Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University is a smaller school that labels itself as a “conservatory of innovation”.  It is one of the most technologically advanced universities in the world, dedicated to the delivery of a cutting-edge business management approach that allows students to make an impact on business and society. 

The Tepper School of Business bases its educational method on an alternative to the case study method that applies analytical decision-making in complex, dynamic business environments. The business school is committed to knowledge discovery through interdisciplinary collaboration. 

The business school was founded in 1949 by William Larimer Mellon and has produced eight Nobel Prize winners in Economics. Tepper is also recognised for research and teaching in the areas of organisational behaviour, finance, economics, operations, computational marketing, and operations research. The business school has a mission to create and distribute knowledge through research, teaching and learning, and to transfer intellectual products to society. It provides students and executives with an education that fosters problem-solving skills, leadership, and teamwork abilities with a commitment to quality, ethics, society, and respect. It strives to pursue the advantages of creating a diverse, small university community that promotes the exchange of ideas, creativity, and shared innovation.

The MBA Programme is offered in full-time and flex-time formats and focuses on leadership and analytics. The full-time programme is 21 months long and the flex-time programme is 32 months long. The MBA programme emphasises applied analytics with personalised leadership and communication training through international opportunities, a flexible, rigorous curriculum, and entrepreneurial thought and practice. 

In year one, a sequence of foundational coursework is delivered that is aimed at mastering analytical skills and key concepts in the fields of management, quantitative analysis, economics, accounting, and optimisation. Alongside these core courses is an emphasis on leadership and communication development with a focus on managing teams and organisations, ethics, presentations, and writing.  

In the spring semester of year one, students begin taking electives and capstone courses aligned with their career path. Below is a diagram showing the schedule for year one, provided by Tepper.

Year two is composed of capstone courses, project courses, case competitions, global treks, alumni panels, and executive presentations alongside a selection from over 120 different elective courses. This year is focused on bringing forth students’ leadership styles and leveraging their analytical mindsets. Below is a diagram showing the schedule for year two, provided by Tepper.

The Executive MBA is an interdisciplinary programme that provides executives with conceptual and practical tools along with in-depth financial and investment expertise and equips them with management tools needed to progress in leadership roles for their companies. The programme is offered in cooperation with the University of Lausanne and offers participants a wide range of leading business school professors from each school. The programme has a module-based curriculum structured in two-week classroom units. Content is delivered through speaker sessions, interactive lectures, case studies, group discussions, project work, and web-enabled group assignments.  

The programme includes 12 weeks of classroom time over 20 months, divided into six modules. Three of the six modules are located at Carnegie Mellon University and the other three are held at the University of Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland. Below is a list of the topics covered in each module, provided by Tepper.

Tepper also offers Executive Education Programmes in open enrollment and customised formats.  The open-enrollment programmes give managers an opportunity to learn and network with other executives around the world and prepare them for a higher level of responsibility within their organisations.  The customised programmes are highly tailored and build leadership and management capabilities in the areas of:

• Finance
• Strategic Thinking
• Operations
• Information Technology
• Organisational Behaviour
• Marketing

Although Forbes and US News do not rank MBAs globally, they were included for their impact in the US

• Forbes Rank – 23
• Financial Times Rank – 43
• US News and World Report Rank – 19
• Bloomberg Businessweek Rank – 11
• The Economist Rank – 17

According to Bloomberg Businessweek’s Business School Ranking: High:  92% job offer three months post-graduation.

Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University 5000 Forbes Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States.

t: +1 412-268-2268 

w: tepper.cmu.edu