Enrollment in Georgia State’s MBA Program Surges 40 Percent Since 2024 Redesign

ATLANTA ‒ In fall 2024, Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business introduced its redesigned flagship MBA with a streamlined curriculum, new immersive experiences, expanded career services, and a fully asynchronous online delivery format. Since the redesign, new enrollment has increased by nearly 40 percent compared to the two years prior, and the program has sustained this growth for two consecutive years.

The redesign proved desirable to graduate students and corporate partners by:

• Additional flexibility: The fully asynchronous online MBA allows students to balance career, family, and study on their own schedule. It has quickly become the program’s fastest-growing option.
• Shortening degree completion: Students can graduate in as little as 16 months and accelerate their career progress.
• Immersive Business Experiences: The MBA capstone case competition has featured major corporations, including Equifax, IHG, and The Coca-Cola Company, giving students direct exposure to global business challenges.
• Stackable Credentials and Large Selection of Electives: Students can choose from over 15 graduate certificates and a breadth of electives to customize their career path to align with their ambitions.
• AI & Workforce Readiness: Robinson has invested heavily in AI literacy, generative AI tools, and data-driven decision-making, ensuring graduates are prepared for the future of work.
• Enhanced Career Services: Every MBA student now participates in required Market Ready sessions, a structured professional-development curriculum focused on networking, interview prep, LinkedIn optimization, and other practical career tools — ensuring graduates are employer-ready on day one.

“Participating in the career readiness workshops helped me prepare for the job interview process at the NBA and land a position as a Future Sales Stars Program associate,” said current MBA student Caudy Desmornes. “This has changed my career--I’m gaining real-world experience at a coveted sports organization, while continuing to pursue my MBA.”

Corporate partners were deeply involved in redesigning the MBA to ensure it reflects the skills and experiences employers value most. They remain essential partners, engaging with the program through sponsorship of the MBA case competition, mentoring students, and employing graduates. Douglas Nagy, director in the Office of the IHG CEO, remarked, “Georgia State is an important source of talent for IHG. Over 40 people at our corporate headquarters here in Atlanta are Georgia State alumni, and we want to strengthen that relationship. The MBA case competition offers a wonderful way for students to get experience dealing with a real-life business problem that mirrors the challenges we tackle daily at our headquarters.”

“Robinson has differentiated itself as one of the largest and most innovative graduate portfolios in the country. To see a sustained 40 percent increase in new enrollment since we launched the redesigned MBA shows the program is meeting the needs of students and equipping them with the skills employers are hungry for in today’s rapidly changing environment.” Richard Phillips, dean of the Robinson College.

U.S. News & World Report ranks Robinson’s MBA 35th in the nation among all part-time MBA programs and 22nd among public universities. Students choose either a business administration or a STEM-designated business analysis major. They can further customize their studies by choosing from the broadest selection of electives and concentrations offered in Georgia. The Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University has the largest business school alumni group in the Southeast.

Learn more at https://robinson.gsu.edu/mba.