The MBA-One is a full-time program that is completed in twelve months of intensive study. It is designed for non-working individuals who prefer a rigorous cohort style of learning. Admission to the MBA-One program is for the Fall semester only and runs from August to August. This accelerated program allows students to enter the workforce and command higher salaries in less time than our other MBA programs take to complete.

MBA-One students come from countries around the world as well as from across the United States, and bring with them a wide range of experiences and perspectives. This creates a rich, dynamic learning environment both inside and outside of the classroom.

MBA-One graduates are working in companies throughout Silicon Valley and beyond, literally side-by-side with MBAs from other programs around the region, nation, and world. The knowledge and skills MBA-One students gain from their studies at the Lucas GSB make them valuable members of business teams across the region.

Click here to see a list of some of the companies where graduates from our MBA-One programs work.

Outstanding Educational Opportunity

Excellent teaching is central to San Jose State University’s mission, and Lucas GSB faculty members are exemplary in this regard. The faculty members who teach in our MBA-One program are committed to making the year-long journey the best educational experience our students have ever had. Accomplished faculty, collaboration within the cohort, and an intensive, high-expectation environment make the MBA-One an excellent choice for business graduate education.

As a member of the MBA-One cohort, you and the others in the cohort will take each course together, and you all will work and study together throughout the program. The diversity of skills and backgrounds in the cohort, as well as the comaraderie that develops, will enhance the educational experience for everyone. You will also be building relationships that last a lifetime.

We consider our faculty to be the prime strength of our programs. They are dedicated to providing relevant, practical, and up-to-date graduate business education to our students. This excellence is due to our faculty’s’ diligence and commitment to maintaining their scholarship through a focus on applied research. Through professional organizations, personal collaboration, and industry contacts, Lucas GSB faculty also maintain linkages with Silicon Valley businesses. Current students and alumni overwhelmingly and consistently express great satisfaction both with the education they have received from Lucas GSB programs and with the quality of instruction that our faculty provides.

Experiencing Silicon Valley. Many of the courses in the MBA-One program emphasize the lessons provided by Silicon Valley in assignments and cases. To emphasize the uniqueness of Silicon Valley in the global environment of business, our students are exposed to local business professionals and local businesses throughout the year of instruction. The MBA-One program offers extraordinary advantages at an exceptional value that other full-time MBA programs find difficult to match.

The coursework includes guest lectures by Silicon Valley executives, panel discussions, and company tours. To make the program truly enriching, MBA-One faculty organize the Silicon Valley connections collectively for each cohort when the program begins in August. These activities will complement the assignments and cases based on Silicon Valley firms, resulting in a degree that will be a Silicon Valley MBA.

In the current academic year, guest speakers include the Vice President of Marketing of Cellfire, the CFO of Everdream, and a Silicon Valley Bank Vice President. In addition, each semester, local business executives participate in our Lucas Global Leadership Lecture Series and the College's Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship Eminent Speaker Series. These lectures are presented in the evenings on the main SJSU campus several times each semester.

Lucas Career Consultant

In conjunction with SJSU’s Career Center, the Lucas GSB has its own Career Consultant who works directly MBA-One students to provide career advice and help with the job search. Office hours, workshops, and other activities are provided to Lucas GSB students by our Lucas Career Consultant.

The Career Center has a wide range of services from resume writing and interview counseling to career fairs and expos that bring employers to campus. The services are offered continuously throughout the academic year, and the Lucas Career Consultant is your direct, person-to-person connection between your needs and the Career Center resources.

The Course of Study

Like our other MBA programs, the MBA-One program consists of fourteen courses: ten required courses and four electives. However, due to the lock-step nature of the cohort program and the fixed time to completion, all fourteen courses have been pre-specified for the MBA-One course of study.

Each MBA-One course generates 3 semester units of credit, and each course is condensed into ten 4-hour classes in an 8-week session, with the whole program completed in 6 sessions.

Classes are held in the daytime at our easily-accessible Rose Orchard Way location [map], which is a separate from the main campus. An MBA program coordinator is onsite to assist students.

Click here to see the course offered in the current academic year and the sequencing of these courses.

