CBA Plans Accelerated M.B.A. Program

The M.B.A. program has experienced many exciting new changes this year, such as the development of a full-time accelerated M.B.A. program targeting non-business major undergraduates.

The new program’s 15-month curriculum is unique to Louisiana. The program will serve as a strong recruitment base for daytime students and distinguish Loyola from regional peers.

Jan Moppert, coordinator of graduate and external programs, hopes that this new full-time program will compete with larger programs, while continuing the Loyola tradition of individual attention and intimate one-on-one support unique to Loyola’s ideal size. The program hopes to bring new resources to campus in an effort to build a stronger national reputation for the college.

Historically, the M.B.A. program was composed of 70percent part-time students and 30percent full-time students. The current M.B.A. program is composed of 50-percent part-time and 50-percent full-time students. Moppert says she attributes this change to a number of sources, the faltering economy being one of them. When the economy is bad, students enter graduate schools full time because the job market is not favorable and because the jobs available do not offer reimbursement for part-time enrollment.

One of the benefits of the part-time program was students could attend class at night and during the day work as interns and graduate assistants acquiring job experiences and enhancing their résumés.

The impressive diversity of the M.B.A. program is another exciting new dimension to the Loyola business school. This year, the M.B.A. program includes approximately 85 students. Of those students, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, El Salvador ,Grand Caymans, Guatemala, Hondoras, Indonesia, Mexico, Slovakia, Spain, Trinidad, and Venezuela are represented. The program is ideal in size with an average class size of 15, which allows for personal interaction between professors and students. Roughly half of the class this year is composed of business undergraduates, while the remaining 50 percent graduated with a variety of majors. "This diversity deeply enriches the classroom experience," says Moppert.

The changes in the M.B.A. program strongly reflect Jesuit values and the search for excellence. Loyola was listed in the 2001-2002 Best Business Program in U.S. News & World Report and was the first educational institution to win the Louisiana Quality Award. Loyola’s M.B.A. program sponsored the membership of five M.B.A. students to the Young Leadership Council of New Orleans. The M.B.A. program, as a member of the Young Leadership Council of New Orleans, has an opportunity to share Jesuit ideals with the community while cultivating "conscientious business leaders." Moppert described participation in the Young Leadership Council as an opportunity for Loyola to increase its visibility in the city, increase the number of

M.B.A. students, and increase theavailability of jobs and internship opportunities.

—Sunday Angleton, A’04

College of Business Administration
Campus Box 15
6363 St. Charles Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70118