Doctor of Business Administration

The Olin Business School Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree program offers you a collaborative atmosphere centered on industry-relevant applied research in Finance, Marketing, or Supply Chain, Operations, and Technology. This advanced graduate program crosses traditional boundaries and provides you the opportunity, under the guidance of Washington University faculty, for structured course work along with focused, independent scholarly reading and research on important issues relating to business.

The Olin DBA program is a 72-credit-hour STEM-designated doctoral degree designed for individuals with a serious interest in finance or marketing research who wish to pursue graduate study either on a part-time or full-time basis. Learn more about STEM.

A practitioner’s doctoral degree designed for professionals conducting applied research outside of academia

A Doctor in Business Administration is an advanced graduate degree that differs from a traditional PhD and extends beyond the fundamental foundation of a master’s degree to develop the necessary skills to conduct applied research. The DBA differs from a master’s degree and a PhD in a number of ways, including the scope of study, the approach to research, and essentially the definitive outcome.

The Olin DBA is designed to meet the needs of the researching professional, rather than the professional researcher. While a PhD is intended for those who wish to pursue research careers in academia, the DBA is extended graduate study beyond a master’s degree for those who wish to pursue careers in corporations, consulting firms, or government agencies that can benefit from advanced research skills in analyzing business problems. The research capabilities developed in the DBA programs for finance and marketing are of a more applied nature, with more immediate real-world applicability than typical research pursued in the PhD program. Unlike the PhD program, the DBA program is aimed at those who are working in industry and may continue to work during their enrollment in the DBA program. Classes are held on site at Washington University in St. Louis. Emphasis is on collaborative research and top-tier teaching by faculty, there is not an online or distance component to the Olin DBA program.

A Message from the Senior Associate Dean

“In today’s unpredictable business environment, the ability to conduct and interpret applied research is crucial for corporations to address problems and spur growth. Olin’s Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) was created for individuals who want to pursue a career at the highest levels of research, create new knowledge, and impact the direction of an organization.”

Stephen Ryan, Senior Associate Dean of Doctoral Programs and Myron Northrop Professor of Economics