NEAR WEST SIDE — University of Illinois at Chicago MBA students will now have the option to knock out their degree by solely attending classes on Saturdays.
The Weekend MBA is a variation of the school’s existing part-time program. Students will take two courses in the fall and spring semester, along with a total of three courses over each two-term summer.
Beginning in the fall, students will have the change to complete the 54 credit-hour program over a two-year period.
Mary Corbitt Clark, assistant dean of Liautaud Graduate School of Business, said she had been hearing feedback from business grad students who were having trouble getting to UIC’s campus on time during the week due to traffic.
The students’ feedback, combined with the 2011 opening of Douglas Hall — a business school building — allowed for the proper resources to start the Weekend MBA.
Corbitt Clark said a typical part-time MBA student usually completes the program in about three years. The Weekend MBA program would shave one year off that, while still allowing for a part time commitment.
Students involved in the Weekend MBA will complete all their core classes in the first year and will be in classes with the same group of students, which Corbitt Clark said allows for more in-depth teamwork.
“You get to work with and know people on a different level,” she said. “It will then create opportunities, … something business education is moving more and more toward.”
Saturday classes will run from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. during the school year, with longer hours in the summer.
The deadline to apply to UIC’s Weekend MBA program is June 15. Interested applicants can go to the Liautaud Graduate School of Business website for more information.
