Georgia State Adds Spring EMBA Cohort

Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business said that “a surge in demand” for its Executive MBA program has led to a decision to introduce a spring cohort in 2013 in addition to its long-standing fall cohort.

The spring cohort is a first for Robinson’s EMBA program, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The decision to launch a second cohort has its roots in the fall 2012 application cycle, according to EMBA program director Laura Crawley. “The demand for our fall 2012 cohort was so great that we had to ask several highly qualified applicants to defer,” said Crawley in a statement. “Rather than ask them to wait a year to begin their graduate education in fall 2013, we decided to launch the new cohort in January.”

Financial Times rankings place Robinson’s 17-month EMBA program No. 24 among U.S.-based programs. Students in the program have, on average, more than 15 years of business experience with 10 years in management. Each cohort is capped at 55 students.

The increase in applications to Robinson’s EMBA program is consistent with global demand, as reported by the Graduate Management Admission Council. Contributing to the increasing allure of EMBA programs is a documented bump in compensation, as quantified by the Executive MBA Council in its 2011 Student Exit Benchmarking Survey. Recent graduates experienced an average 16.3 percent increase in salary and bonus packages from program start through program end.

“The return on investment in the EMBA program starts immediately – our students take what they learn on Friday and apply it on Monday, then bring the results back to their colleagues in the classroom to share results with others,” Crawley added in a statement. “Once our students decide to pursue an MBA, they don’t want to wait – they want to start reaping the benefits of the EMBA program right away.”

“Our 30-year history as an Executive MBA program, and Georgia State’s 100-year history of educating business leaders, has prepared us to take this step,” Crawley said. “As the largest business school in the Southeast, Robinson College has the dedicated and experienced faculty to teach a second cohort of mid-career business leaders eager to achieve their MBA and to build their professional network.”

Robinson’s spring 2013 EMBA cohort will begin classes on January 11, 2013. The application deadline is November 12, 2012. For more information please visit emba.gsu.edu »

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