Texas Tech University - Rawls College of Business

Busy West Texas professionals seeking an MBA program with “affordable tuition, friendly professors, and a broad curriculum” may find a home at the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech. Rawls’ MBA program offers evening courses to part-time and full-time students. In addition, Executive-style MBA programs offer the option of a convenient block scheduling system that students like (“We meet twice a year for six days straight, eight hours a day”) or a one-weekend-a-month calendar. Rawls has custom designed a number of combined degrees and Executive-style MBA programs to fit the needs of professionals of all stripes. A combined MD/MBA “is a unique opportunity providing the experience and preparation for a future in healthcare administration or private practice.” Dual business degrees are also available in architecture, foreign languages, law, personal financial planning, pharmacy, and environmental toxicology.

Students praise the Rawls MBA for “the flexibility it offers to working professionals” and for a “benefit/cost ratio much greater than similar programs” in the area. They are especially effusive about the administration, which “takes care of everything for the students. They register us for classes, feed us, and provide us with all of the materials and resources needed for our classes.” As one student puts it, “The administration is a joy to work with. If you have any questions about courses, registration, etc. they respond quickly to emails and have an open-door policy.” Likewise, students are “especially impressed by the willingness of the professors to accommodate students with full-time jobs and families. As a group, they have been very helpful in making sure that my workload is effective in the curriculum and works with my schedule.”

Tech, one student observes, is “not so large and accomplished that everyone has a sense of entitlement and arrogance, yet it’s not small and struggling to keep its head above water.” It is large enough to offer a broad selection of offerings, including STEM MBA, MBA for Working Professionals, and Dual MBA Programs. Instructors in these programs “are beyond knowledgeable in their fields and are also easy to access for questions about course work or the job market in their particular field. I have never met anyone within the program that was not willing to help the students succeed,” one student writes.

Texas Tech serves a full-time and part-time student body. Many of the students in the MBA for Working Professionals Program attend at the expense of their employers and intend to remain with those employers after graduation. Companies likely to employ Texas Tech MBAs include Accenture, Amegy Bank, Bank of America, BNSF Railway, C.H. Robinson Worldwide, CB Richard Ellis, Comerica, Conoco Phillips, Deloitte, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Ernst & Young, Exxon Mobil, FDIC, Frito Lay, Frost Bank, Geico, General Motors, Goldman Sachs, ISNetworld, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG, Lockheed Martin, National Instruments, Northrop Gruman, ORIX USA, PlainsCapital, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ryan, Pioneer Natural Resources, Protiviti, Sherwin-Williams, Target, USAA, WalMart, and Wells Fargo Bank.

The Texas Tech campus “has excellent facilities overall.” The Rawls Building, which was completed in December 2011, achieved LEED Gold certification for energy use, lighting, water and material use. The classrooms are state of the art with billboard size projection and sophisticated wi-fi.

The rest of the “beautiful” Tech campus is “filled with art from around the world,” and “its Spanish-style architecture is unique and beautiful.” Campus amenities include “a gym [that] has outstanding equipment and a library [that] has an extensive availability of resources, including media resources and things through interlibrary loan (the staff is very helpful with this).” It’s a welcoming atmosphere on campus, according to one student: “I have always felt comfortable on Tech campus, especially walking around at night.” It’s a busy place; “there are always sporting events to attend on the weekends and the Center for Campus Life and Student Government Association [is] always hosting free events for students. The graduate association also makes sure students are involved with monthly socials, philanthropy events (especially during the holidays), and cam- pus-wide events, like tailgating before football games. The Rawls Graduate Association works especially hard to connect students in the program together, making classes more comfortable and provides more networking overall.”