching one-year MBA programs zealously as well.

You can spend much less money and have your MBA degree in half of the time (sometimes even less) than a traditional two-year MBA program. This appeals to a lot of people. Most Elite business schools are catching on and are offering these programs. What students are finding is that these programs have the same quality and caliber of student body and instruction that their two-year counterparts do.

You also have the potential to earn more. It’s this higher Return on Investment (ROI) that’s making many people give one-year MBA programs another look. Business schools offer these programs because they know that more and more students want to learn complex business principles as quickly as possible and then return to full-time work as quickly as possible.

Most MBA programs last for 12 months. A small percentage span from 10-11 months. There is one University, the University of Miami that offers a super accelerated one-year MBA program which is for only 7 months! If you decide to attend a more expensive one-year MBA program such as Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management or Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management, you’ll be paying at most 80% of the tuition that these schools’ two-year MBA programs would charge.

For example, the tuition at Kellogg’s one-year MBA program would set you back $140,366. The tuition at the two-year MBA program (Kellogg) may be ranked and esteemed, but it is a whopping $211,000. At Cornell, you’d pay $141,000 to attend either the two-year MBA program at the Ithaca New York Campus or the Tech MBA program in New York City. Both programs have tuition at an amazing US $190,000.

What is the difference between the traditional two-year MBA and the one-year MBA?

MBA Internship opportunity

You can’t generally do a summer internship with the one-year MBA program. The main exception is with Cornell University’s accelerated MBA program which offers its students a two-week internship. The summer internship opportunity exists with most two-year MBA programs.

The problem is that many MBA students intern in companies during the summer. They are then hired by these companies upon graduation. They would have to line up their own career opportunities with most one-year MBA programs.

Career change

You should not do a one-year MBA program if you want to switch careers and move into a completely different field. Though it is possible for many to do. The main reason why a one-year MBA program is not advisable is because you won’t have much time to gain the in-depth knowledge that would be necessary for a career change. The same applies to honing your skills in a new field.

Best One Year MBA in America

1. Kellogg One Year MBA Program

Kellogg’s 1-year MBA program is one of the most highly ranked and accelerated program options in the US. It starts in June and ends in the very same month next year. It’s the best time to make students used to rigorous academics. So they stay prepared for the second year of the 2-year full-time MBA program.

The curriculum is set as per the one year of its duration; it’s not made like other programs by condensing two years’ programs into one. There is something even better for students that they can bypass the core business subjects and go for the deep end, which depends upon their existing business acumen.

MBA in “General Management” is for those students who choose not to elect any of the available concentrations.

Location: Evanston, Illinois

Duration: 12 Months

Average Work Experience: 5.1 Years

GMAT 80% Range: 732

Tuition Fees: $98,720

Curriculum and Flexibility

Kellogg’s one-year MBA program encourages students to bypass core classes and further personalize their field of interest to achieve career goals. And for students, there are around 200 electives to choose from.

Majors and Pathways at Kellogg

Many students focus on enhancing or upgrade their skills; that’s where Kellogg’s 1-year program comes in. It provides ‘Pathways,’ which includes a sequence of extra courses so that an interested student can build expertise in emerging areas and evolving industries.

There isn’t any limitation such as ‘students can choose only one pathway’; instead, he/she can go as deep as he/she likes to strengthen a particular skill.

With this program, students can choose from 7 different majors and six different pathways. Majors help students to gain a deep understanding and expertise in a particular business function. On the other hand, pathways are the ways to strengthen or develop a skill set. Here are the different pathways offered by Kellogg:

• Real Estate
• Social Impact
• Data Analytics
• Entrepreneurship
• Growth and Scaling
• Healthcare at Kellogg
• Venture Capital & Private Equity

2. Cornell 1-Year MBA Program

Cornell’s one-year MBA program is also the most famous one in the US, starting in the summer semester. However, a 10-week crash course in business foundations is also a part of this program, including leadership training.

Enrolled students to complete Johnson’s core by teaming up with students from the Cornel Tech MBA program. The core curriculum includes courses from various sectors such as financial accounting, strategy, critical thinking, and data analytics.

It could be a great opportunity for a STEM professional to manage a seat at the upper management table!

Concentrations: Consulting, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Global Management, Sustainable Global Enterprise.

Location: Ithaca, New York

Duration: 12 Months

Average Work Experience: 5.6 Years

Average GMAT Score: 690

Tuition Fees: Summer term – $36,362; Fall/Spring term – $66,290

Admission Requirements for the Accelerated Cornell One Year MBA Program

Applicants must have a professional certification or an advanced degree in order to apply for Cornell’s one-year MBA program. Moreover,  applicants must have completed their examination/advanced degree or certification before May 2020.

