Charlotte to launch online, tech-focused MBA
To meet the growing demand from working professionals looking to advance their skills, UNC Charlotte will launch a fully online MBA starting in August.
The new program — developed by the same faculty who teach in Charlotte’s nationally ranked Professional MBA — will be offered with a choice of high-tech concentrations.
“Charlotte’s new online MBA is designed to help business professionals advance their careers by harnessing the power of technology,” said Belk College of Business Dean Jennifer Troyer. “Through meetings with our industry partners and an analysis of employment data, we know that the skills offered through this unique program are in high demand in the Charlotte region and beyond. As this program offers maximum flexibility, we expect strong interest, not only in Charlotte but across the Southeast.”
According to Janaki Gooty, director of the MBA program, recent data from The Wall Street Journal found the Charlotte Professional MBA offered the best income-to-debt ratio among public universities in the Carolinas.
“The online Master of Business Administration is ideal for working professionals who are seeking to advance or shift their careers into exciting new tech-focused concentrations,” said Janaki Gooty, who is also an internationally recognized scholar in leadership, inclusion and the power of emotions in the workplace. “As with Charlotte’s Professional MBA, the online program will offer high quality at a competitive price, as our faculty are internationally recognized in their domains.”
The program, supported by the School of Professional Studies, is part of the University’s expanded commitment to online education. In January, U.S. News & World Report ranked the University’s online bachelor’s degrees No. 10 in the nation.
The tech-focused online concentrations pull from areas of strength for UNC Charlotte, which launched the first School of Data Science in the Carolinas in 2020, with the Belk College as one of five University academic and research partners.
The 36-credit hour program will include core business courses and concentration courses that focus on many emerging areas, including:
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Business analytics: Decision modeling; recency, frequency, monetary value (RFM) analysis and data mining (SAS and Python).
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Digital marketing: Social media analytics, search engine optimization (SEO) and product strategy.
The Belk College has offered blended courses since 2016, with MBA students in select courses meeting face-to-face and online. However, this will be the first time the college will offer a fully online MBA program.
Online MBA courses will be seven and a half weeks long. Typical part-time students will earn an MBA in two to three years. The courses will be offered through the Canvas learning management system, which includes discussion forums, on-demand lecture presentations, streaming video and group collaboration software.
Core business courses for the online program will begin in August with the concentration in business analytics available in January 2023. Digital marketing will begin as early as fall 2023.
UNC Charlotte has the largest and oldest MBA program in the Charlotte region, with more than 500 students enrolled last fall, an increase of 57% over the past five years and 14% since fall 2020.
There are more than 4,000 Charlotte MBA alumni, with the majority of them living and working in the Charlotte region.
The Belk College set an enrollment record last fall as working business professionals looked to advance their skills during the pandemic.
The online MBA is one of several new programs the Belk College has planned in high-demand areas. In August, the college will begin offering an undergraduate certificate in entrepreneurship, which will be available to students regardless of major. A new fintech concentration in the Master of Science in Mathematical Finance also is in development.
Learn more at onlinemba.charlotte.edu.
About the Belk College of Business
Established in 1970, UNC Charlotte’s Belk College of Business is one of the Carolinas’ largest business schools, with more than 5,100 students, more than 100 full-time faculty, and an alumni network of more than 34,000. Accredited by AACSB International, the college is committed to building strong partnerships in the greater Charlotte region and beyond as North Carolina’s urban research business school. Learn more about how the Belk College is driving what’s next at belkcollege.charlotte.edu, and on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.