Choosing Your MBA
Cheri DeClercq: Deep Dive Into Broad and the MBA
Are you exploring options? Thinking about whether going back to school makes sense for you?
The Eli Broad College of Business knows that all potential students are asking themselves these questions. And college leaders have worked to provide answers that give potential MBA students many reasons to head back to campus.
The Broad MBA is about more than learning; it’s about empowerment that takes many forms: exploring creativity in a business context to invent tomorrow’s business; leveraging the resources of a Big Ten university in cohorts small enough to feel like family; and returns on investment in the forms of promotions, fast paybacks, and a best-in-nation ranking for increase in pay from pre-MBA salaries, according to Cheri DeClercq, assistant dean for MBA programs at the Broad College.
Central to the Broad MBA is its “Extreme Green” experiential learning series, where students integrate what they learn in class and apply those lessons in the real world with corporate partners. It’s more than just doing business; it’s about emphasizing creativity to evolve students into problem-solvers who take reasonable risks and who pivot and change with the world at large, DeClercq said.
Those lessons and challenges take place in cohorts of under 100 students that are small enough for you to stand out and find your own path, while experiencing the top-notch faculty, academics and facilities of one of the nation’s largest universities. DeClercq says that creates a community feel in a big environment.
Next fall, that environment will include our new Business Pavilion, where MBAs will find collaborative spaces for both casual and committed engagement, high-end technology wrapped in glass, and open spaces so you can see the beehive of activity taking place throughout the structure.
Broad MBAs can focus on a number of leading edge concentrations and areas of interest, like analytics, risk management, and entrepreneurship, all of which help students create their own path forward, DeClercq says.
And that all takes place within a global context. Students can expect to journey beyond our borders to understand cultural differences and learn about business more broadly to build a more global mindset.
The result is why employers like Amazon, Procter & Gamble, Dow, Johnson & Johnson, Amway, Whirlpool, and the auto industry continually tap the Broad College for new talent: our MBAs are able to roll up their sleeves and have a real impact from day one onward.
Is the Broad MBA right for you? It depends. Be authentic in your search, DeClercq suggests. You should go where you’re comfortable, where you’ll thrive, and where you’ll get the experience you need.
Having said that, we have a lot to offer.
Cheri DeClercq is assistant dean for MBA programs at the Eli Broad College of Business. She is a strategic, results-based leader with over 15 years of leadership success in higher education. Driven by a passion to help others reach their full potential, she is known for her positive, energetic approach that builds collaboration, improves cultures and achieves goals. DeClercq came to the Broad Executive MBA Program in 2008, and has been instrumental in evolving and expanding the program.
