Typical MBA Courses That Applicants Should Know About

Students pursuing an MBA learn important business fundamentals in many areas, including economics, marketing, finance, accounting, strategy, organizational behavior and leadership.

Core curricula vary between business schools, but the lessons learned in these foundational classes can transfer to many career paths, experts say.

“The broad nature of an MBA program benefits students by presenting them with learning opportunities in all areas of business,” says Lily Bi, president and CEO of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, or AACSB.

“Strategy and management courses, for example, offer core, durable skills that stay with learners for a lifetime, such as problem-solving, analytical and critical thinking skills,” she says. “Students learn to lead in diverse work environments, navigate crisis management and communicate effectively.”

AACSB-accredited MBA programs in the U.S. and abroad provide learners with the high-quality, foundational knowledge necessary to succeed in business, Bi adds. Of the 747 AACSB-accredited schools that reported data in 2022-2023, 87% offered at least one MBA program. 

Here are 12 basic course areas that are typically offered in MBA programs, according to experts:

David Sprott, the Henry Y. Hwang dean and professor of marketing at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University in California, separates core MBA courses into two categories: those that address key functions of any business or organization – such as accounting, finance and marketing – and courses that are “important but less core to business function in my view, such as international business,” he wrote in an email.

“The question for me is: How much to devote of the curriculum to these more traditional topics? … The balancing act for schools/faculties is to figure out how to cover all this content, while making the program of reasonable length and duration, and fresh.”

Bi says finance and accounting classes “are excellent examples of courses that offer domain skills, those that dive deeper into specializations. These skills include best practices in budgeting, compliance, investments and more. ”

She adds that business ethics classes “give learners the tools they need to do good in business, and in the communities they serve. Human resources and leadership courses help students learn people-centered skills like empathy and self-awareness, enabling them to consider wider perspectives in their decision-making.”

Dalvin Dunn, who earned an MBA from Texas Woman’s University in 2021 with an emphasis in human resources, says business ethics is the core MBA course that has proven most beneficial to him.

“Being unethical in your business dealings can lead to legal issues,” he says.

Dunn, an adjunct business instructor at Lee College and Blinn College in Texas, also stresses the value of a required course in organizational behavior.

“It was not until leaving the business field to pursue an educational doctoral degree that I realized higher education is run like a business,” he says.

Some experts say that some specialized areas that have become popular in more MBA programs should be incorporated into core course requirements, such as technology and the impact of business on society.

MBA programs have adapted to a rapidly changing world, with technology and data analytics being embedded in many MBA curricula, Bi notes.

“Technological advances have resulted in innovative delivery options, real-world learning experiences to prepare students to be ready for leadership on day one, and collaborative research opportunities offer solutions to societal challenges, both local and global,” she says.

Sprott agrees, saying tech “is going to impact everything we do across the board (not just higher education) and leaders must have a sense of what it means for businesses and organizations.” He says Drucker recently introduced an “Emerging Technologies” elective that could eventually become a core class.

Artificial intelligence, ChatGPT and autonomous products will massively affect business, he adds. “How can a person lead/manage effectively without a sense of the latest revolutions in tech?”

Sprott also suggests that B-schools add a core course in self-development and career support. Such a course is part of the required eight-unit Drucker curriculum aimed at helping prepare MBA students for a successful career.

“We have found this content to be very powerful,” Sprott says.

Sprott also suggests that a core course in societal impact would benefit MBA students. Societal impact is related to ethics and is important as B-schools work to frame how business should interact with society, he says.

Such expectations are being put forward by accrediting agencies such as AACSB, and driven by broader society and business, he says. “I think that schools will slowly add this content to the core program as society demands we think about how business interacts with, drives and impacts the world’s great challenges.”

Through their required curricula, MBA programs provide future leaders with the skills needed to build meaningful relationships and positively affect society, Bi says.

She adds that for people “seeking to develop new skills or advance their business acumen, an MBA is a good place to start. The world needs well-rounded, technologically savvy, society-focused business leaders.” 

Dunn would like to see a business writing component as a required course in all MBA programs.

“We don’t adequately teach business students how to write briefs and grants when finding investors,” he says. “We teach them to find someone else to do it for them.”