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Degrees of Success
So, 21 months ago, Atkins enrolled in the University of South Florida's Executive Master's of Business Administration (EMBA) program, juggling school, a full-time job and family. Although he calls the program "grueling," he'd do it again in a minute. Like Atkins, hundreds of Florida's ambitious young professionals are polishing their credentials through Executive MBA programs. Unlike traditional MBA programs that require two years of full-time work or four years on a part-time schedule, EMBA students can work full-time, take accelerated classes on weekends and earn their degree in two years or less.
To meet students' growing demand, the University of Central Florida, Florida International University and the University of Florida all started EMBA programs in the past five years. Even as they answer students' needs, Florida's colleges and universities are finding EMBA programs financial boomlets.
USF charges $26,900 for its EMBA program, including tuition, books, software, meals, parking and even a subscription to the Wall Street Journal. Compare that to USF's fee for its part-time evening MBA, which runs $120.91 per credit for Florida residents or a maximum of about $6,900 (tuition only), less for students who have undergraduate business degrees.
USF's high-priced EMBA isn't unique. At Florida's five state universities offering EMBAs, prices range from $20,997 at Florida Atlantic University to $26,900 at USF. Florida's priciest private schools, Rollins and the University of Miami, charge about $40,000. That's still a bargain, though, compared to $75,000 or so for an EMBA from top national schools such as Wharton and NYU.
"They are all charging what the market will pay," says Craig McAllaster, EMBA director at Rollins College's Crummer Graduate School of Business.
The new programs reflect a changing EMBA market. In the past, corporations sent rising junior execs to accelerated programs, frequently paying 100% of the cost. In fact, many EMBA programs wouldn't accept students who weren't sponsored by their employers, says Joyce Elam, director of the EMBA program at Florida International University.
But with corporate downsizing and cutbacks in employee benefits, most universities say those days are over. At Rollins, McAllaster says that 10 years ago, 80% to 90% of EMBA students were fully supported by employers. This year, it's under 50%. At state universities, the story is the same. "I think corporations are pulling back," says Donald C. Hoke, EMBA director at the University of Central Florida. "There's a lot of talented people out there. For corporations, it's a buyer's market."
Because the EMBA is a quick, but demanding, way to gain credentials, students willingly pay their own way. "It's about the same as what you'd pay for a Lexus," says McAllaster at Rollins' Crummer School. But a Lexus depreciates, he argues, while an EMBA is an investment for a lifetime.
It's not just bankers and accountants enrolling. "In almost every class, we get one or two entrepreneurs," says Peter Goumas, director of the office of executive education at Florida Atlantic University. His list of EMBA participants also includes social workers, nurses, an assistant fire chief and engineers.
Career demands also are enticing younger EMBA students. At many schools, the average age now is in the low 30s compared to the high 30s a few years ago. "Corporate downsizing has caused a lot of company managers to start thinking much earlier about their careers," says Steven A. Baumgarten, director of MBA programs at USF. "Over the past five or six years, I've been getting more interest by 20 somethings who just meet the minimum requirements."
Why are EMBA programs so popular? To a large extent it's the rapid pace and flexible scheduling of the program. "I could not afford to stop and go back full-time, and I didn't want a class a semester," says Martha Sassone, corporate controller with Lakeland's Micro Flo Co., a formulator of agricultural chemicals. So she enrolled in USF's EMBA program. "I thought I'd take a chunk out of my life for 18 months and do it."
Almost always held on weekends, classes typically run Friday, Saturday and, in some cases, Sunday. Most schools offer "lock-step" programs in which the 20 to 30 students who enroll take all classes together, providing continuity and the opportunity to integrate concepts from course to course. Electives, if any, are limited. Most EMBA programs insist on five to seven years of business or management experience.
Later this year, Gail Birks Askins, 36, will begin the EMBA program at Florida International University. Askins, who runs a Miami consulting firm, CMA Enterprise Inc., started a traditional part-time MBA program in 1989, but found she couldn't relate to her classmates, many of whom were young with little or no business experience. Classroom discussions revolved around academic theories, not real-life experiences. Says Askins: "The traditional MBA program didn't offer the practical applications I was looking for."
In addition to a rigorous program of instruction in finance, accounting, management and marketing, there's a focus on working in teams, leadership and communications skills. Most programs use senior faculty members and department chairmen to teach EMBA classes and supplement the program with visits by local CEOs and presidents. "We are very much concerned about relevance," says Joyce Elam of Florida International University.
Another plus for EMBA participants is that they are treated as professionals, not students. Lunch and sometimes dinner is provided. Some programs include a few orientation days at a local resort to ease the transition into the program. And there's no waiting in line for books, parking passes or registration. "I appreciate any way that I can trade dollars for time," says Dan Atkins, the Columbia/HCA executive.
EMBA students demand top-notch teachers, curricula tailored to specific needs and timetables designed to accommodate their busy lives. So universities are responding with special EMBA programs to suit a variety of schedules and professional needs.
USF began targeting physicians in 1991 with a 21-month fast-track MBA program specifically for them. With managed care's emphasis on overseeing costs as well as patient needs, physicians are flocking to business education programs. The cost for physicians is $29,985 for Florida residents, more expensive than USF's regular EMBA program, and $44,985 for non-residents. The reason for the higher price is that classes are scheduled so that physicians only visit Tampa six times, for two-week sessions of intensive classes, over a 21-month period. "We wound up with a national audience for the program," says USF's MBA director Baumgarten.
UF is developing a "flexible" MBA, a distance-learning program that will utilize new technologies such as the Internet. Students will visit campus only for orientation and a three-day session at the end of each term for team presentations and final exams. For the privilege of working on their degree at home, students will pay about $35,000 for the program. If approved by university officials, a pilot program for the "flexible" MBA will begin in May 1998. "If we do it right, it will be amazing," says T. Craig Tapley, director of UF's MBA programs. "I think we can be a leader."
Even out-of-state schools are getting into the act in Florida. This year, Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University began an International EMBA program in conjunction with UF. The program, which costs $50,000, is designed to appeal to students from Latin America who fly to Miami once a month and take four days of classes, Thursday through Sunday, at a hotel in Coral Gables. Professors from both Vanderbilt and UF teach the classes.
Perhaps more than any other school in Florida, the University of Miami has a history of catering to the executive market with innovative curricula. "We're more a demand-driven school," says Paul K. Sugrue, dean of UM's School of Business Administration, adding, "This is where the demand is."
UM began offering EMBAs more than two decades ago and now has four distinct programs - a general EMBA, specializations in international business or healthcare administration, and a joint EMBA/Master of Science in Industrial Engineering. As a result of carefully cultivated corporate partnerships, the school also offers programs on-site at IBM, Siemens Stromberg-Carlson, W.R. Grace & Co. and American Express. Some on-site programs are limited to the host company's employees while others serve students from many companies.
Whether it's curriculum changes, the use of technology or partnerships with corporations, Florida's EMBA programs must continue to evolve if they are to remain money makers. Says Harold W. Berkman, vice dean of UM's business school: "One of the things we have to do is be constantly on the cutting edge."
