Home to major companies like Coca-Cola, UPS, and AT&T, Atlanta is one of the nation’s largest economies. It is recognized as a center for finance, the biomedical industry, and manufacturing. With over 3/4ths of Fortune 1000 companies calling the city home, Atlanta is an ideal place to earn a Master of Business Administration degree.
What is an MBA?
An MBA is a graduate degree in general business skills such as leadership and management. It gives professionals a competitive edge in their career industry, demonstrating they have the education and experience to fulfill mid-to-high level positions. Some students earn an MBA in order to become entrepreneurs in their own right.
Many schools offer MBA’s with a concentration in certain fields such as accounting, healthcare administration, or marketing. A concentrated MBA helps students tailor their degree to a chosen industry. This can be useful for professionals already working in that field as well as entry-level graduates looking to place themselves ahead of the competition.
What Are The Prerequisites For An MBA Program?
Most schools require a bachelor’s degree in business from an accredited program for admission into a graduate program. Passing scores on the GMAT or GRE are usually required as well. Some schools prefer applicants who have work experience or an undergrad degree in business. Students who have a degree in a different field, or who lack experience, may need to take additional classes.
Are you interested in earning your MBA online? Our degree finder tool can find the right program for you!
| Rank | School | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia Institute of Technology – 96 Points | Atlanta, Georgia |
| 2 | Georgia State University – 88 Points | Atlanta, Georgia |
| 3 | Emory University – 84 Points | Atlanta, Georgia |
| 4 | Clark Atlanta University – 72 Points | Atlanta, Georgia |
| 5 | Beulah Heights University – 72 Points | Atlanta, Georgia |
What Are The Best MBA Programs In Atlanta?
We chose five accredited MBA programs from local universities and ranked them on a 100 point scale. Our top measure is affordability, but we also look for important stats like class size and overall graduation rate. Check out our rankings below! For more information, check out our online MBA page.
Georgia Institute of Technology – 96 Points
Georgia Tech is a public research university with full-time, evening, and executive MBA programs. The full-time program is 22 months long. The evening program is considered part-time and takes between 24-36 months to complete. There are 16 concentration areas to choose from.
The school prefers students with at least two years of full-time post-grad work experience to be considered for admission into the full-time or evening MBA program. An updated resume is mandatory. Applicants are also required to submit three essays of a maximum of 2,000 words each. Additionally, prospective students must have two letters of recommendation.
The Executive MBA (EMBA) is a 17-month weekend program designed for professionals with at least 5 years of career experience. There are two-degree specializations available: Global Business and Management of Technology. Classes are conducted on Friday evenings and Saturdays through the morning and afternoon.
Applicants to the EMBA program must submit an updated resume with at least five years of full-time experience. Two professional letters of recommendation are also required.
School Overview
Georgia State University – 88 Points
Georgia State University offers MBA and Executive MBA programs. The MBA program requires no professional experience and offers 17 different concentrations. In a self-paced program, students take between 2-5 years to earn their degree. Classes are held 4 evenings a week on campus.
Interested MBA applicants can forgo submitting GMAT scores if they are already in possession of an advanced degree, have at least 5 years full-time work experience in management, or have 3 years experience and a 3.25 undergraduate GPA. Additionally, applicants must submit an essay explaining their aspirations and why they are a good fit for the program. While work experience is not required, applicants must submit an updated resume.
The Executive MBA program requires at least 6 years of experience and lasts 17 months. Classes are held every other Saturday and one Friday per month. There are no concentrations offered for the Executive MBA. Applicants must have an updated resume and three professional references.
School Overview
Emory University – 84 Points
Emory University offers one-year, two-year, evening, and executive MBA programs. The one-year accelerated program begins in the summer semester to deliver the entire core curriculum. The two-year MBA program is a more traditional graduate degree experience starting in the fall. There are 20 concentrations available.
The part-time evening MBA program takes 24-32 months to complete. There are three timeline options: traditional (32 months), accelerated (28 months), and express (24 months). Students in this program can choose from the same 20 concentrations offered by the full-time programs.
The executive MBA degree is an 18-month program. 44% of the coursework is elective-based to allow students to tailor their academics to their personal interests. This program is offered on-campus and in hybrid campus-online formats.
All applicants to Emory’s MBA programs must submit a single-page resume along with three written essays. Three to six years of career leadership experience is preferred. Two letters of recommendation are also required.
School Overview
Clark Atlanta University – 72 Points
Clark Atlanta University is a private Methodist historically black research university. The first HBCU in the Southern United States. Founded September 19, 1865, as Atlanta University; consolidated with Clark College (1869) to form Clark Atlanta University in 1988.
For more than 70 years, Clark Atlanta University’s School of Business Administration has flourished as America’s major producer of black MBAs. In 1974, the School of Business earned and has maintained accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International).
The School of Business Administration offers traditional Full-Time MBA, Working Professional MBA, Master of Accounting, and Master of Economic programs. The traditional Full-Time program is two years long and offers five concentration areas to choose from: Entrepreneurship Management, Finance, Marketing, Sports & Entertainment Management, and Supply Chain Management. The Working Professional MBA is an 18-month program taught in a hybrid on-campus and online format. The Master of Accounting and Economics are 12-month programs.
Work experience is not mandatory for admission into the Full-Time program, but students are encouraged to have at least two years of professional history. Five years of professional work history is required for the Working Professional Program.
All prospective students must submit a resume or CV. Applicants must complete three essays maximum of 500 words. Three letters of recommendation are also required.
School Overview
Beulah Heights University – 72 Points
A small, private Protestant Christian university, Beulah Heights offers a 40 credit hour, 12-14 month accelerated general MBA degree. The program is available on-campus and online. On-campus classes take place every Saturday from 8 am to 5 pm. It is a faith-based program accredited by institutions such as The Association for Biblical Higher Education.
Interested students must submit a copy of their current resume, though work experience is not required. Applicants must also write a 250-word essay declaring their professional goals for earning their degree. One non-familial personal reference is required from someone who has known the applicant for at least 6 months.
School Overview
Trying to choose an online MBA program? Use our degree finder tool to tailor your search results!
Our Methodology
Using the National Center for Education Statistics College Navigator, we gathered a list of five schools in Atlanta that offer MBA programs. From this tool, we pulled data on each school’s total enrollment, student-faculty ratio, and graduation rate. We then obtained tuition data from the school’s official website. Using this data we assigned points to each school across these categories.
The maximum potential points were 100. One-third of the ranking consisted of tuition cost (lower is better). One-third consisted of the overall graduation rate at the institution (higher is better). The remaining one-third of points were split across the other categories.
Reporting Errors
We strive to be as accurate as possible with our data. Employees of the schools listed above may report errors in our data directly to us. We will work quickly to make corrections.
