The W. P. Carey MBA – Evening Program offers optional areas of emphasis for students seeking to take the majority of their elective courses in one area of study. Each option provides an opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge of a particular area of interest of interest and allows students the ability to customize their MBA experience. Areas of emphasis are available in Entrepreneurship, Finance, Health Sector Management, International Management, Supply Chain Management, Leadership or Marketing and require nine credit hours of associated elective classes. Alternatively, students may select to take their electives across multiple areas in order to develop a diverse plan of study customized to their own interests and career goals.

Entrepreneurship/Small Business
For individuals seeking to start a business or grow an existing small business, the area of emphasis in entrepreneurship/small business provides in-depth knowledge of the financial implications of small business and the creative thinking skills necessary to develop a successful business plan. The area of emphasis includes one required course and two other elective courses.

Finance
Students pursuing a quantitative career in the financial services industry or corporate finance will benefit from the breadth of material available in the area of emphasis in finance. The curriculum is designed to build analytical skills, promote understanding of financial modeling and analysis of the financial implications of business decisions. Completion of managerial finance, a core curriculum course, is required as a prerequisite, to be followed up by a required course in investment fundamentals and portfolio management. Additional electives may be selected to highlight mergers and acquisitions, international finance or taxes and business strategy.

Health Sector Management
For professionals currently working in a health related field or wishing to enter this burgeoning industry, the area of emphasis in health sector management provides for an overview of several functional areas and their specific application to the healthcare field. A required course in health care organizations is available during the summer in a seven week format providing ease of elective scheduling. Additional electives, scheduled primarily on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, are taken alongside students in the Master of Health Sector Management degree program. Other elective course selections may include information management, strategic management, economics and finance for the health sector. Alternative courses in epidemiology, jurisprudence, clinical trials and health policy may also be available.

International Business
For individuals seeking to broaden their knowledge base to an international arena, the area of emphasis in international business incorporates a number of off-site electives at international locations and in conjunction with partner universities. Offered during break times and summer, these off-site opportunities include travel to an international location and course work before and after the trip. Additional elective courses are available for students unable to travel. These courses include global issues in marketing, supply chain management, logistics or finance. Cross cultural management and a survey course in international business are also available. Additional program fees and travel costs are required for off-site international electives.

Marketing
The area of emphasis in marketing provides a number of elective course opportunities which build upon the core business course in marketing management. Students can select from advanced marketing strategy, business-to-business marketing, customer relationship management and measurement, new product development, and pricing or sports marketing to develop a customized group of elective courses that align with their career interests in the marketing field.

Leadership
The courses included in the Leadership area of emphasis address the functions of effective leadership in today's competitive market. Leadership qualities are among the most sought after attributes for today's hiring managers.  Students can select from courses which explore complex issues facing leaders including negotiation, emotional intelligence and organizational change.

Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management integrates global information and processes across all functions including supply management, operations and logistics—for both internal and external partners.  The ability to understand how the pieces integrate into the whole defines the Supply Chain Management area of emphasis.  Students will select from courses in areas such as supply chain cost and design, logistics, integrated supply chain management and project management.

Students of the W. P. Carey MBA – Evening Program also have the opportunity to pursue a technical certificate from the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering. Each option is specially designed for students in a technical profession who want to earn the advanced business education of an MBA while complementing their technical proficiencies. The Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering requires each student to possess a Bachelor of Science degree, preferably in Engineering or Mathematics, with a sequence of calculus or statistical courses. Technical certificates are available in Software Engineering, Systems Engineering or Six Sigma Black Belt and require fifteen credit hours, or five elective courses, to complete.  A supplemental application for some certificates must be completed after admission to the MBA program, but prior to the start of classes.

Software Engineering Certification
Students pursuing the Software Engineering Certification will learn the Software Engineering Institute standards to satisfy end-user functionality meet performance needs and address lifetime costs. This certification program offers five online courses using the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering’s streaming video delivery system, including the capstone experience, to demonstrate the expertise of the students. The focus of this certification is not at the programming level, rather at the managerial level of how to successfully develop new software systems.

Systems Engineering Certification
Through completion of the Systems Engineering Certification, students will understand how to define customer needs early in the development cycle; document requirements and proceed with design synthesis and system validation, while considering the complete problem. This specialized certificate consists of four online courses and a capstone experience offered by the department of industrial engineering at the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering.

Six Sigma Black Belt Certificate
Throughout four required online courses and a capstone experience, students will learn how to define, measure, analyze, improve and control processes for greater resource optimization. Upon completion, students earn the Six Sigma – Black Belt Graduate Certificate in Applied Statistics championed by the Applied Statistics Committee at Arizona State University.

MBA/MEng Concurrent Degree

Students of the W. P. Carey – Evening Program can further expand their technical proficiency through a concurrent degree in conjunction with the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering.  The Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Engineering (MEng) in Engineering concurrent degree incorporates a specialization in one of four areas: Systems Engineering, Quality & Reliability Engineering, Software Engineering, and Embedded Systems Engineering.  Please note that the MBA/MEng concurrent degree is an option over and above the four technical certificates also offered through the Evening Program. 

Students who desire to pursue the concurrent degree should decide so during the application process. This allows the student to earn two degrees in a shorter period of time and at lower cost than if the two degrees were pursued separately.  If the degrees were pursued separately, it would require 78 credit hours total.   If taken concurrently with any of the MEng specializations, it only requires 60 credit hours of study.  Since 48 credit hours are required to complete the MBA and 3 additional credit hours are required to complete the technical certificate, students only need to complete 9 additional credit hours to earn the MEng.  Students may complete the 9 additional credit hours (3 classes) any time after they graduate from the MBA program.  Most complete these classes the following summer or fall semester.  The additional cost of 9 credit hours is approximately $6,500.

When submitting the online application to the concurrent degree, select Dual Degree - W. P. Carey MBA/MENG.  Be sure to address both programs of study in all required essays; each program reviews the complete file to determine admission.

Students must meet the admission requirements of the W. P. Carey MBA program and the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering MEng in Engineering program.  The MEng program requires the student to posses a bachelor of science degree (preferably in engineering or mathematics) and relevant work experience.  Further information on admission requirements for the MEng program can be found online or by calling 480-965-1878.  Acceptance to the MBA program does not guarantee acceptance to the MEng in Engineering program.

Some elective courses may require an additional application process or prerequisite course. Additional costs for elective courses may be incurred in the form of tuition, fees, books and travel costs. Elective courses may be subject to capacity constraints or limitations due to scheduling within an academic year.