Here is the list of eligible certifications and advanced degrees:

• Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
• Institute of Chartered Financial Accountants (UK and India)
• Society of Actuaries
• Project Management (PMP)
• JD
• MD
• Eng
• MHA
• Ed
• MA
• MS
• PhD

Graduates from the recent batch of Cornell’s one-year MBA program got average starting salaries of $1222,124 with signing bonuses of $29,643. For the 2017 batch, around 33 companies participated in campus hiring of 60 odd graduates.

3. Duke Fuqua Accelerated MBA

When it comes to the most recently introduced business schools, Duke Fuqua is one of the best on the list. It is also offering an accelerated one-year MBA program. This school has one of the largest class sizes of 395 students in 2021.

To pursue this program, applicants must have the following degrees:

• Master of Management Studies (MMS) degree from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business
• Master’s in Management Degree or equivalent from an accredited business school
• 1-year Master of Business Administration degree from an accredited graduate business school.

Curriculum, Concentrations, and Certificates

This MBA program is divided into five terms, and the very first term starts with a 4-week summer term. Students go through courses about entrepreneurship, leadership, and the technology-driven transformation of business in the first term.

The Fall and Spring semesters have a six-week duration, where students are allowed to choose up to 3 elective courses. However, management communication courses are a must for every student.

Moreover, students are free to pick up to 13 concentration areas throughout the program, such as strategy, marketing, FinTech, and finance. A full list of concentrations is available. Along with this, students can also personalize in a specific area as per their field of interest. The following certificates are available:

• Certificate in Finance
• Certificate in Health Sector Management (HSM)

4. Notre Dame (Mendoza) 1-year MBA Program

The one-year accelerated MBA program offered by Notre Dame is a perfect option for those who already have a business undergraduate background.

Most students have an average of 5 years of work experience before signing up for this accelerated program. This highly rated MBA program starts with a 9-week intensive summer term, and after that, students join the two-year MBA program.

Curriculum and Signature Experiences

The curriculum includes various courses ranging from business analytics to marketing management and financial accounting. It is designed in a way to equip a student with skills to solve complex problems with integrity, and it also emphasizes team-based best practices.

Here are the signature experiences that are a part of this MBA program:

• Business on the Front lines
• Applied Investment Management
• Global Opportunities

Applicants with at least three credit hours of financial accounting and statistics from an accredited university will be eligible for this program.

The student-to-faculty ratio of this business school is 3:1 one which is the best part about this program. With this kind of ratio, students get good personal attention from a particular faculty. Not only this, but another interesting thing is that more than 81% of students receive fellowships.

Location: Notre Dame, Indiana

Duration: 12 Months

Average Work Experience: 5.3 Years

GMAT 80% Range: 550-700

Tuition Fees: $75,768

Concentrations: Business Analytics, Business Leadership, Consulting, Corporate Finance, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Investments, and Marketing.

5. USC Marshall I-BEAR MBA Program

USC Marshall’s international one-year MBA program is a perfect option for mid-career professionals. This I-BEAR program is more like an outlier in comparison to other programs we have listed.

A Program for Mid-Career Professionals

Most students have an average age of 34 to 36 in this program with around 11-12 years of work experience. However, over 41% of the students in this program come from science and engineering backgrounds. Along with that, consumer service/CPG industry students form 36% of the classroom.

Focus on Global Business Education

This program is designed in such a way to deliver the best learning experience for students to develop knowledge, tools, and business networks. This MBA program incorporates global business consulting products (IBCP) as the key role of the whole MBA experience.

Graduates of this program have successfully completed hundreds of projects in various parts of the world. And in this way, the graduates are delivering exceptional value to the organizations. You can explore more about this I-BEAR MBA program here.

6. Stern School of Business, New York University

This business school has the best power-packed Tech MBA Advisory Board, including heads of Citigroup, Alphabet, and BuzzFeed. This specific Stern Tech MBA course is designed to provide a great advantage to the candidate over the competition. You can assume this course as a crossover between Technology and Business. The overall motive of this course is to develop graduates with technical knowledge and a great understanding of business.

This course starts from the May month and ends in the very same month next year. This Stern Tech MBA course is designed in such a way to provide multiple hands-on learning experiences across New York City and Silicon Valley. Another advantage of this program is that students can work with any company listed on the Advisory Board.

Location: New York, New York

Duration: 12 Months

Average Work Experience: 5.8 Years

Average GMAT Score: 689

Tuition Fees: $95,100

Concentrations: Accounting, Economics, Finance, Marketing, Operations, Strategy, and Managing Organizations.

7. Goizueta Business School, Emory University

According to the Forbes ratings, Goizueta’s one-year MBA program was ranked to offer the Fewest Years to Payback in 2017.

