Georgetown MBA Launches STEM-Designated Management Science Major

The Full-time and Flex MBA programs at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business now offer a STEM-designated management science major to ensure students are prepared to lead in an era of rapidly evolving business practices. 

“Over the past five years, we have been adding more quantitative and management science content to our core and elective courses, as well as in our extracurricular offerings in response to employer needs,” said Prashant Malaviya, senior associate dean for MBA programs. “Adding this major now helps our students more strongly signal to employers requiring skills in quantitative methods and management science that they are tech-ready and are prepared to lead in the digital world.”

Recent additions to the curriculum include an MBA Certificate in Data Analytics and Insights, as well as courses like Analytics Advantage, Customer Analytics, The Fintech Revolution, and Applied Data Visualization, among others. There also is an MBA HoyAlytics Club for students interested in data analytics. 

This new offering provides numerous benefits to students, including better preparing them for jobs within the technology sector, as well as technology-focused jobs within all other industries and sectors. Last year, technology was the third industry of choice for McDonough graduates — only behind consulting and finance — with 14% of job acceptances and an average starting salary of $118,206. The Washington, D.C., region continues to grow as a technology hub, with Amazon’s HQ2 just a few miles from campus. In addition, demand for tech-savvy graduates also was high among traditional industries such as financial services and consulting, and functions such as marketing and human capital management. The management science major also will offer eligible international students the opportunity to apply for a STEM OPT extension of their work authorization in the United States. 

The Georgetown MBA program has an abundance of core and elective courses that meet the 50% threshold required for a STEM field of study designation. The major will require students to complete all the core courses, plus an additional 12 elective credits from a predetermined list of courses in such areas as statistics, data analytics, operations and supply chain optimization, finance, forecasting, modeling, and digital marketing.

“Our culture is focused on continuous innovation, which ensures our program evolves with the expanding needs of the business world,” Malaviya said. “Our ability to keep pace with the rapidly changing global business environment is one of the reasons Bloomberg named our alumni the best-trained graduates in the world.” 

Students from the classes of 2020 and 2021 who complete the necessary elective coursework, will be eligible for the management science major. Starting next year, incoming MBA students will be eligible to elect the major at the end of the first year fall term. Students pursuing the major also will be eligible to choose among the MBA program’s growing number of certificate programs, including non-market strategy, consumer analytics and insights, and sustainable business.