Academics
Located in upstate New York, Rochester Institute of Technology is known for its academic excellence in technology and applied science. Accordingly, RIT’s MBA programs provide a “great blend of management and technical education,” preparing students for the realities of the workplace through practical instruction, teamwork, and applied learning. Within the MBA curriculum, “courses are updated frequently to allow for new events, technologies, and information.” (In recent years, “sustainability is growing in importance,” as is entrepreneurship.) A major benefit of the program is the “the wide array of concentrations offered,” including such unique offerings as digital marketing, quality and applied statistics, and environmentally sustainable management—as well as more traditional business fields like accounting, operations management, and supply chain management. In addition to established concentrations, students can tailor their education through elective courses in eight other RIT colleges, like computer science, fine arts, sustainability, and engineering.
The MBA can be completed on a full-time or part-time basis, with classes offered in the daytime and the evening, as well as online. Course work is “fast-paced” and challenging.” Despite the “vigorous schedule,” “professors are extremely flexible if students need to miss class for work.” On that note, most RIT instructors “know students’ names and take interest in the students’ personal lives.” With an average class size of just twenty-three students, “professors go out of their way to be sure concepts are well understood and topics are relevant and beneficial to us.” Even in the classroom, RIT emphasizes practical skills, and most professors “have significant corporate experience and tie it well with the academics to offer an enriched experience.” In fact, many RIT instructors “still work as consultants for major companies.” All classes are taught by faculty, not teaching assistants.
Students who received an undergraduate business degree from RIT and 4+1 MBA Partner schools can “waive some classes” in the MBA program, or complete a BS and MBA through on accelerated five-year schedule. Taking advantage of this attractive opportunity, many “students seem to come directly from undergrad,” though “each class tends to have at least some students who have been in the workplace.” Furthermore, RIT undergraduates “are required to have a good deal of co-op (internship) experience before they graduate (usually between six months to one year or more.)” For those who want to build on their real-world credentials, RIT offers plenty of “hands-on, experiential, practical learning” experiences. Here, students can participate in optional internships or co-op work experiences, business plan and case competitions, and team-based projects both on and off campus. Among other offerings, the school’s “Innovation Center is a new-business incubator, and they are always asking for the business students to come and consult for them.”
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