Why Take a One-Year MBA?

What are the benefits of a one-year MBA?



Why take a one-year MBA over a two-year or part-time program?



How will a one-year MBA help me gain success with my career goals?



These are all some of the most commonly asked question by students who are considering taking a condensed one-year MBA program over a more traditional program that lasts two years or longer.

There is a full gamut of MBA program choices in North America and Internationally. It’s important to evaluate a number of programs, especially with regard to their length and intensity, to find the one that best suits your profile and personal needs as a student.

One-year and two-year MBA programs are both full-time, however they can be quite a bit different. The main difference of course is the time spent out of the workforce, studying instead of gaining practical industry experience and a salary. As a business student this becomes a very relevant issue, referred to as Opportunity Cost. Opportunity Cost represents the salary or wage that you could be making if you were not studying. Opportunity Cost could also come in the form of making a decision to take one MBA program over the other.

There should be no question then why more and more prestigious and established business schools are adding a one-year MBA program to their offering. Kellogg, Stanford, Cornell, and Oxford, among several others have all designed and are offering a one-year MBA program. Interestingly, Insead (with campuses in Paris and Singapore), one of the most globally recognized business schools, has completely replaced their MBA program with the one-year offering, and continues to have this as the only full-time program at the institution. Simon Fraser University, here in Vancouver also has only one full-time MBA offering, which lasts for one year.

It might seem ridiculous and highly biased for a small, somewhat internationally unknown Business School in Vancouver to be included in a list like the one above. The administration, students, and most importantly, the alumni would argue that SFU Business fits right in there. The business school is accredited by both EQUIS and AACSB, a rare double-certification that places SFU business among few in the world. To this the school adds a list of professors such as Gervase Bushe, Leyland Pitt, David Thomas, Andrey Pavlov, and Ian McCarthy, all working on unique and current research on a breadth of relevant international business issues. The resulting product is a highly competitive and well placed MBA program, located in one of the greatest cities in the world.

The program’s alumni network, though still relatively small is growing stronger with each cohort that is released into the workforce. SFU MBA Alumni like Lindsay Angelo, Michael Underell, and Alexandra Chu will make this a program that breeds proven young successful business people.

The SFU Full-Time one-year MBA program concludes with a rigorous final paper / project and a six to eight-month internship that rounds out the program by allowing the students to narrow in on their personal interests. The program represents a very broad-based, comprehensive lesson plan that the student can specialize through the completion of very flexible project and paper topics. To learn more about the program, feel free to explore the SFU MBA website. You can also email us here at questions@afewgoodminds.com or leave a comment below.