This is a named option in the Business: General Management MBA.
Graduate admission to the Professional MBA Program follows the guidelines set by the Graduate School for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Graduate School at the University of Wisconsin–Madison offers an open, dynamic and respectful learning and working environment for all members of our community.
We are committed to a strong, conscious effort to build diversity across our learning community, so it can reflect the richness of the world around us in race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, economic status, physical limitation, religious beliefs or cultural background.
The Admissions Team conducts a holistic review that considers many factors - including personal and professional achievements.
Admissions Requirements for the Professional MBA Program
- Complete an online application
- One essay
- Current résumé
- One professional recommendation
- Official transcripts
-
Standardized test scores may be an optional part of the application. Consider the information below before choosing to waive a test score; submit a GMAT, GRE, or Executive Assessment score (for domestic students).
- If you have two or more years of professional work experience, a GMAT or GRE score is optional. (You will not be disadvantaged in the admission review process if you do not submit a test score. You may still choose to submit a test score if you feel it will strengthen your application.)
- If you have five-plus years of professional work experience, a third standardized test called the Executive Assessment is an option. The Executive Assessment is specifically designed to evaluate the business school readiness of seasoned professionals. The assessment focuses on skills that are critical both at work and in the classroom: higher-order reasoning, critical thinking, analysis, and problem-solving. Learn more about the Executive Assessment by visiting gmac.com/ea.
- If you have below a 3.0 GPA or equivalent, you are strongly encouraged to provide a test assessment to show the admissions committee you have the academic ability to handle the rigors of the MBA program.
- Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score (for non-native English speakers)
- Copy of H1-B Visa or Permanent Resident Status (international applicants only)
Other Requirements
- A target of two years of full-time professional work experience
- Admissions interview (by invitation of the admissions committee)
- Application fee
Graduate School Resources
Resources to help you afford graduate study might include assistantships, fellowships, traineeships, and financial aid. Further funding information is available from the Graduate School. Be sure to check with your program for individual policies and restrictions related to funding.
Program Information
Students enrolled in this program are not eligible to receive tuition remission from graduate assistantship appointments at this institution.
While tuition remission is not available, students are eligible to receive a stipend and health insurance should they accept a graduate assistantship appointment.
Minimum Graduate School Requirements
Review the Graduate School minimum academic progress and degree requirements, in addition to the program requirements listed below.
Named Option Requirements
MODE OF INSTRUCTION
| Face to Face | Evening/Weekend | Online | Hybrid | Accelerated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Mode of Instruction Definitions
Accelerated: Accelerated programs are offered at a fast pace that condenses the time to completion. Students typically take enough credits aimed at completing the program in a year or two.
Evening/Weekend: Courses meet on the UW–Madison campus only in evenings and/or on weekends to accommodate typical business schedules. Students have the advantages of face-to-face courses with the flexibility to keep work and other life commitments.
Face-to-Face: Courses typically meet during weekdays on the UW-Madison Campus.
Hybrid: These programs combine face-to-face and online learning formats. Contact the program for more specific information.
Online: These programs are offered 100% online. Some programs may require an on-campus orientation or residency experience, but the courses will be facilitated in an online format.
CURRICULAR REQUIREMENTS
| Minimum Credit Requirement | 44 credits |
| Minimum Residence Credit Requirement | 22 credits |
| Minimum Graduate Coursework Requirement | 22 credits must be graduate-level coursework. Details can be found in the Graduate School’s Minimum Graduate Coursework (50%) policy (https://policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-1244). |
| Overall Graduate GPA Requirement | 3.00 GPA required. This program follows the Graduate School's GPA Requirement policy (https://policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-1203). |
| Other Grade Requirements | n/a |
| Assessments and Examinations | No required assessments or examinations beyond course requirements. |
| Language Requirements | No language requirements. |
required courses
The Professional MBA named option requires 8 credits in the Functional Core, 12 credits in the Leadership Core, and 24 credits in the Elective Pathways. Coursework in the Functional and Leadership Cores is completed in the first year in the program; the Elective Pathways coursework is completed in the second and subsequent years.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Functional Core | ||
| The Functional Core courses represent the essential business competency areas in finance, marketing, operations, and accounting. Each listed course is required totaling 8 credits in the Functional Core. | ||
