Master of Business Administration
MBA
Both full- and part-time
Full-time: 12 or 16 months
Part-time: 18 months
Full-time: HK$600,000
Part-time: HK$465,000
The program fee covers tuition fees, costs of residential program, textbooks for all required courses, course materials and cases, and enrichment talks. All fees are non-refundable.
MBA Program Director:
Prof Stephen Lee SHIH, Associate Dean of Business and Management (MBA Programs)
At HKUST, management education is designed to provide students with the skills and tools necessary to direct and manage organizations, whether large or small, public or private, domestic or international, for-profit or not-for-profit, and with a means for envisioning the future and realizing objectives. An important component of this education is the Master of Business Administration (MBA) Program.
The MBA Program cultivates students’ ability to deal with the challenges and opportunities presented by continued technological development and globalization. While providing students with skills and knowledge to operate successfully in today’s environment, the program also prepares them to cope with the challenges of the future. The School of Business and Management builds and maintains close relationships with the professional management community to prepare strongly motivated individuals for highly skilled managerial roles.
Designed to provide a balance between theory and practice, and between individual and team approaches to management questions, the program is structured to provide a broad base of general management skills on which specialized skills may be developed. Thus, both generalists and specialists can meet their individual career preparation goals. Students not only develop analytical and conceptual tools for innovative problem solving, but also build up confidence and develop interpersonal skills to interact effectively in difficult and complex situations. Various teaching techniques and methods, such as lectures, simulation games, case discussions, and individual and group projects, are used to provide students with an intellectual as well as experiential background.
On successful completion of the program, graduates will be able to:
- Analyze and solve business problems from each of the managerial disciplines of management education;
- Solve cross functional business problems and create integrated business solutions;
- Evaluate the ethical implications and potential risks faced by managers and apply responsible leadership principles to the business decision making process;
- Make effective managerial business decisions that incorporate potential global/international considerations (benefits and risks);
- Within a managerial context, be able to communicate clearly across multiple stakeholder groups and functional topics; and
- Work and manage themselves effectively within a team environment (as a team leader or follower) to deliver team objectives.
The MBA curriculum has three main components: required core courses, flexible core courses and advanced electives.
Required Core Courses
The MBA required core courses provide basic knowledge of management functions that every manager must understand, and build a foundation for advanced study in selected areas. Required core courses provide students with both the functional field and basic conceptual and analytical tools needed to address management problems.
Flexible Core Courses
Flexible core courses allow students to develop basic knowledge of certain functional fields according to their career or personal development needs.
Advanced Electives
Advanced electives allow students to develop in-depth expertise in areas that can enhance their career development. Students may take elective courses from the five areas of career focus; namely General Management, Finance, Marketing, Consulting, Business Technology and Analytics, and Entrepreneurship.
- Minimum Credit Requirement
Full-time: 52 credits
Part-time: 45 credits
- Required Core Courses
Full-time: 14 credits
Part-time: 14 credits
- Flexible Core Courses
Full-time: 12 credits
Part-time: 12 credits
Students are required to complete six flexible core courses offered by the School of Business and Management across the following disciplines:
- Technology & Artificial Intelligence
- Accounting
- Finance
- Big Data
- Economics
- General Management
The list of flexible core courses to be offered will be announced to students annually.
- Elective Courses
Full-time: 26 credits
Part-time: 19 credits
- Remarks
- The course requirements and schedule of the Part-time MBA Program are designed to be compatible with the work demands of responsible, busy professionals. In general, required core courses are held on Saturdays while flexible core and elective courses are held both on weekends and weekday evenings.
- Regular attendance is an important part of the course requirements. Each student’s input is important as classes are organized for optimum size and diversity of backgrounds to increase the value of class discussion. Students who are absent from a significant number of class sessions will not be awarded course credits.
- Part-time students may take a maximum of 10 credits in each term.
Last update: 30 January 2023
To qualify for admission, applicants must meet all of the following requirements. Admission is selective and meeting these minimum requirements does not guarantee admission.
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Applicants seeking admission to a master's degree program should have obtained a bachelor’s degree from a recognized institution, or an approved equivalent qualification.
Applicants have to fulfill English Language requirements with one of the following proficiency attainments:
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TOEFL-iBT: 80*
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TOEFL-pBT: 550
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TOEFL-Revised paper-delivered test: 60 (total scores for Reading, Listening and Writing sections)
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IELTS (Academic Module): Overall score: 6.5 and All sub-score: 5.5
* refers to the total score in one single attempt
Applicants are not required to present TOEFL or IELTS score if
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their first language is English, or
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they obtained the bachelor's degree (or equivalent) from an institution where the medium of instruction was English.
- A GMAT or a GRE score, and
- Work experience:
- Full-time MBA Program: two years
- Part-time MBA Program: three years
- Employment history will play a critical role in the admission process.
- Demonstrated proficiency in the English language is important for successful completion of the program.
- Applicants for the part-time program with more than seven years' full-time work experience may apply for a GMAT waiver, which is subject to approval.
