Year One: Getting a Jump Start

In the first year of your MBA program, you will complete the core curriculum and get an immediate start on academic coursework and applied learning experiences in your career specialization.

Unlike many other MBA programs that require waiting periods, the Wisconsin MBA Program enables you to take classes in your chosen career field right way. Early preparation in your specialization enables you to make the most of experiential learning opportunities; it also makes you more effective in a summer internship. This early start gives you a competitive edge when you enter full-time employment.

Your first year also includes two week-long immersions in programming designed to develop your skills in leadership, career management, and communication. In the capstone Integrated Company Analysis (ICA), you will complete an applied learning project for a live company with an interdisciplinary team of your peers.

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Module 1

Seven weeks of core courses, required specialization courses, and applied learning experiences

Leadership Week 1

Leadership and career workshops and seminars

Module 2

Seven weeks of core courses, required specialization courses, and applied learning experiences

Module 3

Seven weeks of core courses, required specialization courses, and applied learning experiences

Leadership Week 2

Leadership and career workshops and seminars

Module 4

Seven weeks consisting of one core course and the Integrated Company Analysis team project

Summer: Applying New Skills to Internships

Most students travel to locations around the United States and the world to complete internships between their first and second years. By bringing the knowledge gained in the first year to these positions, students can be nimble and skillful in responding to the business challenges they encounter in their summer internships.

Year Two: Adding Depth and Flexibility

In the second year, you and a close-knit group of peers will focus on your area of specialization, taking courses and participating in real-world learning opportunities. Studying with others who share your interests—including students, faculty, staff, alumni, and business leaders—leads to rapid gains in knowledge and skills (in addition to establishing a close-knit network).

With your core curriculum completed in the first year, you’ll also have the flexibility to explore your interests in the second year of the program. Each career specialization offers electives or tracks that allow you to customize your MBA education to your interests and goals. Some Wisconsin MBA students choose electives from the immense breadth of options offered through the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

You can also choose to add a global trip, or focus on an area of interest to you by pursuing one or more graduate-level certificates in topics such as sustainability, strategic innovation, and entrepreneurship.

General Management Core Curriculum

The core curriculum reflects an integrated approach to the key functional areas of business and managerial skills. This foundation prepares you not only for your first career move, but also for future promotions into management and leadership.

Year One: First Semester

  • Marketing Management
  • Introduction to Financial Management
  • Data to Decisions
  • Leading and Working in Teams
  • Financial Accounting
  • Operations Management

Year One: Second Semester

  • Economics for Managers
  • Business Strategy
  • Ethics, Integrity and Society
  • Integrated Company Analysis
  • Leadership

The core curriculum is combined with coursework and applied learning experiences in your chosen specialization to provide career preparation that is both broad and deep. To see a full two-year curriculum by specialization, visit the corresponding career specialization page.