Along with that, this business school also offers a completely optional IMPACT program, but it provides great experiential learning opportunities. By enrolling in this program, you’ll be getting the opportunity to work with some big names in the industry, such as Coca-Cola Company, Mercedes-Benz, Delta Airlines, and Carters, Inc.

Moreover, there are over 20 available concentrations to pick from!

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Duration: 12 Months

Average Work Experience: 6 Year

GMAT 80% Range: 570 – 710

Tuition Fees: $95,853

Concentrations: Goizueta offers 20 concentrations, including Corporate Finance, Decision Analysis, General Marketing, Healthcare Consulting, Investment Banking, and Management Consulting.

8. Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh

This program requires students to have at least two years of work experience.

Katz primarily focuses on experiential learning to equip students with real-world business acumen.

Along with that, this business school also emphasizes co-curricular activities, including case competitions. Also, groups of students compete with each other to find the best possible solution for various business problems. That’s not it; the Katz Invitational is also something quite interesting in this business school, which is a harder version of case competitions.

To make students feel familiar with real-world business situations, Katz offers a consulting field project and a management simulation capstone.

Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Duration: 11 Months

Average Work Experience: 4.6 Years

Average GMAT Score: 621

Tuition Fees: $68,167

Concentrations: Finance, Information Systems and Technology Management, Marketing, Operations, Organizational Behavior and Human Resources Management, Strategy.

9. Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California

Applicants can consider this one as a mid-career course because it requires high average age and work experience.

More international students enroll in this program than American students. As per this business school, this course is designed to function like a mini-United Nations to help students develop holistically and global perspectives. The biggest key highlight of this course is that it allows students to create their own concentrations during the course, and all this to make students future-ready.

Location: Los Angeles, California

Duration: 12 Months

Average Work Experience: 11-12 Years

GMAT 80% Range: 570/710 / Median GMAT: 630

Tuition Fees: $112,000 (Tuition & Program Fee)

10. Pepperdine University – Graziadio School of Business and Management

In order to get admission to this program, you must require an undergraduate degree in business. If you don’t have this, you also can enroll in a 15-month duration program. But another requirement for both programs is that you must have at least three years of work experience.

Other than the concentrations, there are multiple differences between these two different durations of programs. In the 12-month program, you can take one week to study abroad, whereas, for the 15-month program, you can take an entire trimester to study abroad.

Another advantage of studying at Pepperdine is that you’ll get the SEER certificate. Here SEER stands for Socially, Environmentally, and Ethically Responsible, which is an optional course. In the current situation where climate change and human welfare are the genuine concerns, that’s why it could be another impressive add-on for your career.

Location: Malibu, California

Duration: 12 Months/ 15 Months

Average Work Experience: 5 Years

GMAT 80% Range: 648

Tuition Fees: $24,875 per term

Concentrations: Finance and Marketing (12 months); Digital Innovation Systems; Dispute Resolution; Entertainment, Media, and Sports Management; Entrepreneurship; Finance and Marketing (15 months).

11. F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College

The best thing about this course is that students can get GMAT Waiver. Candidates with a Certificate in Advanced Management (CAM) are eligible for a GMAT waiver.

That’s not it; also, the CAM candidates become eligible for another added benefit: candidates may be allowed to apply for CAM Credits to the Bobson MBA after signing up. There are not many business schools offering such benefits for applicants.

Moreover, once you enroll, you’ll have access to other courses, experiential learning, and academic centers; usually, students get access to these benefits in the 2-year duration program.

Location: Wellesley, Massachusetts

Duration: 12 Months

Average Work Experience: 5.8 Years

GMAT 80% Range: 599

Tuition Fees: $82,496

Concentrations: Business Analytics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Global Management, and Marketing.

12. Southern Methodist University (SMU) – Cox School of Business

If you have an undergraduate degree in business, economics, or in any other quantitative field, then you are eligible for this program. Cox believes in providing options for students to develop their knowledge and skills in two fields instead of one; that’s the reason Cox allows students to pick a minor subject as well along with their major subject. This thing can benefit you in terms of finding unique insights and applications while working in the actual work environment.

At Cox, there are many hobby-based as well as industry-centric groups to help students. The class would be a great mix of different nationalities and gender of students to give you impressive exposure.

Location: Dallas, Texas

Duration: 12 Months

Average Work Experience: 4 Years

GMAT 80% Range: 636

Tuition Fees: $70,408

Concentrations: Accounting, Finance (with further specializations in Corporate Finance, Energy Finance and Investments), ITOM: Business Analytics, ITOM: Information & Operations, Management, Marketing (with further specialization in Customer Engagement), Real Estate, Strategy & Entrepreneurship, and General Business.

Tuition fee for One Year MBA Programs in USA

1-Year MBA Programs: 2020-2021 Application Deadlines in USA

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