Business Administration Master of Business Administration (MBA) Degree

In RIT’s master’s in business administration you can study full or part-time to gain the knowledge to lead where technology, business, and innovation intersect.


82%

Outcomes Rate of RIT Graduates from this Business Administration MBA degree

$87.1K

Average First-Year Salary of RIT Graduates from this Business Administration MBA degree

#36

Best MBA Program

Eduniversal, 2024

#96

Best MBA Programs

TFE Times, 2025

Top 100

MBA Programs

Poets&Quants, 2025

Top-Tier


Overview for Business Administration MBA

Why Study Business Administration at RIT?


  • STEM-OPT Visa Eligible: The STEM Optional Practical Training (OPT) program allows full-time, on-campus international students on an F-1 student visa to stay and work in the U.S. for up to three years after graduation.

  • Customized Degree: Core management courses + STEM elective courses + open electives = A dynamic business education.

  • Cross-Disciplinary Access Across RIT: Collaborate across RIT’s nine world-renowned colleges and utilize elite university makerspaces like the Student Hall for Exploration and Development (SHED).

  • Optional Paid Co-op Experience: Gain full-time, real-world experience with leading global enterprises while paying $0 tuition during co-op semesters.

  • AACSB Accreditation: High-impact business education backed by the highest global accreditation standards for business schools.

Lead Where Technology, Business, and Innovation Intersect: The STEM MBA at RIT

RIT’s master of business administration (MBA) is a STEM-designated program engineered for forward-thinking leaders interested in bridging technology, business strategy, and quantitative analytics. This top-ranked MBA program combines a core management foundation with cutting-edge AI, data analytics, and hands-on problem solving—equipping you to steer enterprise transformation or launch tech-driven ventures.

The RIT Advantage: Don’t Just Manage the Future. Build It.

RIT is an innovation powerhouse, backed by the facilities and resources that drive an active culture of making, doing, and solving. As an MBA student at Saunders College of Business, you stand at the intersection of technology, business, design, and the arts.

Here, you have the freedom to build across disciplines. Take open electives across RIT’s nine world-renowned colleges. Utilize state-of-the-art makerspaces like the Student Hall for Exploration and Development (SHED), MAGIC Spell Studios for digital media research and production, and ESL Global Cybersecurity Institute featuring the Cyber Range and Training Center, to name a few. Team up with student and faculty coders, industrial designers, and engineers on real-world projects.

  • Mirror Real-World Teams: Work in cross-functional groups that reflect how modern product and leadership teams operate.
  • Inspiring Mentorship: Tap into a professional network of alumni and business professionals who serve as speakers, mentors and venture investors.
  • Practical Leadership: Turn strategy into action by solving enterprise challenges, launching startups, while building an interdisciplinary professional network.

Customize Your Leadership Path

A flexible curriculum allows you to personalize your MBA degree to align directly with market demand and your career ambitions.

  • Core Business Mastery: Build a strong foundation across our MBA core courses in accounting, finance, marketing, strategy, and organizational behavior.
  • Targeted STEM Electives: Select a specialized content area in high-growth fields including artificial intelligence, business analytics, finance, and supply chain management.
  • University-Wide Electives: Expand your expertise with electives from graduate departments across RIT.

You can align your MBA degree directly with market demand and your career ambitions. Select a specialized content area featuring three STEM elective courses, complemented by two electives to explore a variety of disciplines across campus.

  • High-Growth Focus Areas: Align your degree with emerging growth areas such as digital transformation, and innovation management.
  • Tailored Learning: Build specialized functional expertise while retaining a broad strategic leadership foundation.

High Demand STEM MBA Content Areas

MBA content areas include a combination of three courses from a wide variety of STEM-designated electives, plus two elective courses selected from all electives at Saunders and across all RIT colleges. Popular content areas include:

  • Data Analytics: Complete courses in areas such as data management for business analytics, advanced business analytics, and business analytics experience.
  • Finance and Investing: Target your knowledge with courses that cover financial risk management and analysis, securities and investment analysis, and financial modeling and analysis.
  • Supply Chain and Operations Management: Learn skills in project management, supply chain analytics, and Lean Six Sigma fundamentals.

Additional content areas include accounting and analytics, hospitality management, marketing and market research, information systems and data management, entrepreneurship, and business management. Students may create their own content areas as long as three of the five electives chosen come from Saunders’ list of more than 40 STEM electives.

STEM MBA Benefits: AI, Analytics, and Global Career Potential

Modern enterprise is tech enterprise. RIT's MBA carries an official STEM designation, integrating technical acumen and data analytics into every facet of executive management.

