Professional Master of Business Administration

The Professional MBA (PMBA) degree program is a 54-credit-unit program available for working professionals that is completed in the evenings or with special-format weekend classes. The expectation is that the student will complete 48 semester credits of course work in the PMBA curriculum with Olin graduate faculty. The additional credits (beyond the 48-credit minimum) may be taken with Olin faculty; alternatively, they may be transfer credits (a maximum of 9 credits from another Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business–accredited business program), or they may be approved graduate courses taken in other colleges of Washington University (a maximum of 6 credits). If the student is transferring the maximum of 9 credits, they will be expected to complete the remaining 45 semester credits of course work in the PMBA curriculum with Olin graduate faculty.

Candidates for the PMBA degree must complete the prescribed courses for the degree within a seven-year period. Exceptions to graduation requirements may be made in individual cases with approval of the Academic Director of the PMBA program. Every candidate for a degree must indicate their intent to graduate by filing an Intent to Graduate form via WebSTAC near the beginning of the semester in which the degree is to be conferred. All MBA graduates — whether full-time, part-time (PMBA) or executive (EMBA) — receive the same Washington University Olin MBA diploma upon completion of the program.

The PMBA consists of 27 core required credits and 27 elective credits. The first semester is reserved for required credits only; after the first semester, the student may add additional electives (assuming they have met the prerequisites) to accelerate their degree. To maintain part-time student status and the associated tuition rate, PMBA students may be enrolled in no more than 8.99 credit units per semester. Students may petition to take more than 8.99 credit units during a semester while still maintaining the per-credit-unit tuition rate twice during the duration of their program. Students may only submit this petition after they have completed a minimum of two semesters within the PMBA program, and their account/academic record must be clear of any administrative holds. In the petition, students will be asked to provide a rationale for increasing their credit load and to detail how they will maintain a healthy balance of external and academic responsibilities. The request to maintain the per-credit-unit tuition rate while enrolling in more than 8.99 credit units should only be used in cases of significant personal or professional extenuating circumstances. Each petition will be evaluated on an individual basis.

The first four semesters of the program comprise core courses taught in a lockstep fashion. After the first four semesters, students may decide to speed up or slow down (while keeping in mind the seven-year time frame) to make maximum use of their company’s reimbursement policy. Ours is a cohort approach that includes team-based work within the cohort. 

Required Courses