ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL: MBA programs around the state evolve to fit new types of students and their needs.

• Author: Saylor, Teri
• Position: CONTINUING EDUCATION

When Suresh Gopalan settled into his role as interim dean of Winston-Salem State University's School of Business and Economics last June following the resignation of Dean Jessica Bailey, he found himself leading an MBA program that is drastically different from that of previous generations.

In the few short years since 2004, when he was first recruited to the university as a professor of management and director of the MBA program, he has seen vast changes in curriculum offerings and new trends in how the MBA program is delivered.

"We're seeing increased competition for a shrinking pool of students," Gopalan says. "We also are seeing programs that are creating joint ventures and strategic alliances with other programs around the world. Back in the day, we didn't discuss diversity and different cultures as we do now. Technology has changed everything."

These changes are dictating how WSSU and other colleges and universities are designing their MBA and executive-education programs. They are leading academics and administrators to build in affordable pricing, creating flexibility in scheduling and delivering classwork, and allowing students to design special studies.

At WSSU, a historically black university, the MBA program enrolls 45 to 60 students, offers evening classes twice a week and caters to a much different student body than 25 years ago.

"The MBA program of old served midcareer executives in their 40s, but over the last couple of years, we are seeing more and more students in their mid-20s," Gopalan says.

The MBA platform was expensive and time-consuming. The curriculum focused on three core areas: economics, finance and marketing. Today's MBA program offers flexibility, lower costs and online learning.

UNC Charlotte's Belk College of Business serves a diverse population of students from engineering, the arts, finance, manufacturing and health care, according to Gary Kohut, program director of UNCC's dual MBA program and the EGADE Business School Tecnologico de Monterrey of Mexico.

While the UNCC program offers concentrations in business analytics, financial services, energy and marketing management, it can accommodate students who want to tailor their MBA curriculum to their own profession.

"We offer a student-structured MBA concentration in which students can take the core MBA classes and tailor a concentration to suit their interests, Kohut says. "For example, if you work in nonprofit administration, you could get an MBA with a concentration in nonprofit management."

For the busy executives who want to polish their management skills without investing significant time and money in the entire MBA program, UNCC also offers an open enrollment executive-education program.

"We have been offering various executive-education courses for a while, but we formalized [the...