  • Data-Driven Strategy: Master quantitative decision-making, predictive analytics, and AI implementation strategies to solve complex operational challenges.
  • Competitive Edge: Graduate equipped with both broad organizational leadership vision and specialized technical capabilities.
  • 3-Year STEM-OPT Extension: International graduates on F-1 visas qualify for a 24-month extension, for a total of 36 months of U.S. work authorization, making graduates highly attractive to global employers.
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Careers and Experiential Learning

Typical Job Titles

Advertising Account Executive Business Analyst and Accountant Business Development Associate
Business Intelligence Solutions Analyst Capital Markets Equity Research Associate Data Engineer
Digital Marketing Specialist Director of Technology and Cloud Solutions GPS Consulting Analyst
Investment Banking Analyst Junior Consultant Logistics Coordinator
Operations Analyst Product Analyst Project Manager
Risk Advisory Associate Search Engine Optimization Specialist Social media marketing strategist
Technical Project Manager Technology Analyst

Post-Graduation Salary and Career Info for Business Administration MBA

Gain High-Impact Industry Experience with Full-Time Paid Co-op

Put theory directly into practice with RIT’s world-recognized cooperative education and internship program—ranked #5 nationally by U.S. News & World Report (2026). Co-op is a career launcher that sets Saunders College of Business graduates apart. Tap into decades of experience partnering with employers. Participating in an optional paid co-op gives you a decisive edge in the job market.

  • Full-Time Professional Immersion: Spend a full semester working inside leading corporations, solving actual enterprise problems before you graduate.
  • Zero Tuition Fees: Pay $0 tuition while working on full-time paid co-op assignments 
  • Accelerated Career Entry: Co-op placements frequently convert into full-time employment opportunities upon graduation.

Cooperative Education and Internships

What makes an RIT education exceptional? It’s the ability to complete relevant, hands-on career experience. At the graduate level, and paired with an advanced degree, cooperative education and internships give you the unparalleled credentials that truly set you apart. Learn more about graduate co-op and how it provides you with the career experience employers look for in their next top hires.

Co-ops and internships take your knowledge and turn it into know-how. Business co-ops provide hands-on experience that enables you to apply your knowledge of business, management, finance, accounting, and related fields in professional settings. You'll make valuable connections between course work and real-world applications as you build a network of professional contacts.

Cooperative education in the MBA program is optional, but encouraged. Academic credit is not granted, but formal recording of the co-op experience is made on the student’s transcript. Students in good academic standing are eligible for co-op after completing the foundation course, and a substantial portion of their concentration courses. They also must attend a series of co-op and career services workshops. RIT does not guarantee co-op placements.

Curriculum for 2026-2027 for Business Administration MBA

Current Students: See Curriculum Requirements

Admissions and Financial Aid

This program is available on-campus only.

Offered Admit Term(s) Application Deadline STEM-OPT Visa Eligible
Full‑time Fall, Spring, or Summer Rolling Yes
Part‑time Fall, Spring, or Summer Rolling No

Full-time study is 9+ semester credit hours. Part-time study is 1‑8 semester credit hours. International students requiring a visa to study at the RIT Rochester campus must study full‑time.

Application Details

To be considered for admission to the Business Administration MBA program, candidates must fulfill the following requirements:

English Language Test Scores

International applicants whose native language is not English must submit one of the following official English language test scores. Some international applicants may be considered for an English test requirement waiver.

Duolingo (DET): 130

IELTS: 6.5

LanguageCert Academic: 74

PTE Academic: 60

TOEFL: 88/4.5

International students below the minimum requirement may be considered for conditional admission. Deaf and hard-of-hearing test takers with significant hearing loss do not need to take the listening and speaking sections for the TOEFL and IELTS. Each program requires balanced sub-scores when determining an applicant’s need for additional English language courses.

How to Apply Start or Manage Your Application

Cost and Financial Aid

An RIT graduate degree is an investment with lifelong returns. Graduate tuition varies by degree, the number of credits taken per semester, and delivery method. View the general cost of attendance or estimate the cost of your graduate degree.

A combination of sources can help fund your graduate degree. Learn how to fund your degree

FAQs

A master of business administration (MBA) can prepare graduates for leadership, management, consulting, analytics, finance, marketing, operations, and technology-focused business careers. 

RIT's STEM-designated MBA combines business strategy, analytics, AI, finance, and leadership skills, preparing graduates for roles that require both business expertise and data-driven decision making. Students can customize their degree with content areas such as data analytics, finance and investing, supply chain and operations management, entrepreneurship, marketing, and information systems. 

Graduates of RIT's MBA program pursue careers such as:

  • Business Analyst
  • Business Intelligence Solutions Analyst
  • Project Manager
  • Technical Project Manager
  • Product Analyst
  • Operations Analyst
  • Technology Analyst
  • Digital Marketing Specialist
  • Business Development Associate
  • Investment Banking Analyst
  • Consultant
  • Data Engineer
  • Risk Advisory Associate

Because RIT's MBA emphasizes the intersection of technology, business, and innovation, graduates are well positioned for careers in industries ranging from technology and finance to consulting, manufacturing, healthcare, and supply chain management. 

A: The main difference is breadth versus specialization. An MBA provides broad leadership and management training across multiple business functions, while other business master's degrees focus on developing expertise in a specific area such as finance, accounting, marketing, business analytics, or supply chain management. 

