In an economy that is still recovering at a pretty slow rate, most students have found that they can maximize their employment chances by finishing their graduate studies and holding both a master’s degree in a liberal arts field and a more technical degree like the Master’s in Business Administration students. One of the most common ways to do this in the 21st century is to pursue a joint MA / MBA program from an accredited university.

One of many available joint degree programs, the MA / MBA option allows students to pursue a strong business education at the graduate level while expanding on their undergraduate education in any number of arts-related fields, including education, psychology, sociology, and many more.

Programs Depend on the Academic Institution

There are no set rules about which MA or MBA degrees can be combined together into a unified course of study. Most universities create their own joint programs based on their facilities, academic resources, and the nature of their programs. A school that is strong in both education and business, for example, might offer a way for students to combine a graduate education in both programs together for a joint MA / MBA degree. Other schools might offer programs to bring the MBA in line with psychology, sociology, or even legal studies programs at the graduate level.

For this reason, students need to be especially detail-oriented when looking for a joint degree program that works for their needs. While there are plenty of schools offering both online and offline MBA degrees to students across the country, it can be difficult to find the right school for an MA in a given field. It can be even harder to find a school that is strong in both areas of interest, forcing students to spend months researching their options and looking for an ideal curriculum that suits their needs.

Admission Requirements are Often a Bit More Stringent

Getting into graduate school is never easy, even for those students who simply want a degree in a single field. For those students looking to combine their studies into a joint degree program, the road map to success is even a bit more convoluted to follow. Generally, securing admission to an MA / MBA program requires all or most of the following procedures:

  • Graduate-level aptitude tests will have to be taken to satisfy both schools’ requirements upon admission, meaning candidates may have to take both the GMAT and GRE prior to applying for the program.
  • Students must gain admission to both the MA and MBA programs, sometimes separately, before they can pursue the joint degree process.
  • Many graduate schools require extra coursework for joint students, or encourage students to take summer classes or accelerated programs in order to complete the joint degree in a similar amount of time as a single degree in the field.

Complications Are Often Worthwhile for Today’s Students

Pursuing both an MBA and an MA in a given field allows students to race ahead of the pack when seeking a job in what remains a rather tough job market. Furthermore, it opens a whole host of career paths that wouldn’t otherwise be available to those with just an MBA or an MA after graduate. For this reason alone, the hurdles are worth overcoming.

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