FAST-GROWING MBA PROGRAM MOVES TO NEW BAY AREA HOME

FAST-GROWING MBA PROGRAM MOVES TO NEW BAY AREA HOME
May 6, 2008

Following three years of rapid enrollment growth in one of the nation's most competitive MBA markets, the UC Davis Graduate School of Management is moving its Bay Area MBA Program for Working Professionals to a new location at Bishop Ranch Business Park in San Ramon, home to such Global 2000 companies as Chevron, Wells Fargo and Verizon.

UC Davis officials have signed a 64-month lease on an 8,978-square-foot suite at Bishop Ranch that includes state-of-the-art classrooms, meeting rooms and a student commons area for dining and studying. Bishop Ranch, located about 30 miles east of San Francisco, also offers a conference center and shuttles to BART stations. The lease begins Aug. 1. The program is currently located in the San Ramon Valley Conference Center in San Ramon.

"Having a permanent campus at Bishop Ranch will allow the Graduate School of Management to make even stronger connections with the Bay Area business community and potential students," said Nicole Woolsey Biggart, dean of the Graduate School of Management. "UC Davis already has a significant presence in the Bay Area, with more than 60,000 UC Davis alumni in the region, and we hope to strengthen relations with those interested in management education and practice."

Enrollment in UC Davis' Bay Area MBA Program for Working Professionals has more than tripled since the program opened its doors to its first class of 45 students in September 2005. Last fall, the program added 77 new students for a total enrollment of 165.

The enrollment gains take place in a fiercely competitive market:
Nearly a dozen other part-time or "executive" MBA programs operate in the Bay Area, including those offered by the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, UC Berkeley, Santa Clara University and St. Mary's College of California, located in Moraga.

According to the latest survey of recent executive MBA graduates by the Orange, Calif.-based Executive MBA Council, the degree is associated with a 21-percent jump in pay. The 2005-2006 survey found that students entered training with an average $107,000 annual salary and earned $130,000 after obtaining their MBAs. In addition, 43 percent received a promotion.

Students in the UC Davis Bay Area MBA program typically take two classes per quarter and graduate in three years, but can accelerate their studies by taking additional courses. Most classes are taught by members of the UC Davis Graduate School of Management's regular full-time faculty, a fact that distinguishes the program from many of its competitors. Classes meet Friday evenings and Saturdays.

The UC Davis Graduate School of Management also offers a Working Professional MBA program in Sacramento, which has graduated 844 MBAs over the past 14 years. On the Davis campus, it offers a daytime MBA program that enrolls 120 full-time students, an undergraduate minor in technology management and a four-day Wine Executive Program.

The UC Davis Graduate School of Management is one of the nation's most highly rated small MBA programs. U.S. News & World Report has ranked it among the country's top 50 business schools for 13 consecutive years. Other recent ratings: The Financial Times' Global MBA 2008 survey ranked the school second in the field of organizational behavior; the Wall Street Journal's 2007 survey of corporate recruiters rated the school sixth worldwide in its preparation of graduates for the technology, Internet and telecom industries; and Forbes' 2005 "Best Business Schools" ranked the UC Davis Working Professional MBA program 16th among part-time MBA programs nationwide, based on graduates' five-year return on investment.

For more information and floor plans of the new space at Bishop Ranch, visit: <http://students.gsm.ucdavis.edu/bamba/bishopranch.htm>.

Media contact(s):
* Tim Akin, Graduate School of Management, (530) 752-7362, tmakin@ucdavis.edu
* Claudia Morain, UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-9841, cmmorain@ucdavis.edu