MBA vs. Specialized Business Master's Degrees

An MBA:

  • Covers finance, marketing, strategy, operations, leadership, and management
  • Designed for broad business leadership and career advancement
  • Ideal for professionals seeking management and executive roles
  • Emphasizes cross-functional decision-making

A specialized business master’s degree:

  • Focuses deeply on one business discipline
  • Designed for technical or functional expertise
  • Ideal for professionals pursuing specialized careers
  • Emphasizes subject-matter expertise

When is an MBA the better choice?

An MBA may be a better fit if you want to:

  • Move into management or leadership roles
  • Develop skills across multiple business disciplines
  • Transition into a new industry or business function
  • Build strategic decision-making and leadership capabilities
  • Prepare for executive-level responsibilities

When is a specialized business master's the better choice?

A specialized master's degree may be a better fit if you want to:

  • Build expertise in a specific field
  • Pursue a technical or analytical career path
  • Gain advanced knowledge in areas such as finance, accounting, marketing, business analytics, or supply chain management
  • Deepen skills you already use in your profession

An MBA with a co-op program allows students to gain professional work experience while completing their degree. By combining graduate-level business education with hands-on industry experience, students can apply classroom concepts to real business challenges, build professional networks, and strengthen their resumes before graduation. RIT's nationally- ranked (#5, U.S. News & World Report, 2026) co-op and internship program offers MBA students an optional paid co-op experience that enables them to work full-time with employers before they graduate, while paying no tuition while on co-op. 

Key benefits of an MBA co-op program

  • Apply business concepts in real-world settings: Students gain practical experience in areas such as strategy, finance, marketing, analytics, operations, and project management, helping them connect classroom learning with business decision-making.
  • Build professional experience before graduation: A co-op allows students to graduate with relevant work experience, which can make them more competitive for full-time positions.
  • Expand your professional network: Students develop relationships with managers, mentors, alumni, and industry professionals, creating connections that can support future career opportunities. 
  • Explore career paths and industries: Co-op experiences help students determine which industries, roles, and work environments best fit their interests and career goals. 
  • Increase opportunities for full-time employment: Many employers use co-op programs as a recruiting pipeline, and successful co-op experiences can lead to job offers after graduation. RIT notes that co-op placements frequently convert to full-time employment opportunities. 
  • Develop leadership and problem-solving skills: Working on actual business challenges helps students build the communication, teamwork, leadership, and analytical skills employers seek in MBA graduates.

A tech-focused MBA prepares graduates for leadership roles at the intersection of business, technology, data, and innovation. Common career paths include product management, technology consulting, business analytics, project management, digital transformation, operations, and technology strategy. Employers value tech-focused MBA graduates because they combine business leadership skills with the ability to understand data, emerging technologies, and complex organizational challenges.

Common jobs for graduates of a tech-focused MBA:

  • Product Manager
  • Technical Project Manager
  • Technology Analyst
  • Business Analyst
  • Business Intelligence Analyst
  • Data Analytics Manager
  • Technology Consultant
  • Digital Transformation Manager
  • Operations Manager
  • Strategy Consultant
  • Business Development Manager
  • Innovation Manager
  • Supply Chain Analytics Manager
  • Technology Solutions Manager
  • Director of Technology and Cloud Solutions

A STEM-designated MBA combines traditional business education with advanced coursework in analytics, technology, quantitative decision-making, and data-driven problem solving. While a regular MBA focuses primarily on management, finance, marketing, operations, and leadership, a STEM MBA has designated courses that add technical skills that help graduates lead in technology-driven business environments.

STEM MBA vs. Traditional MBA

Traditional MBA

  • Focuses on business fundamentals such as finance, marketing, strategy, operations, and leadership.
  • Emphasizes management and organizational decision-making.
  • Prepares graduates for a wide range of business and leadership careers. 

STEM-Designated MBA

  • Includes business fundamentals plus coursework in areas such as data analytics, artificial intelligence, information systems, quantitative analysis, and technology strategy.
  • Emphasizes data-driven decision-making and business technology integration.
  • Prepares graduates to lead digital transformation, innovation, analytics, and technology-focused initiatives. 

A STEM MBA can help students:

  • Develop both business leadership and technical problem-solving skills.
  • Gain expertise in analytics, AI, and emerging technologies.
  • Prepare for careers in product management, consulting, business analytics, technology strategy, and operations leadership.
  • Meet growing employer demand for leaders who can bridge business and technology.

RIT's STEM-designated MBA combines core business disciplines with specialized study in areas such as artificial intelligence, business analytics, finance, information systems, and supply chain management. Students can customize their degree through STEM-focused content areas while gaining hands-on experience through cross-disciplinary collaboration and optional paid co-op opportunities. Students choose at least three of more than 40 STEM-designated electives, drawing from courses offered by Saunders College of Business and colleges across RIT. 

A STEM MBA may be a strong choice for professionals who want more than traditional management training. By combining leadership, strategy, analytics, and technology expertise, STEM MBA graduates are prepared to help organizations make data-driven decisions, adopt emerging technologies, and drive innovation. RIT's STEM MBA prepares graduates to lead where business, technology, and innovation intersect through a mix of management expertise, AI, analytics, and specialized STEM coursework.