final thoughts
the texas mba

The McCombs School of Business offers students six different paths toward an MBA degree: the full-time program, the Austin evening program, the working professionals programs in Houston and Dallas, and the executive programs in Austin and Mexico City. While the delivery methods differ, the degree, the program quality, the faculty and the alumni network are the same—it’s one MBA, the Texas MBA. Exchange recently asked Eric Hirst, associate dean for graduate programs, about the Texas MBA and how the McCombs School is on the leading edge of graduate business education.

What does “Texas MBA” mean to you?
Dean Hirst: Developing influential business leaders is our goal across all our MBA programs. The structure of each program determines how we go about achieving that goal. All our MBAs learn from UT Austin faculty—no matter your location, our faculty travel to you. Our MBAs all have the opportunity to develop close relationships with classmates through our successful cohort system. And our admission standards are equivalent, whether a student applies to the full-time program, our working professionals programs or our executive programs.

Why are there multiple MBA programs at McCombs?
Dean Hirst: The market for MBA education has evolved across the country during the past few years, and we are dealing with the changing needs of potential students. During the past decade, more and more students are interested in earning an MBA without taking time out of their careers. McCombs responded to that demand with three programs for working professionals. This response puts McCombs at the cutting edge of MBA education—six options, three student profiles, and one respected degree.

Are the full-time and working professionals programs comparable?
Dean Hirst: These programs are designed to take managers with five or so years of experience and set them on the path of becoming influential business leaders. The faculty and their expectations of students are the same. And there are opportunities for hands-on learning for both groups of students: Full-time students do company projects and practica so they can apply what they’ve learned to real business scenarios; working professional students take what they’ve learned in class and apply it the very next day at work. Working professional students don’t have the opportunity to network as regularly, but they still work in teams. They have to learn to use technology to overcome the challenges of being at work or being on the road, whereas the full-time students practically live together. To help the working professional students network, we offer activities like the global trips. The majority of full-time students do their global trips in their second year, but the working professional students do it in their first year because it’s a great bonding opportunity.

How do recruiters think about the differences between the programs?
Dean Hirst: The recruiting environment has changed all over the country. Fewer highly qualified people are looking to full-time programs, while more highly qualified people are looking to working professionals programs. As our full-time program got smaller—mirroring the national trend—it was harder to meet employer needs. And if they can’t hire here, they won’t come back. With a large pool of highly qualified candidates from all our MBA programs, we can satisfy the needs of both employers and our students. All our MBAs graduate with a solid business foundation and the opportunities to develop leadership, communication and collaboration skills, which makes them desirable employees and managers.

How does the MBA alumni network apply to all MBA graduates?
Dean Hirst: There’s only one MBA alumni network. You can look at it this way: in any class year, cohorts 1 through 4 are in the full-time program; cohorts 5 and 6 are in the Dallas program; cohorts 7 and 8 are in Houston; cohort 9 is in the Austin evening program, and so on. By growing the size of our programs, we grow the size of the alumni network, which only enhances the value of being a Texas MBA for everyone.