Colleges Continue to Expand Online MBA AI Concentrations
Credit: Laurence Dutton / Getty Images- The University of Southern Indiana announced an online MBA concentration in AI.
- MBA concentrations in AI are increasingly popular across business education.
- Students and employers alike have emphasized the importance of AI in recent reports.
- Employers also want the human skills taught by an MBA program.
Yet another business school has added an artificial intelligence (AI) concentration to its master of business administration (MBA) program.
The University of Southern Indiana (USI) will add an AI concentration to its online MBA starting in fall 2025, according to a press release from the school.
“Our MBA program stands at the intersection of business and artificial intelligence, empowering professionals to harness AI for strategic transformation and business success,” Curt Gilstrap, USI professor of business communication, said in the release.
USI’s new program reflects a growing trend in more affordable, fast, and tech-related AI concentrations. In fact, USI might be the poster child for that movement in business education:
- The program has 30 credits and can be completed in less than a year. That reflects student demand for a fast return on investment on their degree.
- The total price tag for the degree is less than $14,000. That adds to growing momentum in disruptively priced MBA degrees as online programs seek to stand out.
- The AI concentration isn’t the only high-demand specialization the school offers. USI also has concentrations in high-demand fields like data analytics, supply chain management, and more.
Add to that the fact that the MBA program at USI’s Romain College of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), and this MBA from a relatively small regional university will likely challenge major competitors and have an impact on the market as a whole.
Online MBA programs have sought new ways to attract students in recent years, and a number have rolled out AI-focused programs.
Other business schools, like Rutgers, have opted to infuse AI throughout their curriculum.
That focus on high-demand skills comes amid a growing saturation in the online MBA market, with decreasing enrollment per program even as overall MBA enrollment rises, according to a recent analysis by the higher ed consulting firm Validated Insights.
Students have repeatedly emphasized AI as being important to their education in recent reports. The 2025 Tomorrow’s MBA report from the consulting firm CarringtonCrisp found that students expect AI to be integrated into their curriculum.
While the AACSB found in a recent report that MBA faculty and staff agree that adopting AI is a priority, they’re divided on exactly how to accomplish that goal and whether their current policies are working.
Previous Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) research found that employers expect AI to rise in importance over the next few years.
Related tech skills like data analytics and cybersecurity are also on the rise.
But even as that demand rises, the GMAC found in that same report that employers still value the human skills taught in a program, with strategic thinking and decision-making set to be at the top of employers’ interests even as AI grows as a priority.
Most MBA programs now incorporate some form of analytics and data instruction into their curriculum, and a growing number of schools have rolled out tech concentrations.