Different MBA concentrations
MBA concentrations focus on specific business disciplines, preparing students for specialized career paths. Explore and compare MBA concentration options.
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Why pursue an MBA concentration?
Build specialized expertise
Concentrated MBA programs center your learning on precise, strategically important topics. This may help you gain traction with employers looking to fill niche roles.
Network with like-minded students
Peers will share your interest in the concentration area, creating unique and potentially valuable networking opportunities.
Streamline your professional development
Concentrated programs can provide effective and efficient preparation for students with specific interests and career plans.
Concentrated master's of business administration (MBA) programs offer specialized learning opportunities to students with specific career goals and interests. These programs apply fundamental concepts to focused aspects of business management, building advanced expertise in the concentration area.
Learn about common and emerging concentration options and the doors they can open.
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Browse MBA programs by concentration
MBA concentrations
Concentrated MBA programs cover both traditional and emerging business concepts, and their graduation timelines typically align with generalist programs. Here are a handful of common MBA program concentrations, with salary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as of May 2023:
Accounting
Accounting MBA concentrations apply accounting principles and financial analysis to business and managerial strategy. Associated career paths include:
- Budget analyst
- Certified management accountant
- Certified public accountant
- Financial analyst
Accountants earn a median annual salary of $79,880, while financial analysts earn a median annual salary of $99,890.
Business Analytics
Business analytics concentrations often hold STEM designations. They can teach students how to extract and communicate strategic insights from data.
Among other roles, programs with this concentration can lead to graduates becoming management analysts, who earn a median annual salary of $99,410. Operations research analyst is another potential career for those with business analytics concentrations, and professionals in this role earn a median annual salary of $83,640.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity-focused MBA programs explore the strategic aspects of information security and its business applications. These programs can lead to graduates becoming computer and information systems managers, with these professionals earning a median annual salary of $169,510.
Finance
MBA programs with finance concentrations can help build deep, specialized knowledge of financial markets, financial reporting, and capital management. Financial managers earn a median annual salary of $156,100.
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship MBA programs help build knowledge of the business development lifecycle and the venture capital market. Graduates often go on to launch their own companies, following self-directed paths with earning potentials largely determined by the success of their ventures.
Healthcare Management
Healthcare management MBA programs explore specialized techniques for balancing health service delivery, ethics, and compliance with organizational realities.
With this degree, you can work toward becoming a health services manager, a position that pays a median annual salary of $110,680.
Human Resources
MBA programs with concentrations in human resources focus on strategic personnel management, professional development, ethics, and legal compliance.
Post-graduation career paths can often lead to professionals becoming human resource managers, who earn a median annual salary of $136,350.
Information Technology
With an information technology MBA specialization, you can prepare for leadership positions that function at the intersection of computer technology and business management.
Some graduates go on to become network and computer systems administrators, a role that pays a median annual salary of $95,360. Others pursue careers as software developers, who earn a median annual salary of $132,270.
Marketing
Marketing MBA concentrations emphasize concepts including advertising, branding, consumer research, and product development.
With this degree, you can work toward becoming an advertising and promotions manager, a role that pays a median annual salary of $131,870. Alternatively, you can consider working as a marketing manager, which pays a median annual salary of $157,260.
Supply Chain Management
Modern supply chains often have complex international or global footprints. MBA programs with a concentration in supply chain management cover best practices for optimizing the cost efficiency and performance of logistics systems.
Transportation, storage, and distribution managers earn a median annual salary of $99,200.
How much does an MBA program concentration cost?
Business schools typically apply similar tuition rates to general and concentrated MBA programs.
In a 2020 study, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) found that students in MBA programs paid an average of $17,057 for tuition and fees. At schools offering exclusively online instruction, the same study found that students in MBA programs paid an average cost of $4,964 in tuition and fees.