Bentley University - McCallum Graduate School of Business

Students in the MBA program at Bentley University brag that their program combines “the most modern technology available” with “real-world work experience” to provide “the best mix of price, location, and quality.” Bentley’s impressive resources include a 3,500-square-foot facility complete with a trading floor with two Trans-Lux data walls, sixty work stations, an adjacent business suite, and a marketing center that features numerous state-of-the-art research and analysis labs. “Some [of the technology] is accessible from home, too,” a boon to the school’s many commuting part-timers.

Bentley’s cutting-edge approach extends to its academics. Students pursue “the most unique and interesting concentrations” in addition to “all the traditional areas of study.” Unique offerings include Human Factors in Information Design, Business Analytics, and Marketing Analytics, programs that students argue “are in line with what is needed in the real world.” Bentley’s “accounting program is the best around,” excelling in both general accounting and taxation. Information technology, unsurprisingly, is also an area of strength.

Bentley’s many part-time students appreciate the program’s flexibility (“You can take two courses in one night, and there are some online offerings,” a student explains), but warn that “it is hard to connect with other students” because “there are no real cohorts.” The Bentley MBA and Bentley Emerging Leaders MBA, in contrast, “is comparatively small and becomes tight-knit” over the course of the program. For all students, the program is “intense,” but fortunately, “the professors and administration are very helpful.” One student points out that “many workshops and information sessions exist outside of class,” and as a result students enjoy “a very engaging academic experience.” MBAs also appreciate that “professors teach course work in a practical manner. I always leave feeling like I have something I can use the next day.”

Bentley’s Nathan R. Miller Center for Career Services (CCS) “offers a great deal of sup- port in finding career opportunities” for the school’s MBAs. Career Advisors receive a strong assist from Bentley’s solid “reputation among Boston-area employers” as well as from professors who “use their networks” to help their students. Students here also benefit from the Job Search Skills (JSS), a program designed to help them better position themselves in the battle for top jobs. JSS programs vary by area of concentration, mean- ing students receive plenty of field-specific assistance. The CSS provides lifetime service to alumni, another huge plus.

Top employers of Bentley MBAs include: Boston Scientific, Converse Inc., Covidien, Deloitte Consulting, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Ernst & Young, Fidelity Investments, EMC, Genzyme Corporation, JPMorgan Chase & Company, KPMG, Morgan Stanley, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Microsoft, National Grid USA, Nuance Communications, Raytheon, Staples, and State Street Corporation.

The majority of Bentley MBA students attend the part-time evening program. The full- time program is comprised of 10 percent of the student body. Bentley typically draws “academically capable people with many diverse backgrounds,” although some here “wish there were fewer people coming straight out of a four-year program,” even though such students “are still surprisingly able to contribute to conversations. However, they lack a certain perspective.”

Bentley MBAs enjoy “a beautiful campus and buildings.” Grad classes “are concentrat- ed in a couple of buildings near each other,” a blessing during the cold Massachusetts winters. So too are the “shuttles around campus.” Even so, some feel that the space dedicated to graduate students needs to be expanded. One writes that the school “should have more options for dining on campus and more places suitable for graduate students to study either individual[ly] or in groups.” Most part-time students must balance “a heavy course load” with work and family responsibilities, leaving little or no time for extracurricular and other campus activities. Those not so burdened report that “campus activities are in abundance, from professional to entertainment. There is usually at least one club or association hosting an event open to the whole school body” at any time. Campus organizations “cater to different educational paths and cultures,” with a num- ber representing various international student constituencies.

Off-campus entertainment is also readily accessible, as Bentley is located in Waltham, a mere ten miles from downtown Boston. Both Boston and Cambridge are easily accessible by train. The school also runs a regular shuttle between the Bentley campus and Harvard Square.