Santa Clara University - Leavey School of Business

Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business takes advantage of its prime Bay Area-location to provide students with experiential opportunities and a faculty of top industry professionals. The goal here is to educate socially conscious leaders from a position at the intersection of business and education. As such, the university’s Jesuit tradition roots its MBA program in values-based learning with Evening, Online, and Executive program options that are “flexible for people working.” That flexibility doesn’t hurt the school’s offerings, which feature “excellent courses relevant to current business trends” and “expansive projects and homework.” The school is “well-recognized in Silicon Valley,” and “there are folks from every big tech company” to be found taking or teaching classes, including “many analytical/data science courses taught by industry professionals.” The professors “are experts in their field” who “consult for the major tech firms” and “go the extra mile to make sure students’ needs are met.” Alumni “feel a deep affiliation with the school,” and “they are willing and prefer to hire fellow Broncos.” Indeed, “the networking with [alumni] who work at all the major tech companies” is a huge benefit for attendees. Overall, this is a well-balanced curriculum with an “intense focus on business analytics and operations management,” and it doesn’t hurt that “the tuition is reasonable and the location is great.”

The school maintains its relationships with its alumni and the nearby business community as a pillar of its program offerings. The northern California location helps make it all the easier for these relationships to translate into forums, faculty appointments, research partnerships, and continuing education opportunities. There is also a “wealth of experience within the classroom, [from] both professors and students alike.” As most students are already working, the program being part-time “allows students to use what we learn in our jobs.” One shares, “All of us are trying to better ourselves and learn as much as possible to make the next jump in our careers.” Many “get jobs because of people they know who know of openings,” and since the school is so close to the biggest tech companies, “it is easy to know someone who works someplace you want to be.” The size of the school means access to professors is easy to come by, but the program is still large and reputable enough that it “holds a significant influence and is generally highly regarded for producing high quality, well-trained persons.”

Though many of the enrollees at the Leavey School of Business consider themselves to be “busy working professionals,” they all bring “a variety of viewpoints and perspectives” to this MBA program. Many see this as a boon—having “very different industry backgrounds across the cohort fosters a great learning environment.” Additionally, cohorts help bring students together in smaller communities (“It's easy to study with people outside class”), and “there is a collaborative attitude and genuine desire to see each other succeed.” Students also find the atmosphere to be collaborative, with colleagues making “time to network and create opportunities for each other.” This, despite the fact that “everyone is just trying to balance the demands of working and pursuing their degrees.” In short: “life at school is very productive and we all try to make every minute count,” and it helps that the “well-maintained, beautiful and safe” campus is “conveniently located, making it extremely easy to get to and also great for going out nearby to eat, drink, or do other activities.”