Elon University - Martha and Spencer Love School of Business

Elon University’s Martha and Spencer Love School of Business has a “great reputation” as “a specialized MBA for full-time working professionals.” Students praise Elon’s “leadership philosophy,” “learning culture,” and “great program flexibility.” A small university in a small town, Elon offers “small class and program size” in which the “average class is fifteen, and large classes are thirty.” Elon focuses “on engaged learning, top quality of content taught, [and] values-based leadership. . . . It’s why their reputation is growing so rapidly,” one student notes.

There is nothing that students rave about more than the “top-notch” and “amazing” administration who “all work very well together and make you feel at home.” “The program is administered with the touch of a five-star hotel,” one happy student reports. Especially singled out for praise is “student liaison extraordinaire” Judy Dulberg, the MBA Program Coordinator who is “the glue for the whole operation.” Everyone here is “super friendly” and “always there to help any time of day.” As at many universities, the “professors vary” but most “are understanding and helpful.” The professors are “open with their time and always willing to meet outside of class,” and most of them “have over twenty years experience in their fields.” Professors bring this “real business experience” to class, and courses themselves are “largely current event and real world driven.” Professors “offer challenging work, but are also always there to help.”

All in all, Elon offers “a special, tight knit community” in central North Carolina. “The greatest strengths of Elon include the culture, the people, the campus cleanliness, and overall safety.” This is a school where “professors know students by name. Even Deans know students by name.” As one student says, “Elon fosters an atmosphere deeply rooted in supporting one another through team building activities.”

Elon is largely made up of students who are currently employed, and some say the school could “improve in career placement.” “We receive occasional job opportunities emailed to us, but the majority of student are currently employed since this is a part time program and therefore there isn’t a lot of emphasis placed on career placement,” one student elaborates. That said, Elon offers many career services to students who seek them out including employer networking, self-assessment exercises, and résumé and cover letter assistance. Top employers for Elon graduates include Cisco, IBM, LabCorp, Fresh Market, Oracle, Volvo, Wells Fargo Bank, Ralph Lauren, General Dynamics, Johnson Controls, Progress Energy, Inc., Cone Health, American Express Corporation, and BB&T.

Students at Elon are “ambitious,” “cooperative,” “young professionals” who are “all excited about learning and sharing their experiences and ideas.” The population is “diverse,” but the average student is “mid-twenties to mid-thirties, white, middle-class, and male.” A large number of students—”too many” according to one—are “alumni and employees” of Elon. The peer group here is “competitive but supportive.” “We all want to better ourselves and to better our lives, and can do so by pushing each other in the classroom,” one student says. “The mix of students that are working and attending school simultaneously is roughly fifty-fifty with full-time students.” Those who are employed tend to work “in the Greensboro and Raleigh/Durham area.” As a “part- time program” filled with students with “day jobs,” most “MBA students don’t spend much time on campus.” But there is a “subset” that is “very active” on the “beautiful” campus. “There are also regular activities outside of class like trips to minor league base- ball games, golf outings, and barbecues.” One student suggests, “More social activities should be available for people with small children.” Another says, “thus far, my experi- ence with my cohorts has been well worth the price of the MBA.”