Not every graduate business degree is an MBA. In fact, in some cases you can attain greater professional responsibilities and recognition through a non-MBA program. While MBAs tend to cover skills that are relevant in any business context, many non-MBA degrees are structured to explore a specific subject in depth, cultivating your expertise in that area.
A Master’s of Arts (MA) or Science (MS) in business may be focused on accounting, marketing analytics, finance, information technology, communications, graphic design, or something else. Depending on your area of study, your coursework might include classes on taxation, actuarial science, best practices in design, or risk management in insurance.
Most business programs take 1-3 years to complete. But schools can be flexible about their timeframes, because they know that many graduate students have jobs and family obligations to juggle, and they want to make the program feasible for talented candidates.
With a graduate degree tightly focused on a particular business area, you can cultivate a specialty and advance in that direction. For example, you could become a statistician, economist, risk management consultant, or estate planner. Alternatively, you could pursue opportunities to further research on emerging industry issues.