| FINANCE 700 | Introduction to Financial Management | 2 |
| MARKETNG 700 | Marketing Management | 2 |
| OTM 700 | Operations Management | 2 |
| ACCT I S 700 | Financial Accounting | 2 |
| Leadership Core | ||
| The Leadership Core courses focus on key concepts and skills through strategic thinking, team building, managing projects, economics, analytics, and negotiations. Each listed course is required totaling 12 credits in the Leadership Core. | ||
| OTM 732 | Economics for Managers | 2 |
| M H R 704 | Managing Behavior in Organizations | 2 |
| M H R 628 | Negotiations | 2 |
| GEN BUS 704 | Data to Decisions | 2 |
| OTM 752 | Project Management | 2 |
| M H R 723 | Business Strategy | 2 |
| Elective Pathways | 24 | |
| Students must complete required coursework in four of the below Elective Pathways, totaling 6 credits in each pathway for 24 total credits among the Elective Pathways. These pathways are internal to the program and represent different curricular paths a student can follow to earn this degree. Pathway names do not appear in the admissions application, and they will not appear on the transcript. | ||
| Financial Insight | ||
| Skills to manage an organization's internal finances and budgeting, including course work in capital allocation, managerial accounting and risk management. | ||
| Managerial Accounting | ||
| Corporation Finance Theory and Practice | ||
| Risk Management | ||
| Business Responsibility | ||
| Effective strategies for managing diversity in organizations, frameworks for incorporating sustainability and risk management into business decision making, and business practices to lead ethical organizations. | ||
| Role of Business in Society | ||
| Diversity in Organizations | ||
| Challenges & Solutions in Business Sustainability | ||
| Strategic Innovation | ||
| Effective strategies for managing innovation and change as well as tools/frameworks for encouraging innovation such as design thinking and agile methodologies. | ||
| Strategic Management of Innovation | ||
| Product Management | ||
| Managing by Design | ||
| Business Analytics | ||
| Skills for making data-driven decisions, including database management, data visualization and communication, and distinguishing correlation from causation. | ||
| Data Visualization for Business Analytics | ||
| Experiments and Causal Methods for Business Insights | ||
| Data Technology for Business Analytics | ||
| Customer Insight | ||
| Fundamentals of modern marketing, including methods for understanding the consumer, conducting market research, and marketing in digital environments. | ||
| Consumer Behavior | ||
| Marketing Research | ||
| Marketing in a Digital Age | ||
| International Business | ||
| Develop a global business mindset by embarking on an immersive global trip and learning about international management strategies. | ||
| Global Business Management | ||
| Global Learning Experience | ||
| Contemporary Topics (Supply Chains & Disruptions) | ||
| Strategic Growth | ||
| Provides a strategic overview of the growth opportunities available to modern firms and how to chart a company's growth successfully. | ||
| Growth Strategies: Multi Business and Global Arenas | ||
| Growth Marketing Strategies | ||
| Digital Strategy | ||
| Total Credits | 44 | |
Students in this program may not take courses outside the prescribed curriculum without faculty advisor and program director approval. Students in this program cannot enroll concurrently in other undergraduate or graduate degree programs.
Graduate School Policies
The Graduate School’s Academic Policies and Procedures provide essential information regarding general university policies. Program authority to set degree policies beyond the minimum required by the Graduate School lies with the degree program faculty. Policies set by the academic degree program can be found below.
Named option-SPECIFIC POLICIES
Prior Coursework
Graduate Work from Other Institutions
With program review and approval, students may be allowed to transfer up to 12 credits of graduate coursework or comparable from UW-Madison and other accrediting institutions to satisfy requirements in Functional core, Leadership core, or Elective Tracks. Grade B or better (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) or higher.
UW–Madison Undergraduate
With program review and approval, UW-Madison BBA undergraduate alumni with an accumulative 3.0 GPA and courses with a grade B or above who have graduated in the last five years may apply to transfer the Functional core requirements and possibly one (1) elective pathway, transferring a maximum of 14 credit hours. Students are required to satisfy all other program requirements.
With program review and approval, other UW-Madison undergraduate alumni with an accumulative 3.0 GPA and courses with a grade B or above who have graduated in the last five years may be allowed to transfer up to 7 credits numbered 300 or above of required or elective courses from the undergraduate work completed at UW-Madison towards fulfillment of degree requirements.
UW–Madison University Special
Students are allowed to transfer up to 12 credits of coursework in elective pathway options taken as a UW–Madison University Special Student status. If students choose to pursue the Professional MBA program, they will have up to five (5) years to enroll from the completion date of their last elective course to have credits applied.
UW-Madison alumni may take unlimited elective pathways as a special student status. The graduate tuition rate applies. If applying to the Professional MBA program, only two (2) elective pathways can be transferred. Students will have up to five (5) years to enroll from the completion date of their last elective course to have credits applied.
