Three UCLA Anderson School of Management MBA Programs Receive STEM Designation

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Jun 16, 2020, 21:12 ET

LOS ANGELES, June 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- UCLA Anderson School of Management announced today that it has received STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) certification for its full-time, fully-employed and executive MBA programs, making it among a small number of business schools to receive the designation across its primary MBA programs, regardless of specialization.

Two other degree programs at UCLA Anderson, the Master of Financial Engineering and Master of Science in Data Analytics, are also STEM certified.

UCLA Anderson Dean Antonio Bernardo said the new STEM certification, which is retroactive to the class of 2019, reflects the increasingly quantitative focus of the school's MBA curriculum, in response to technological advances, employer needs and student interests.

"Our MBA programs have always had significant quantitative elements, but as technology has advanced and more MBA students turn to tech careers, the number of data and quantitative courses in the MBA curriculum at Anderson has grown significantly," Bernardo said. "This change is a reflection of that."

The STEM MBA is also increasingly desirable among employers, the dean said. The skills that graduates acquire while earning such degrees — a mix of technology and management — are becoming essential in today's workplace.

"We know that recruiters are increasingly focused on graduates with an analytical and technological orientation, and Anderson's STEM designation will underscore our students' abilities and interests in these areas," he said.

The designation also makes it possible for international graduates of the three programs, who now typically are eligible to hold U.S. jobs for 12 months, to apply to remain in the country for an additional 24 months after graduation and receive continued work experience.

The U.S. government established the STEM designation to address a shortage of qualified workers in scientific and technical fields. The Department of Homeland Security's STEM Designated Degree Program includes various STEM fields and, since 2016, has allowed eligible students on an F-1 visa to apply for what the agency calls the STEM OPT (Optional Practical Training) extension. All current UCLA Anderson international students who are on an F-1 visa and enrolled in the three programs will be eligible to apply for the extension under the designation.

The three Anderson MBA programs received the STEM designation after a review by UCLA's graduate division of how the programs are categorized by the National Center for Education Statistics under a Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code.

The new code defines the UCLA Anderson MBA as a "general program that focuses on the application of statistical modeling, data warehousing, data mining, programming, forecasting and operations research techniques to the analysis of problems of business organization and performance." After the review, the three UCLA Anderson MBA degree programs were changed from "Business Administration and Management, General," to "Management Science," which is considered a STEM program.

About UCLA Anderson School of Management
UCLA Anderson School of Management is among the leading business schools in the world, with faculty members globally renowned for their teaching excellence and research in advancing management thinking. Located in Los Angeles, gateway to the growing economies of Latin American and Asia and a city that personifies innovation in a diverse range of endeavors, UCLA Anderson's MBA, Fully Employed MBA, Executive MBA, UCLA-NUS Executive MBA, Master of Financial Engineering, Master of Science in Business Analytics, doctoral and executive education programs embody the school's Think in the Next ethos. Annually, some 1,800 students are trained to be global leaders seeking the business models and community solutions of tomorrow. anderson.ucla.edu

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SOURCE UCLA Anderson School of Management