Harvard’s MBA Is Now STEM-Designated
Credit: Image Credit: Brooks Kraft / Contributor / Corbis News / Getty Images- The Harvard Business School’s master of business administration (MBA) program is now STEM-designated.
- That designation reflects additional courses in data and AI, as well as more science content being offered for students.
- A growing number of business schools are offering STEM-designated MBA programs, reflecting growing demand for tech skills.
- The change will also benefit international students, who will be able to stay in the U.S. longer to pursue practical training as part of the federal designation.
Harvard has joined the growing ranks of business schools to offer a STEM-designated master of business administration (MBA) degree.
New courses in artificial intelligence (AI) and data science required for first-year students, and a raft of new science-related offerings for second-year electives, helped Harvard achieve the federal designation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), according to a press release.
Harvard MBA students have overwhelmingly embraced those new elective management science courses, according to that release.
What the world’s businesses need from their leaders evolves,
Harvard Business School Senior Associate Dean and MBA Program Chair Matt Weinzierl, who is the Joseph and Jacqueline Elbling professor of business administration, said in the release.
Increasingly, those leaders are being asked to utilize management science when making tough decisions. Our faculty recognized this evolution and have created and integrated into their teaching cutting-edge, compelling content to ensure that our students are equipped to lead with these new tools. The formal STEM designation is in acknowledgement of this fundamental shift and opens up new avenues for our graduates.
Opportunities for International Students
The federal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics designation from the Department of Homeland Security does more than just recognize a school’s offerings in STEM.
Receiving a federal STEM designation also will mean opportunities for international students. A STEM-designated MBA allows qualified international students to reside in the U.S. longer for Optional Practical Training, or OPT.
This change will enable all students, particularly our international students, to pursue the opportunities a STEM-eligible degree affords,
Jana Pompadur Kierstead, Harvard Business School’s executive director of MBA and doctoral programs and external relations, said in the release.
A growing number of business schools have scored STEM designations for their MBA programs in recent years. Schools with STEM MBAs encompass the whole business education landscape, from regional public universities to elite private magic or magnificent seven (M7) institutions like Harvard.
Schools with recent STEM MBA designations include Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Binghamton University, and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
Undergraduate degrees can also receive a STEM designation. Emory University’s bachelor of business administration degree scored a federal STEM designation in 2023.
STEM topics are increasingly in demand from prospective students and employers alike.
Artificial intelligence and data analytics regularly top priorities for prospective MBA students, although employers have also indicated the continued importance of people skills and leadership ability in business education.