Pictured above – Hyewon Park, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the College of Business, instructs a class.
Ideal candidates for the Fast Track program will enter the university with 15 or more college credit hours
Cookeville – Motivated business students at Tennessee Tech University can earn their undergraduate degree and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in just four years under Tech’s Fast Track program. Fast Track credit hours simultaneously satisfy undergraduate and graduate degree requirements, saving students on time and costs, explains Julie Pharr, Ph.D., professor of marketing and assistant dean for graduate business programs.
“This really is a great way to save time and money because, through the Fast Track program, you are able to take graduate courses and pay the undergraduate rate of tuition for the first few credit hours of your MBA coursework,” said Pharr. “You’re already getting an affordable choice at Tech and then you are using that to your best advantage with the Fast Track program where you get both degrees within a traditional four-year college experience.”
Ideal candidates for the Fast Track program will enter the university with 15 or more college credit hours. College credit hours can be accomplished before enrollment at Tech through advanced placement courses, College Level Examination Program (CLEP) testing, special departmental exams, military equivalency credits and other credit opportunities.
The Fast Track curriculum will also typically require students to take at least one semester of summer courses, which can include study abroad programs offered through the College of Business.
“We do provide specific study abroad opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students in the College of Business,” explained Pharr. “You get the chance to visit businesses in these foreign countries and talk with managers and employees in that setting, but it’s an immersive cultural experience too. You’re seeing life and the economy in those places you’re visiting.”
Previous study abroad locations in the College of Business include South Africa, India, Spain, France, Brazil and England.
Pharr notes that the quality of Tech’s MBA degree makes its Fast Track program particularly attractive for students, as does the flexibility provided to students through its online format. Tech is ranked as a best online MBA program by Fortune and U.S. News and World Report and is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), an achievement earned by less than 30% of business schools.
“The quality of an MBA program is a very important consideration for students. With an MBA from Tennessee Tech, students can be assured they are getting a recognized program with a long track record of excellence,” added Pharr.
Tech students can add an industry-focused graduate certificate, including banking and financial services, cyber management and analytics, health care informatics or agribusiness, for an additional six to nine credit hours beyond the traditional MBA coursework.
“The MBA is the gold standard of business degrees,” said Pharr. “It is a very worthy goal to have, and this is a great package deal for doing exactly that.”
In addition to business administration, the Fast Track program is offered across more than a dozen fields of study at Tech, including chemical engineering, chemistry, civil and environmental engineering, mechanical engineering, professional science, exercise science, electrical and computer engineering, English, mathematics, counseling and psychology, computer science and Master of Professional Studies.
Photo courtesy of Tennessee Tech University.
