What M7 Schools Offer Master’s in Management Degrees?

The University of Chicago Booth School of Business made waves in 2023 when it announced its first new degree program in nearly a century: A master’s in management.

The 10-month master’s in management, or MiM, degree is geared toward recent college graduates who studied humanities, arts, social sciences, biological sciences, or physical sciences in college and are interested in jobs that value business-oriented skills and knowledge. It will feature instruction in high-demand areas like data analytics and decision modeling.

We are excited to debut Chicago Booth’s one-year master’s in management, the school’s first new degree program in 88 years, Madhav Rajan, dean of Chicago Booth and the George Pratt Shultz professor of accounting, said in a press release at the time.

We look forward to introducing foundational business skills to a new generation of Booth students, enhancing their impact in that first job and beyond.

Booth’s move to embrace the master’s in management degree is big. The prestigious business school is a member of the magic or magnificent seven (M7), an informal group of business schools that regularly shape the future of business education.

Interest in master’s in management programs — designed for those who want to break into the fast-growing, higher-paying field of management — is on the rise across the country. The program is an alternative to the master of business administration (MBA) degree, which is typically geared toward more experienced professionals.

Chicago Booth and Northwestern Kellogg School of Management offer what might be considered classic MiM programs. They’re geared toward recent graduates and offer a path to break into management.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Sloan School of Management and the Stanford Graduate School of Business also offer master’s degrees in management separate from their MBA programs — although with some key caveats that stand out from typical MiM programs.

Here’s a look at the M7 programs that currently offer master’s in management programs and how they differ.

Booth’s master in management program is aimed toward high-achievement recent college graduates who are curious about the world of business.

The 10-month program provides students with foundational leadership and business skills with the goal of helping them go into the field of management. The intensive curriculum also includes specializations in key fields like marketing and analytics and an elective class. The inaugural cohort is set to arrive at Booth in fall 2024.

MIT Sloan offers a master of science in management studies program available only to eligible students who recently completed an MBA or equivalent master’s degree from an eligible partner school. The nine-month program offers international graduates a chance to earn an MIT degree to complement their existing work, and it has a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) designation.

A STEM designation means more than just high-demand skills. For the program’s international student base, that federal designation also offers a chance to remain in the U.S. after graduating to pursue optional practical training (OPT).

Northwestern Kellogg offers a more classic MiM, similar to Booth. It is geared toward recent graduates who have a background in STEM, economics, and the liberal arts, and it features an intensive, 10-month introduction to key leadership and management topics.

The program has shown good results for students: An overwhelming majority of its 2022 class received a job offer within three months of graduating. And the top 25% of MiM graduates will have automatic deferred acceptance into the school’s one-year MBA program.

The Stanford Graduate School of Business also offers a master’s degree in management, although it differs in key ways from a standard MiM.

A typical MiM program is geared toward students fresh out of college with minimal management experience. However, the Stanford Graduate School of Business’ MSx is a highly intensive program geared toward seasoned leaders. They have at least eight years of full-time work experience. The school’s MBA program doesn’t have a minimum work experience requirement.

Master’s in management programs have seen a recent rebound in interest, according to research from the international higher education consulting firm Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).

A QS report on applications and acceptance rates at top business schools found that master’s in management programs in the U.S. had an initial peak of 458 average applications in the 2018-2019 academic year. That figure fell to 371 in the 2019-2020 academic year, but it has since seen a major rebound and reached 443 average applications in the 2021-2022 academic year.

A growing number of business schools are embracing the degree for young professionals. Emory University’s Goizueta Business School will welcome its first master’s in management cohort in fall 2024.

The master in management program offers an innovative and flexible curriculum that equips recent graduates with the tools they need to leverage their passions and launch their careers, Andrea Hershatter, Goizueta’s associate dean of undergraduate education, said in a July 2023 press release.

It bridges the gap between an undergraduate degree in liberal arts, science, or engineering and the skills needed to thrive in a business environment.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2023 announced plans for a new fully online master of science in management program at the school’s Gary W. Rollins College of Business.

That online degree was designed at the request of prospective students and employers who saw a need for leadership skills to drive positive change and make a lasting impact in the business world, Robert Dooley, dean of the Gary W. Rollins College of Business, said in a release at the time.

These degrees can translate to leadership opportunities and a return on investment for students.

The Georgetown University McDonough School of Business reported an average base salary of $80,294 for its 2023 master’s in management graduates. Ninety-three percent of those graduates received their job offers within six months of graduating, and 89% accepted their offer.

With a combination of management, innovation, and STEM-designated coursework, Georgetown’s MiM program equips students with the tools and expertise that employers value, and we are pleased to see our students’ hard work reflected in this year’s report, Evelyn Williams, the academic director of Georgetown’s MiM program, said in a release at the time.