Dual Degree Opportunities : Educational Studies

The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and the Marsal Family School of Education within the Rackham School of Graduate Studies offer a dual degree program enabling a small number of qualified students to pursue concurrent work in business administration and education leading to the MBA and MA degrees.

The program is arranged so that all requirements for both degrees are completed in two and one-half to three years of enrollment. The degrees are awarded simultaneously.

This combined degree program is not open to students who have earned either the MBA or a Master’s degree in Education. Students enrolled in the first year of either program may apply.

Graduate work in the M.B.A. program teaches students the technical/financial skills of business management. Graduate work in the School of Education adds theoretical grounding in the foundation of K-12 education and a deeper understanding of the complexities of education policy and practice. The specializations available in educational studies provide opportunity for dual degree students to design a program of study that is appropriate to their academic and career interests. The Educational Studies master’s program provides dual degree students with deep exposure to educational theory and the programmatic flexibility to pursue a specialized area of interest that compliments the MBA experience.

Students admitted to this dual degree program must satisfy the following degree requirements:

1) The MBA 57 credit hour degree program including:

  • 45 Business Administration Credits, made up of:

    • Roughly 30 credit hour MBA core (no credit is awarded for Business Administration core courses successfully waived: credit must be earned with Business electives);

    • Roughly 15 elective hours in Business Administration;

    • MBA Communication Requirement.

2) For dual degree students in Business and Education, in addition to the above, the School of Education requires 21 credit hours for the MA degree including:

  • 6 hours of core courses

  • 15 hours of specialization courses

The total credit hours for the dual degree program must be at least 66.

The dual program may begin with studies in either school. However, because of the sequenced nature of the core courses in the MBA program, most students will find it advantageous to start with year one in the Business School. During years two and three, courses may be taken in both schools. Students who wish to begin with Education should see a counselor in the Business School to arrange an appropriate plan of study. No course work completed prior to admission in either program may be counted toward the MBA requirements of the dual program.

Applicants interested in the MBA/MA combined program must file separate applications to and be admitted by both programs. Applicants must indicate on both applications that they are applying for this specific dual degree program.

For basic information about the dual degree in Education (MA) and Business (MBA), please visit the School of Education web site.