UCLA
The UCLA business school, officially known as the UCLA Anderson School of Management, is one the United States premier business schools. Currently ranked in the top 25 by various publications, it has been a favored educational facility for those considering a career in business or management. The UCLA business school was originally founded in 1938, with its overall purpose to be a facility for undergraduate studies. By the 1970s, the school’s programs began to change, and with its name. Originally founded as the UCLA School of Business Administration, the name change to Graduate School of Management reflected programs direction to concentrate solely on graduate studies. This administrative change is unique to the UCLA business school because it is one of the very few public education facilities to only offer business courses at the graduate level. The only undergraduate degree attainable at Anderson is business economics. Graduate students at UCLA Anderson have a choice majors in the business and marketing field that include: Accounting, Finance, Policy, Real Estate, Communication, Media and Entertainment Management, and Human Resources and Organizational Behavior. The educational teaching model at UCLA Anderson is one that combines case study and experiential learning. In applying this method, graduate students are encouraged to have a hands-on approach to their educational experience by allowing them to learn the methods and ideology by first-hand experience. Though lecture and group projects are also implemented, experiential learning is the method that is most strongly emphasized. This philosophy is evident with UCLA Anderson’s Applied Management Research Program. This section is introduced to the study and curriculum of business and management to further enhance real world experience as a main source for educational growth and application. The program is designed to be a collaborative effort, where students are formed in teams to conduct field study project. The main goal behind the research program is for students to complete strategy-based projects for companies that partner with the school’s program. Ultimately, the students report their findings and analysis to the company’s senior management team with the collaborative effort to present recommendations that may ultimately benefit the company’s performance. In creating a program for graduate students that, at its core, has real world experience as the main method for learning is an indispensable experience that would ultimately prove to be most fruitful for their careers in business or management. As of 2009, UCLA enrolled approximately 730 students for their MBA program. A key attraction to UCLA Anderson is the fact that it has lower tuition costs when compared to other graduate schools for business. Tuition for the MBA program run at about $40,000 for California residents, and just under $50,000 for those attending from out of state. Other schools of business average at about $50,000 for those enrolled with residential status. Because of the relatively lower costs for the MBA program and its philosophy of applying learned, first-hand experience to the educational environment, UCLA Anderson has been able to cultivate a strong reputation as one of the premier business schools in the country.