Studying a part-time MBA abroad

Similar to its full-time counterpart, a part-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree will provide you with the skills needed to help progress your career.

You will share the classroom with people from many fields of business, gaining new perspectives and a world-class degree.

Studying part-time is the perfect solution for professionals who cannot or do not want to take any time out of their career. Your class schedule will be flexible, and will work around your full-time job.

A part-time MBA will allow you to continue pursuing your career, whilst also allowing you to enhance your existing knowledge of key business principles.

Both your theoretical understanding and your practical application skills will be challenged, meaning that you will be in a position to accelerate your career and maximise your business performance. You will gain a holistic perspective on business concepts, allowing you to put your new knowledge and skills into good practice.

Your degree will be delivered in a mixture of modes. These will include lectures and seminars, as well as incorporating group projects and practical sessions.

Depending on where you choose to study, you may be able to specialise throughout your degree. This specialisation can have an influence on the way in which your career progresses after you have graduated. Common specialisations can include:

• International Business
• Marketing for Managers
• Business Consulting
• People and Organisations
• Human Resource Management
• Business Law

If your degree requires you to write a dissertation or submit a major research project, this will give you the opportunity to further explore a favoured area of business.

The accreditation of an MBA is internationally standardised. This means that if you choose to take an MBA degree, you will be awarded a Master of Business Administration, no matter your country of study. The only element of your award title that might change is if you study an MBA in a specific area, such as MBA in Marketing.

Some degrees might be accredited or approved by professional bodies of business and management. These might include the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), or the Association of MBAs (AMBA).

The duration of your part-time MBA will depend on where you choose to study, as well as how often you can attend classes. When studying part-time, you can expect an MBA to take between 3 and 8 years to complete. A part-time degree is designed to fit around your busy work and life schedule, so the timeframe is partly decided by you as the student.

An MBA is normally studied as a final degree, so further study is not common. However, you could choose to continue to broaden your studies. This could be in the form of a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), a different masters degree, or a graduate diploma or certificate.

Students of an MBA usually tend to already have a job, or an idea of their career direction. You might choose to progress in your current career, moving into a more senior role.

You might also choose to change your career altogether, perhaps even moving from one industry to another. Gaining an MBA is a great way to display to global business leaders that you have an advanced expertise in a wide range of business areas, and can be a versatile employee.