5 EMBA Programs With Corporate Partnerships

When most prospective students consider attending an Executive MBA program, they want to develop connections that will further their careers after graduation. According to the Financial Times’ Amy Bell, building a corporate networking pipeline is an important aspect of students’ time in EMBA programs and beyond.

“The opportunity to build a professional network is a big attraction for prospective MBA students who are planning their career. Classmates and alumni networks have traditionally been invaluable resources, but now tech is also being used to help graduates find connections,” she notes.

For instance, many students turn to their school’s alumni and corporate partnerships to discover new career paths or internships. Other schools even have corporate pipelines that connect companies interested in hiring top students after graduation.

If you’re looking for programs with strong corporate connections, these five EMBAs are a smart place to start.

Miami Herbert Business School Global Executive MBA

Miami Herbert Business School’s Corporate Associates Program connects corporate partners with top graduates who can fill their open positions. Global companies connect with the business school and share their hiring needs. Then, after students’ complete their programs, they are often invited to apply for open positions with these partner companies. These corporate partners are also able to shape curriculum to fit their changing needs.  

Corporate Associates include Boston Scientific, Bacardi, and Morgan Stanley. Henry Pujol, a Miami Herbert MBA graduate himself, notes the success of the partnership between his company, Royal Caribbean, and the graduate school. “The Corporate Associates Program has provided us with great access to student talent, and we are proud that Royal Caribbean has hired more than 70 Miami Herbert students. The students we interview that are alumni are a different caliber of talent,” he says. 

SP Jain School of Global Management 

SP Jain believes that they’re able to offer such an effective program because they build industry partners around the world. Jain industry partners include Coca-Cola, Deloitte, and Salesforce, along with many others. These partnerships let the school offer guest lectures, visits, workshops, and other industry initiatives that bridge the “gap between academia and the real world of business.”

These corporate partners also come together once a year in Dubai. In 2019, for instance, more than 120 corporate partners attended the event, which also featured presentations from current students and alumni. Students are invited to present their Action Learning Projects (ALPs), end-of-program projects they undertake under supervision of corporate mentors.  

Pepperdine University Graziadio Executive MBA

Pepperdine invests in making its student-to-corporation pipeline as robust as possible. Corporate partners can build connections with “star” students at Pepperdine while they’re still completing their programs, so they’re able to offer them post-graduation positions first. Further, students are able to have more experiences for Pepperdine’s “experience-driven” education than they otherwise would.

Pepperdine fosters these corporate partnerships by encouraging companies to send their employees to Pepperdine for graduate work. There, they can earn a 10 percent discount on towards a part-time MBA or EMBA or a 20 percent off non-degree programs. These tuition discounts indicate how seriously Pepperdine takes the development of these corporate partnerships.

OSU Fisher

Fisher College of Business offers many centers and partnerships that benefit both students and companies. Specifically, corporations may form relationships with Fisher to research and identify business solutions and keep abreast with new ideas.

For instance, the Center for Operational Excellence lets corporations share their real-world problems for students to develop solutions. Students not only develop relationships with corporations but also can demonstrate how they stand out with their unique thinking. Similarly, the Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship partners students and companies to develop students’ entrepreneurial skills.

Saint Mary’s College Executive MBA

If you’re looking to build your network in the Bay Area, Saint Mary’s is one of your best bets. The school boasts graduates working at nearly every company in the area, which expands graduates’ opportunities considerably. During students’ time in the program, they can also take advantage of the school’s Executive Suite Series, where guest speakers share their knowledge with students.

Later, in their capstone projects for the EMBA, students work with “a small business, a startup, or a non-profit in an underserved local community, or owned by a minority owner.” Students can leverage this socially-driven problem-solving into positions with corporations after graduation.

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These five EMBA programs make a concerted effort to create corporate connections and robust alumni networks. But many other EMBA programs around the country and world also focus on developing your job prospects after graduation. Ivy Exec’s list of the Best Executive MBA Programs considers the best EMBAs for career advancement; these rankings offer more insight about the programs that could provide you the most corporate mobility. Additionally, the list lets you search by prestige, curriculum, global experience and other factors that help you find the EMBA program that fits your goals.

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