Best EMBA Programs in the Mid-Atlantic & South

The Mid-Atlantic region and the South both offer a diverse range of education options for prospective EMBA students.

This year, the Duke Global Executive MBA at the Fuqua School of Business took our top slot for the region. In just 16-months, program participants can earn their EMBA that, at Duke, ranks first in the region for prestige, career advancement, curriculum and global experience. However, it came in 19^th for life balance. And while the price tag of $166,000 may be heavy, EMBA graduates can expect an average salary boost of 94-percent after completing the program. The program also features a strong global perspective thanks to the fact 40% of the average cohort are international students.

In second place this year is the Rice MBA for Executives at the Jones Graduate School of Business. Running a more substantial 22-months, students at Rice pay $115,000 for their degree and can expect an average 40% salary boost after graduation.

In third place is the Texas Executive MBA Program at the McCombs School of Business. This program also runs 22-months for $113,400. About one-fifth of the class are international students.

In fourth place is the Executive MBA Program at Georgetown McDonough. For $134,460, students can earn their EMBA in 20 months and expect a 58% increase in salary after graduation. This program is particularly remarkable in its rarity as having more females than males in the average class—and not just by a few percentage points. In fact, 63% of EMBA students at Georgetown are women.

In fifth place is the Southern Methodist University Cox Executive MBA. For $119,150, students can earn their EMBAs in 21-months and can expect a 44% salary boost after graduating. With a somewhat larger average class size of 88 students, this program sends about a fifth of its graduates on to careers in the financial services industry.

Spotlight Programs to Know

The World Executive MBA with Cyber Security (George Washington University)

This program came in the top ten overall for the region and received second place in our global experience metric. Each cohort participates in four residencies, two of which are international and two of which remain stateside. In 2017, the cohort will be traveling to Estonia and Turkey for its international residencies. During these specialized programs, past classes have interfaced with NATO in Brussels and have worked with the European Cybercrime Centre at The Hague. As a result of its focus, it should come as no surprise that 25% of the program’s graduates go on to work in government. Another 10% go on to become federal contractors.

Texas Christian University Executive MBA (Neeley School of Business)

Texas Christian University joins our rankings this year, and landed high in the prestige factor—in that metric, the school ranked at number four in the region. The 18-month long program comes in cheaper than many of its competitors at $99,440 and is conducted entirely in a classroom or lecture setting. With a relatively small class size of about 32 students, the program also boasts an unusually experienced cohort. The average EMBA student at Texas Christian has 17 years of work experience under his or her belt.

Tulane Executive MBA (Freeman School of Business, Stewart Center for Executive Programs) 

Tulane offers a wealth of opportunity for a far more reasonable price than many of its competitors. At a cost of $88,000 for 18-months, graduates of the program can expect an average salary boost of 46%. While at Tulane, EMBA program participants report finding their course load to be quite manageable. In fact, the program ranked fifth in the region for life balance. The program also features a smaller class size than most others with about 25 students in each cohort.

Auburn Executive MBA (Raymond J. Harbert College of Business)

Another program that offers its students a healthy life balance is the Auburn EMBA. This school ranked seventh in the region for this metric. For $62,790 in tuition, this 21-month long program is one of the least costly on all of our rankings. The program is also an excellent feeder for students looking to work in the public sector. About 21% of graduates go on to work for the government.