The University of Akron - College of Business

The University of Akron’s College of Business Administration offers flexible programs with both full-time and part-time options, including an evening MBA program which qualifying students can complete in as few as twelve months if they meet the required undergraduate course work. An orientation session at the start of the first semester will allow students to get acquainted with the program. From there, it is on to a program devoted to “preparing you for your future.” Concentrations include finance, international business, management, strategic marketing, supply-chain management, health care, interdisciplinary, and business analytics.

Through a diverse student body, “high competition” among classmates, and an administration willing to “change curriculum to better serve students,” the University of Akron “really prepare[s] its students to excel in the marketplace.” However, one student believes the work is “much less difficult than I had anticipated.” Still others say that “some professors are difficult to approach and to schedule time with,” with the most disgruntled of students claiming a few professors are “arrogant and really don’t want to help students.” This is in sharp contrast to those who find educators at Akron to be “friendly and accessible” and a group that “make[s] sure that we learn through discussions and active participation.”

In fact, many students are “amazed” at the qualifications of the “fantastic” MBA professors here and are pleased to find “an outstanding staff and members of faculty that know what is best for their students to be the future cadres of the worldwide village.” Educators who “bring real world, practical knowledge that is second to none” not only help provide a “rewarding” educational experience, they also “inform you of job opportunities, workshops, internships, clinics, etc.” But do not expect your hand to be held. “It is up to you to follow up. If you do follow up you have all of their resources at your disposal.”

Akron is located near Cleveland’s job market, which is an immediate plus, as is the school’s “local connections with reputable companies.” The school’s Center for Career Management offers career services for all undergraduates, graduate students, and alumni. Through this office, students and alumni will have access to help with career planning, summer intern- ships, job searching, interviewing, and resume writing. With Akron’s “strong network,” and “companies in both public accounting and industry heavily recruiting here, it helps make it very easy to land a job in whichever area you prefer.” School-organized career fairs give students a “chance to meet some prominent businesses” and “build [their] profes- sional network.” Employers who have hired from the Akron MBA pool include Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Delloite & Touche, Babcock & Wilcox, Dominion, FirstEnergy, Enterprise, Progressive, National City Bank, and J.M. Smuckers.

As is typical with MBA programs, Akron’s program is peopled with a mix of full-time and part-time students, along with the “vast array of career backgrounds” one expects from such a mix. “Some have just finished undergraduate school,” one student writes, “and some are returning to school after twenty years of work experience.” The group is “as intellectually diverse as we are ethnically. For every one of our students who are truly interested in learning this material and gaining these experiences, there are an equal number who are clearly trying to put in as little work as possible to achieve a passing grade.” Overall, most are “hard-working” and “friendly” students interested in “obtaining a degree to enhance their career.”

There is no great divide between full-time and part-time students. “Even though the major- ity of the students are part-time, they are interested in working with and giving back to the university. This provides for an interactive environment that sparks interesting discussion both inside and outside of the classroom.” Those accepted to Akron’s MBA program will find that their classmates “are strong academically with important experience that contrib- utes to classroom discussion.” Most students here “honestly enjoy the process of learning and take pride in what we accomplish, regardless of what letter winds up on our tran- scripts.” In addition to students with diverse work backgrounds, “we also have students from different countries that bring an interesting perspective to discussions.”

Outside the classroom “there is always something fruitful that you can hook your- self up with.” When not utilizing the library or the resources of the Center for Career Management, students can check on weekly emails sent to Zipline that “update us on the events that will happen the week to come.” The urban setting of Akron may not compare to a major city’s—students admit, “the surrounding areas are not that great”–but “there is a pretty good nightlife.” The school itself features athletics, a free bowling alley, recreation center, and other amenities, along with the clubs and students organizations one expects from a major college. As one student sums it up, “The bottom line is you can do a lot of useful things every day. The only thing that keeps us from contributing to these activities is our classes.”