Pre-Requisites Courses

Principles of Macroeconomics, Principles of Microeconomics, and Business Statistics are pre-requisites courses for our MBA programs. Faculty teaching in our MBA-One program have expressed concerns about students' economics and statistics foundations, so we are strongly encouraging MBA-One applicants to complete the pre-requisite courses before the MBA-One classes begin in late August. We are asking applicants to plan accordingly for completing these courses by August even though we cannot guarantee admission for anyone at the time of application.

The pre-requisite courses can be waived for individuals who have completed them within the last seven years with a grade of B or better. Individuals who have taken these courses more than seven years ago (and received a grade of B or better) can satisfy the pre-requisite requirements by taking an on-line tutorial refresher course. Applicants who have never taken the pre-requisite courses, or who have not achieved at least a B in them, are encouraged to complete them before enrolling in our MBA-One program. Successful completion of the pre-requisites will be made a condition of admission for such applicants who are admitted to our MBA-One program.

The pre-requisite courses can be taken in a variety of ways, including the home country of our International applicants. For local applicants, courses can be taken at community colleges. This summer (June and July), we will offer two ways to complete the Macroeconomics and Microeconomics requirement by taking one course. In our on-campus program, we will be offering Bus 200 in traditional lecture mode, and we will help you sign up for this course through Open University.

The SJSU Economics Department will be offering a version of Bus 200 this summer in an on-line format, and International students can enroll in this course from their home countries through Open University. Details are still be worked out.

The MBA-One program moves rapidly and the faculty demands that each MBA-One student learn as much as possible to maintain the high level of quality throughout the cohort. As such, the fundamentals acquired in the pre-requisite courses support the learning process and minimize gaps in the knowledge base of the cohort members. If a number of years have passed since you have taken Macroeconomics or Microeconomics, you might consider taking Bus 200 on campus or its on-line equivalent during this coming summer.

Our Expectations of Students

The MBA-One course of study is rigorous and our faculty members have high expectations of our students' performance. For these reasons, MBA-One students need to be full-time students. We discourage MBA-One students from working, even part time. The accelerated format of the program means that each course is completed in eight weeks, and students are taking two or three courses during each eight-week session. On days when no classes meet, students are expected to be preparing for upcoming classes and/or meeting with their teams and study groups to prepare for assignments and examinations.

Not being able to meet with a team to complete a group project because of a conflict in a student's work schedule is not acceptable or appropriate. To successfully meet the requirements of the program and the expectations of the faculty and fellow classmates, MBA-One students should not be working during the course of the twelve month program.

Personal Statement

To gauge the background and orientation of those applying to the MBA-One program, we require that each applicant submit a Personal Statement as part of the application process. The intent is to understand the applicant’s motivation for applying to our program as well as his/her career goals and aspirations. The Personal Statement is an excellent way for us to gain insight into each candidate's skills, abilities, and motivation and will help us construct the best qualified cohort that we can.

Although the CSU Mentor application allows for an electronic version of personal statement that is limited to a maximum of 500 words, the MBA-One Personal Statement is to be submitted along with your other documentation directly to the Lucas GSB office. While there are no precise guidelines or word limits for this statement, we are looking for aspects of your goals, motivation, background, and previous experience that will allow us to make the best decision possible about your appliation to the MBA-One program.

Work Experience

While diversity in the classroom adds a richness to the cohort experience, too great a disparity in the business or career backgrounds of the cohort members can create uneven learning among the students and limit the effectiveness of faculty teaching.

To promote excellent graduate business education, we are looking for MBA-One students who have at least two years of "relevant" business experience.

We require that each applicant to the MBA-One program provide a description of his or her work experience with an explanation of why this experience is relevant to the MBA-One program. We also ask that you submit a copy of your most recent resume along with the other documents we require.

Since MBA program graduates are expected to move into management positions, relevant business experience involves significant responsibilities within a business organization, whether a large or small business, or a public or private organization. We would be happy to discuss your background if you have any questions about this requirement.

Interviewing Applicants

In many cases, the documentation submitted with you application, including your personal statement, resume, and description of your work experience, will be sufficient for the Lucas GSB office to make a decision about whether to admit you to the MBA-One program. However, in some cases, we may need more information and we may want to talk to you directly. In these instances, we will arrange to interview the applicant either in person in our office or over the telephone if necessary.

Have Questions? If you have questions about the MBA-One program after reading this, click on the Contact Us button above, and we will provide the answers that you need.

Connecting:  MBA-One Family

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