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Walton MBA Offers Value, Flexibility, Results

3 min read

Earning an MBA opens pathways to new opportunities in business. The Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas offers ways to win that MBA that are flexible while remaining a great value.

The Walton College offers two programs: the Full-time MBA and the Managerial MBA for working professionals. Both options offer multiple opportunities to develop leadership skills, network with some of the brightest minds in the corporate world, and redefine a career.

Marion Dunagan, assistant dean for graduate programs in the Graduate School of Business at the Walton College, said an MBA gives working professionals the managerial background necessary to take the next step professionally. “More than half of our students majored in something other than business, and now they are returning to school to acquire a solid foundation in business fundamentals critical to the mid- and upper-level manager positions,” Dunagan said.

Angella D. McLarty had been working as an assistant director of development at the Walton College for two years when she began the Managerial MBA program. She now has a job as a major gift development officer for the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.

“I moved to Washington D.C. after completing the first year and commuted back to Fayetteville one weekend a month, and every other weekend in the summer, to complete the program,” she said.

It was important to McLarty that she continue to work full time while completing her MBA. “Putting my career on pause for two years to earn an MBA was not an option for me,” she said. “The flexibility of the Managerial MBA program made it possible for me to pursue this degree without having to sacrifice two years of income in doing so.”

The Walton College MBA curriculum focuses on an applied understanding of the retail and consumer-packaged goods industry that provides a critical economic base in Northwest Arkansas. This program offers four career tracks: retail marketing, supply chain management, entrepreneurship and innovation, and financial management. Students choose the one that allows them to focus on their specific interests.

While the curriculum is top notch, location is what sets the Walton MBA apart from other programs. Through relationships with more than 300 of the Fortune 500 companies who have offices in Northwest Arkansas, the Walton College can help MBA students land part-time jobs and summer internships while in school. This kind of work experience, coupled with the MBA, means great job opportunities for graduates.

Students in both the full-time and managerial programs can take part in Walton College-sponsored study abroad trips. Destinations have included India, Brazil and China. Students have toured some of the world’s largest companies and met with corporate decision-makers. The short time frame — approximately 10 days — allows working professionals to see international business up close.

The Walton MBA has taken advantage of its close relationships with Northwest Arkansas businesses to create three innovative programs that will help its students discover a new world of opportunity for their careers in Arkansas and around the world.

For more information on the Walton MBA, click here.

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