The University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development recently received recognition for its Masters of Business Administration program.
The college’s MBA program, which was ranked as the best online MBA program in Mississippi back in 2019, was recognized as having the 56th best MBA program in the country by Fortune Magazine and the 74th best by the U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News also ranked the full-time MBA program 127th.
MBA Program Director and finance professor Steven Stelk noted that the accolades and online expansion have been attractive to students. This helps to account for why two-thirds of all current MBA students at Southern Miss are pursuing their degree online.
“We’ve had so much growth, particularly in the online program, over the last two years that we’re offering most of the courses both face to face and online each semester now,” Stelk said. “We’re even going to offer some in the summer.”
Over the last six years, enrollment in the MBA program has more than tripled. Additionally, since Fall 2019, enrollment has roughly doubled from 120 to 216 currently in the program.
The recent spike in enrollment can also be attributed to GMAT and GRE requirements to the MBA program being suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Graduate student Nichada Satasuk will graduate this semester with her MBA and an economic development certificate. Satasuk, who has received a Masters in Sports Management, gave high marks for the school and the MBA program.
“I would say the MBA program is pretty good here, not going to lie about that because I did learn a lot that I haven’t known before,” Satasuk said. “The professors [are] really helpful.”
That includes Director Stelk, who has taught at Southern Miss since 2011. He even has a YouTube channel where he uploads lectures and problem tutorials.
“I think I’m probably still subscribed to his channel because I still need it sometimes,” Satasuk joked.
The program hopes to further expand internally by having professors teach more core and elective classes. This will be useful for its plan in the works now to offer students in other undergraduate disciplines a pathway to get an MBA one year after receiving their Bachelor’s.
According to Stelk, this “4+1” program could be attractive to students at Southern Miss’s School of Polymer Science and Engineering and School of Music, among others.
There are currently 26,000 Business School alumni across six continents. If you are interested in becoming one through the MBA program, applications to attend classes for the spring semester close on Nov. 1.
