An MBA is a post graduate degree in business communication. MBA stands for Masters of Business Administration and is a very popular course for business students the world over. The MBA program is recognized worldwide and is considered as a major step towards a successful business management career.

An MBA degree is one of the most sought after degrees in the world because of its value to people in business and administration. Irrespective of the industry or profession that you are in, or regardless of the condition of the economy of your country, an MBA degree can benefit those in positions in business and management, especially those in executive and managerial positions.

Global Appeal of MBA

An MBA program strives to equip its students with all the necessary knowledge, theoretical as well as practical, which can benefit them tremendously in managerial and administrative jobs. This does not apply only to business, as is usually understood by most people, but can also benefit people to get into executive positions in the public sector and government jobs as well. This gives the MBA degree a global appeal and worldwide recognition.

MBA in the United States

The MBA program and degree was developed in the United States and was introduced in the early 1900s. Even today, an MBA degree from a leading institution in the US has great value throughout the world and thus there are thousands of students from various countries who come to the US for the sole purpose of pursuing an MBA degree even though their own country may offer several MBA programs.

An MBA program in the US typically is of two years duration as it is felt that such time is necessary to learn everything that there is to know about business and administration. But across Europe, where the MBA course was first introduced in the 1960s, the program is usually of 1 year duration and can sometimes be completed in as less as 10 months.

Evolution of the MBA Program

Since its inception in the early 1900s and especially in the last two decades, the MBA program has evolved tremendously and has witnessed the following trends:

Programs of shorter duration as a result of the highly competitive mature of the education industry and also in a bid to make the course less expensive, while at the same time not sacrificing on the quality of the course and the value of the MBA degree.

MBA courses had always been full time courses, but in the last few years there has been an introduction of many types of MBA programs based on their structure. So now there are part time MBA courses, modular programs, international programs, distance learning programs, and even online MBA programs.

Eligibility for MBA

While most schools and educational institutions that offer MBA programs have their respective criteria for getting into an MBA course, the two most significant factors that are common to most schools and MBA courses are:

Age and Experience: The average age of students applying for the MBA is about 26-30 years. Most schools require their applicants to have 4-5 years of prior work experience before joining an MBA course. Since experience is usually believed to come with age, those under 25 are generally not accepted for an MBA program as it is assumed that such students do not have the required work experience.

GMAT Score: Having a GMAT score in excess of 600 is essential if you wish to get into the A grade MBA schools. Although just a good GMAT score is not a guarantee for admission to an MBA program, it does better your chances tremendously.