Global Knowledge

The Duke MBA program begins with a three-week Global Institute held in August. The institute features two core courses: Leadership, Ethics and Organizations; and Global Institutions and Environments. The Global Institute begins the process of helping you become a collaborative leader with a deep understanding of the multifaceted global business environment.

You will also have multiple opportunities to experience business and cultural practices in other countries through Global Academic Travel Experience (GATE) courses and exchange programs.

For more information regarding international coursework and learning opportunities, please visit the International Center.

Flexible and Focused

Courses in The Duke MBA—Daytime program are taught in six-week terms. This arrangement allows you to take more courses (three or four per term) with the same number of faculty contact hours as in a more traditional system — giving you greater breadth of knowledge without sacrificing depth. You will take at least five elective courses by the end of your first year — more if you qualify for course exemptions. This flexibility continues through your second year when you will be able to select from a broad menu of electives and choose those that you have a professional or personal interest in. Learn more about The Duke MBA—Daytime curriculum.

Concentrations: Interdisciplinary Depth

The Duke MBA offers specialized concentrations in all major business functions (such as accounting, decision sciences, finance, management, marketing, operations, and strategic consulting) and in topical areas (such as entrepreneurship, international business, leadership and ethics, and social entrepreneurship).

Each concentration includes a set of electives from which you will choose six courses. Concentrations have a common "4-2" structure, where the concentration typically has four courses in a focal area (e.g., finance) and two courses from other areas that support the focal concentration.

Concentrations are not required; you may choose none, one, or a maximum of two. If you choose two concentrations, think of the first as providing depth needed for early career success and the second as providing breadth needed for lifelong career success. Even if you choose two concentrations, you still have room in your schedule for additional electives to customize your MBA experience. No matter your career path, your grounding in the principles and practices of general management coupled with a specialization will expand your career opportunities. 

Learn more about concentrations.

Certificate of Excellence in Finance

The Duke MBA offers the opportunity to earn a Certificate of Excellence in Finance. If you choose this path you are required to take two additional courses to ensure that depth does not come at the expense of general management skills and perspectives.

Accessible, enthusiastic and innovative, The Duke MBA faculty are leaders in every discipline and renowned authorities at the heart of Fuqua's Research Advantage .

At Fuqua, you will study with professors who are recognized experts in their fields and at the forefront of new trends in the global business community. The Duke MBA faculty are noted scholars in the academic and business world and regularly receive top awards and honors for their research and professional service. BusinessWeek magazine recently ranked Fuqua No.1 in the US for intellectual capital, a proxy for faculty quality. Regardless of the program, all Fuqua students learn from the same impressive faculty who study the world's most relevant problems. This knowledge transfers into the classroom, enhancing your learning experience.

Our faculty bring insights from their research, along with a host of innovative ideas, into the classroom to merge academic concepts with real-world application. The diverse experience and knowledge of our faculty members provides students with a rich and relevant academic learning environment.

Meet The Duke MBA faculty .

The Duke MBA—Daytime program boasts one of the most active —  and proactive —  student bodies of any business school in the United States. Learn more about student life.

The Fuqua experience offers extracurricular activities including:

•   industry sector career clubs
•   organized athletics
•   community service groups
•   cultural organizations

In addition to the more than 40 student-run clubs and organizations available, students are encouraged to found new clubs should they identify an unmet need in the Fuqua community.

The close partnership between students, faculty and staff provides additional opportunities for students to contribute to the school through student government, the Leadership Development Initiative, or as academic, admissions, career, executive or leadership fellows. Fellows take on a number of roles, including organizing conferences and guest speaker visits, providing peer mentoring, and conducting admissions interviews with prospective students.

Duke MBA students frequently note the value of their extracurricular activities in enriching their leadership skills and assisting them in building strong business contacts and experience. To learn more about the clubs and organizations that make up the Fuqua "extracurriculum," please visit the MBA Association (MBAA) site.