Wharton MBA Majors & Specialties

You can select from 21 MBA concentrations to pursue your goals. Most majors consist of five CUs—usually four CUs in addition to the core curriculum. Courses may count toward more than one major, giving you the option to pursue your MBA with a double major. You may customize your learning further by taking electives in other MBA specialties to round out the curriculum.

Accounting

This major focuses on the uses of accounting data and helps students acquire the skills to measure and communicate an organization’s economic activities. Courses focus on concepts, procedures and applications for how accounting information is generated and used to make economic decisions.

 

Business Analytics

STEM Certified Major

This major gives students state-of-the-art tools and techniques for solving business problems with real-world data. Students explore such areas as optimization, computational heuristics, machine learning, data acquisition and preparation, agent-based modeling and other forms of simulation, visualization, multiobjective decision making, decision analysis, data mining, and text mining.

 

Business Economics and Public Policy

STEM Certified Major

This major brings theoretical tools and practical experience to bear on the relationship among business, government, and society. Areas of faculty expertise include deregulation and privatization, technology, public and urban finance, and international industrial policy.

 

Business, Energy, Environment and Sustainability

STEM Certified Major

This major provides in-depth foundations for those interested in the complex relationships between business and the natural environment, management of environmental risks, and the business and economics of energy.

 

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion major prepares students to face the challenges involved in creating and maintaining organizations that are diverse, inclusive, and rooted in equity. As organizations attempt to harness the contributions of many stakeholders, students who pursue the major will not only be well prepared for DEI-focused careers, they will also be prepared to be leaders of change in any organizational role.

 

Entrepreneurship & Innovation

The Entrepreneurship & Innovation major provides MBA students with skills, analytical tools, perspectives, and experiences that prepare them for careers as autonomous entrepreneurs, family-business entrepreneurs, or entrepreneurs in corporate settings. Students create real business plans, work on other field projects, and gain access and insight from entrepreneurial business community leaders.

 

Environmental, Social and Governance Factors For Business

STEM Certified Major

The major in Environmental, Social and Governance Factors for Business (ESGB) is designed to provide in-depth foundations for those interested in the complex relationships between business and the natural environment and business and society more broadly, including management of environmental, social, and governance risks and opportunities, and the ways in which firms incorporate ESG factors into their governance.

 

Finance

STEM Certified Major

The Finance major provides students with the tools required to take on financial leadership roles in both the private and public sector. While attention is given to historical and institutional aspects, the primary emphasis is on analytical methods that make extensive use of cutting-edge techniques from economic analysis, statistics and computer science.

 

Health Care Management

The health care management major differs from many other majors at Wharton in blending specific coursework and professional development opportunities. The major draws on a rich variety of electives across the university, including courses in the behavioral and applied social sciences, biomedical sciences, and social policy. It is closely associated with the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, which facilitates research and education in health services financing and delivery. You must apply for admission to this major at the time of your initial Wharton application.

 

Individualized MBA Major

Students whose interests do not conform to existing MBA disciplines may petition for the approval of an individualized major. This option is available to students with specific, well-defined, interdisciplinary interests. We encourage students to explore the variety of MBA subjects that the Wharton MBA program offers, but we also recommend students plan their journey carefully. Individualized MBA majors require forethought and planning to complete; we would strongly advise students interested in this pathway to speak with an academic advisor once accepted into the Wharton MBA program.

 

Management

The management major helps managers in the changing global economy view the total enterprise and understand the forces that shape a firm’s direction, policies, and goals. The course also helps managers exercise personal leadership in managing employees. You will apply basic social science disciplines and research methods to management and leadership problems in the public and private sectors.

 

Marketing

Marketing investigates fundamental approaches to understanding markets, competitors, and portfolios of product offerings and operating technologies. Wharton has one of the largest sets of marketing courses and faculty.

 

Marketing and Operations (Joint Major)

Marketing and Operations is the only official joint major at Wharton, comprising seven credit units of coursework.

 

Multinational Management

The multinational management major focuses on multinational management complemented by functional electives in the areas of finance, marketing, accounting, legal studies, public policy, real estate or health-care management.

 

Operations, Information and Decisions

STEM Certified Major

This major aims to improve the quality and productivity of enterprises by discovering, developing, and validating new principles, theory, and methods. Rooted in process management, decision making and information.

 

Organizational Effectiveness

The organizational effectiveness major is designed to educate students in leading edge theory and practice associated with employee management and the organizational design. This major spans topics from understanding individual and group behavior to designing management systems and structures to support business strategy.

 

Quantitative Finance

STEM Certified Major

The Quantitative Finance major aims to prepare students for a wide range of careers in the financial industry, including quantitative asset management and trading, financial engineering, risk management and applied research. It is designed to appeal to students with strong quantitative backgrounds who wish to develop their skills for quantitative applications in finance. Students majoring in Quantitative Finance will have both the technical expertise that allows them to compete for quantitative positions in finance, and the generalist MBA experience that provides them with the necessary leadership skills to quickly rise to the top of their organizations.

 

Real Estate

One of two industry-focused majors at Wharton, the real estate major consists of three required courses (real estate law, development, and finance) and two electives, including real estate economics, urban fiscal policy, the relationship between government policy and private development, international real estate markets, and the aesthetic and technical considerations of architecture. Coursework provides the quantitative and qualitative tools necessary for leadership.

 

Social and Governance Factors for Business

STEM Certified Major

The major in Social and Governance Factors for Business (SOGO) is designed to provide in-depth foundations for those interested in the complex relationships between business and society, including management of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities more broadly, and the ways in which firms incorporate ESG factors into their governance. It is designed for those students especially interested in the social and governance factors.

 

Statistics

STEM Certified Major

The statistics major teaches students to develop a systematic and effective approach to data, draw inferences and conclusions, and communicate results. This major widely applies across industries because its quantitative approach offers important insights for general decision making. Courses range from a rigorous training in the fundamentals of statistical theory to applications of popular methodologies, such as regression analysis and forecasting. Courses also provide exposure to computer software for implementing key techniques.

 

Strategic Management

The strategic management major has a deep grounding in the basic logic of competitive advantage, premised on a careful analytical treatment of the distinct qualities and positions of individual firms and an understanding of broader competitive dynamics.

 

More Information

For more information on interdisciplinary MBA degree concentrations, visit the Interdisciplinary Programs page. For more information on MBA elective courses, visit the electives page.

Wharton’s STEM MBA Majors

Interested in a STEM-certified business degree? Nine of our majors are designated as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors, which help students excel in high-demand roles that require both business and technical acumen.

Our STEM majors offer another benefit for international students, who can obtain a STEM OPT extension for their F-1 visa after graduation. The extension allows students to apply the skills they learned in their STEM degree studies in full-time employment in the U.S. If you choose one of these majors, you will be eligible for 36 months of post-completion OPT (compared to 12 months for a non-STEM major):

  • Business Analytics
  • Business Economics & Public Policy
  • Business, Energy, Environment & Sustainability
  • Environmental, Social and Governance Factors for Business
  • Finance
  • Operations, Information & Decisions
  • Quantitative Finance
  • Social and Governance Factors for Business
  • Statistics