Probation
This program follows the Graduate School's Probation policy.
Advisor / Committee
Every graduate student is required to have an advisor. To ensure that students are making satisfactory progress toward a degree, the Graduate School expects them to meet with their advisor on a regular basis.
In many cases, an advisor is assigned to incoming students. An advisor is a staff member from the program department responsible for providing advice and guidance regarding graduate studies.
Credits Per Term Allowed
15 credits
Time Limits
This program follows the Graduate School's Time Limits policy.
Grievances and Appeals
These resources may be helpful in addressing your concerns:
- Bias or Hate Reporting
- Graduate Assistantship Policies and Procedures
- Hostile and Intimidating Behavior Policies and Procedures
- Dean of Students Office (for all students to seek grievance assistance and support)
- Employee Assistance (for personal counseling and workplace consultation around communication and conflict involving graduate assistants and other employees, post-doctoral students, faculty and staff)
- Employee Disability Resource Office (for qualified employees or applicants with disabilities to have equal employment opportunities)
- Graduate School (for informal advice at any level of review and for official appeals of program/departmental or school/college grievance decisions)
- Office of Compliance (for class harassment and discrimination, including sexual harassment and sexual violence)
- Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards (for conflicts involving students)
- Ombuds Office for Faculty and Staff (for employed graduate students and post-docs, as well as faculty and staff)
- Title IX (for concerns about discrimination)
Any student who feels that they have been mistreated by a faculty or staff member has the right to lodge a complaint. Complaints may concern course grades, classroom treatment, program admission, or other issues. To ensure a prompt and fair hearing of any complaint and to protect both the student's rights and the person at whom the complaint is addressed, the grievance procedures below are used in the School of Business.
The person whom the complaint is directed against must be an employee of the School of Business. Any student or potential student may use these procedures unless other campus rules or contracts cover the complaint:
- If the student feels comfortable/safe doing so, the student should first talk with the person against whom the grievance is directed. Most issues can be settled at this level. If the complaint is directed against a teaching assistant (TA) and the student is not satisfied after discussion of the grievance with the TA, the next step would be to talk to the TA's supervisor, who is usually the course professor. If the complaint is still not resolved satisfactorily, the student may continue to step 2.
- If the complaint involves an academic department, the student should contact the chair of the department. The chair will attempt to resolve the problem informally. If this cannot be done to the student's satisfaction, the student may submit the grievance to the chair in writing. This must be done within 60 calendar days of the alleged unfair treatment.
- If the complaint does not involve an academic department, the procedure outlined in Step 4 below should be followed.
- On receipt of a written complaint, the chair will refer the matter to a departmental committee, which will obtain a written response from the person at whom the complaint is directed. This response shall be shared with the person filing the grievance. The chair will provide a written decision within 30 days to the student on the action taken by the committee.
- If either party is not satisfied with the decision, they have five working days from receipt of the decision to contact the dean's office (at the number below), indicating the intention to appeal. If the complaint does not involve an academic department in the school, the student must contact the dean's office within 60 calendar days of the alleged unfair treatment.
- In either case, there will be an attempt to resolve the issue informally by the appropriate associate dean. If this cannot be done, the complaint can be filed in writing with the Office of the Dean. This must be done within 10 working days of the time the appealing party was notified that informal resolution was unsuccessful.
- On receipt of such a written complaint, the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer will convene a subcommittee of relevant stakeholders pending the nature of the issue. This subcommittee may ask for additional information from the parties involved and may hold a hearing at which both parties will be asked to speak separately. The subcommittee will then make a written recommendation to the dean of the School of Business who will render a decision. Unless a longer time is negotiated, this written decision shall be made within 20 working days from when the grievance was filed with the Office of the Dean.
Questions about these procedures can be directed to the School of Business, Office of the Dean, 4339 Grainger, 975 University Avenue, 608-262-7867.
State law contains additional provisions regarding discrimination and harassment. Wisconsin Statutes 36.12 reads, in part: "No student may be denied admission to, participation in or the benefits of, or be discriminated against in any service, program, course or facility of the system or its institutions or center because of the student's race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, disability, ancestry, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, marital status or parental status." In addition, UW–System prohibits discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression. Students have the right to file discrimination and harassment complaints with the Office of Compliance, 361 Bascom Hall, 608-265-6018, uwcomplianceoffice@wisc.edu.
The Graduate School has procedures for students wishing to appeal a grievance decision at the school/college level. These policies are described in the Graduate School’s Academic Policies and Procedures: https://grad.wisc.edu/documents/grievances-and-appeals/
Other
n/a
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