Skip to content
Thursday, May 23, 2013 | 8:22 PM CDT

MBA students smiling

Certificates and Specializations

The Full-Time MBA program at Texas A&M's Mays Business School offers several options to customize your degree that extend your studies past the core 16-month program. By pursuing a certificate program or a specialization, you can further specialize your education to meet your career objectives.

Certificate programs

Specializations

Certificate programs

Completing a certificate program will require you to extend your studies for an additional semester, and complete 12 credit hours in addition to the core MBA curriculum. The course of study for a certificate program is set by the department.

If you complete a certificate program, you will have an official designation on your transcript noting the certificate was completed.

The Full-Time MBA program offers the following certificate programs:

Entrepreneurship

The certificate in entrepreneurship and technology commercialization provides a base understanding of new business planning, intellectual property protection, and innovation in organizations.

For this certificate, you will take one course in the fall of the second year that is a prerequisite for the other courses required for this certificate. You then take the remaining nine hours required for this certificate in the spring of the second year.

International business

The certificate in international business provides you with the knowledge base and international exposure needed to meet the global business challenges faced by organizations today.

The certificate is comprised of a course in international business, offered in the fourth term of the MBA program, and participation in a semester-long study abroad experience at a Mays international partner school. During the study abroad term, you will take at least 12 credit hours of international business courses.

Supply chain management

This certificate will increase your expertise in operations management, business logistics, physical distribution, purchasing, channel management, information technology, and decision sciences.

If you wish to pursue this certificate, you will take a supply chain management course in the third term of the program as your specialization elective, and then complete the remaining 12 hours in the spring of the second year.

Business management

This certificate allows you to customize your degree to help meet your career objectives. To pursue this certificate, you must first successfully complete the core MBA curriculum. You then work with the MBA Program office to design a certificate program that meets your goals. 

When choosing courses for this certificate, you may choose any graduate level courses offered in the Mays Business School that do not duplicate core MBA courses. All 12 credit hours are taken in the second spring semester.

Advanced international affairs

This certificate is offered by the Bush School of Government and Public Service. It involves a multidisciplinary series of graduate courses for people whose careers or personal interest cause them to seek a more complete understanding of world affairs. The set of courses that are available include intelligence, national security, diplomatic history, international business and government, geography and world systems, international law, and certain skill courses.

You will enter this certificate program after completing your MBA coursework, and complete 12 credit hours in the second spring semester.

Specializations

A specialization program is a customized set of courses that you design to help develop your skills and knowledge. There is not a set number of credit hours or number of courses that define a specialization – it is flexible enough to accommodate any student's desire to expand their studies past the 16-month MBA curriculum.

In a specialization program, you can take any graduate level course that you have the prerequisites to take. These are not limited to courses in Mays Business School, so you can take full advantage of the vast array of graduate courses offered at Texas A&M University. While your transcript will not have an official designation that you completed a specialization, all courses taken will be listed on your transcript. You can then highlight your particular specialization on your resume.

Specializations are an excellent option for customizing the MBA program to further prepare you to meet your career objectives.