Full-Time MBA curriculum

Discover elective opportunities and flexible options to tailor your MBA experience to your interests and goals.

Enrich your education

Our core curriculum and a wide variety of electives ground you in the fundamentals of business. Your MBA experience will also include opportunities to customize your learning to your interests. Note: A minimum of 67 credit hours are required, but up to 76 hours are available in the program.
  • Required courses

    All of your core classes—38.5 required credit hours—are completed in your first year. Elective credits, a minimum of 28.5, round out the 67 credit hours required to earn your degree.

    Summer Semester 1

    • Values-Based / Data-Driven Decision-Making
    • Effective Communication for Business Leaders
    • Foundations for Impactful Teamwork
    • Introduction to Management and Strategy
    • Global Institutions and Values

    Fall Semester 1

    • Managerial Economics
    • Marketing Management
    • Financial Management
    • Operations Management
    • Financial Accounting
    • General Management Practice for International Business
    • Platform Industry Seminars

    Spring Semester 1

    • Data Analytics for Business Leaders
    • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
    • Implementing Strategies through Global Operations
    • Strategic Cost Analysis
  • Electives

    In addition to 3-credit-hour elective courses, we offer many compressed “mini” electives for one half to two credits. With these classes, you explore specific areas of business to better define and hone your skills in the topics that most interest you. Choose from elective courses like Creating and Marketing Innovative Products and Services, Valuing Strategic Corporate Investments, and Managing Power and Politics, to name a few.

  • Global experiences

    WashU Olin offers Full-Time MBA students many opportunities for global learning. Through in-depth and often on-location courses, you gain global fluency and an appreciation of how culture influences business strategy and operations.

    Learn more about Olin’s global study opportunities.

  • Entrepreneurship

    Our courses, BIG IdeaBounce competition and capital funding opportunities, not to mention our prominence in the entrepreneurial ecosystems in St. Louis, Silicon Valley and New York City—as well as international locations—all contribute to our recognition as the #1 MBA entrepreneurship program in the world for five consecutive years by Poets & Quants.

    Olin’s MBA program is also ranked #21 by Bloomberg Businessweek and #3 for entrepreneurship (2022–23).

    Learn more about developing your entrepreneurial spirit.

Experiential learning

Learn to ask the right questions when evaluating business problems. You go one step beyond data driven, becoming data resourceful—adept at discovering and generating information to inform your decisions. Explore your experiential learning opportunities, including team-based consulting projects.

Center for Experiential Learning

Concentrations

Our curriculum provides a solid business foundation while also allowing you flexibility to shape your studies. Focus your studies with the STEM MBA option or one of our MBA concentration platforms:

  • Consulting
  • Corporate Finance and Investments
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Marketing
  • Operations and Supply Chain Management
See our STEM MBA and concentrations

Leadership electives

Two of our most popular elective courses center on values-based leadership.

Defining Moments: Lessons in Leadership and Character from the Top

This elective examines the career-defining moments of successful leaders. A hallmark of this course is its robust slate of notable speakers who exemplify business excellence and personal character.

Women in Leadership

This course centers on women and leadership, including a lineup of top executive guest speakers who focus on their experiences and insights to demonstrate how they’ve achieved excellence and impact in their careers.

Bauer Leadership Center

Accelerated paths

Reach your goals faster by following our accelerated path to graduation. While the standard Full-Time MBA format requires a two-year commitment, there are ways to cut this length of time without cutting corners on your education. Contact the Office of Admissions to learn more.

Dual degrees

Maximize your time at WashU Olin by pairing your MBA with a STEM-designated master’s degree. Gain deeper expertise in analytics, finance or supply chain management while earning a second degree and graduating with your classmates in the two-year MBA program. You can also earn a dual degree with other WashU graduate schools, like a JD or a Master of Social Work.

Learn about dual degrees

The wraparound support I received through my scholarship, the Graduate Programs Office and faculty influenced my success in the program tremendously. I would not have been able to be as present and focused on learning without these key pieces, which ultimately allowed me to secure a dream job and graduate without substantial financial debt.

headshot of Livi Logan

Livi Logan-Wood

Full-Time MBA

Read Livi’s story

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Graduate Admissions

Olin Business School - Knight Hall
One Brookings Drive
St. Louis, MO 63130-4899

Office Hours:
Monday–Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.