CU Executive MBA Class Profile

Average age: 38 years

Average work experience: 16 years

Masters degree or above: 17%

CU Executive MBA Class Profile (pt.2)

Undergraduate Degree:

36% technical/engineering

33% liberal arts

31% business

National Recognition

The University of Colorado has a national reputation for excellence and is the largest university in the Rocky Mountain region.

National Recognition (pt.2)

The program is offered by CU's three business schools, which are ranked among the nation's top 20 percent. All three schools have earned AACSB accreditation – the most rigorous available.

Alumni Network

Executive MBA graduates belong to a special alumni group that sponsors continuing education and social programs.

Alumni Network (pt.2)

The Executive MBA alumni network provides an invaluable group of advisors and contacts throughout your career.

Executive-Level Service and Convenience

Program staff handle all the details so you can focus on academics. Downtown Denver classroom facilities resemble a technologically advanced boardroom.

Executive-Level Service and Convenience (pt.2)

You can complete the Executive MBA in less than two years. Class schedules minimize work disruption by meeting one full day a week, on alternating Fridays and Saturdays.

International Component

CU's Executive MBA Program recognizes the imperative of global business understanding by integrating global ceconomy issues throughout the second-year curriculum

International Component (pt.2)

Because there is no substitute for first-hand experience, the program also includes a nine-day educational trip to an international business center

Sponsorship Cost Data

Paid by participant's organization: 45%

Shared by participant and the organization: 30%

Paid by participant: 25%

Home > Why > Rankings and Strengths

CU's Rankings and Strengths

The Executive MBA Program is a multi-campus program offered jointly by CU's three graduate schools of business: Colorado Springs, Denver, and the Leeds School of Business in Boulder. Each campus's Graduate School of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International.

CU's AACSB accreditation places it in the top 20 percent of MBA programs nationwide.
U.S. News & World Report in its 2012 edition of Best Graduate Schools (U.S. News Media Group), ranked the CU Boulder Leeds School of Business #36 in the nation for part-time MBA Schools, and the Leeds School of Business ranked #69 overall in the nation. In the 2012 edition, the University of Colorado Denver business school ranked 93 in the nation for its part-time MBA program.
The Leeds School of Business MBA entrepreneurship program was ranked in the top 20 in 2007–08 by The Aspen Institute and Entrepreneur magazine's Beyond Grey Pinstripes issue.
U.S. News & World Report ranked CU-Boulder 35th among the nation's top 50 public national universities offering doctoral programs out of a total of 162 in its 2008 America's Best Colleges issue. The rankings were based on factors such as academic reputation, student retention, faculty resources, alumni giving, graduation rate and admissions selectivity.
The Leeds School of Business Deming Center for Entrepreneurship was ranked 16th overall among public universities offering doctoral programs by U.S. News & World Report in 2008. For the last decade, the entrepreneurship center has been consistently ranked for the excellence of its programs and outreach.
CU-Boulder was ranked number one in doctoral entrepreneurship education by the International Council for Small Business.
The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) distance MBA program ranked in the top 25 for online graduate business programs in the country (U.S. News & World Report online).
UCCS is one of the top public universities in the Western United States, according to the editors of U.S. News & World Report.
In the 2007 America’s Best Colleges edition, U.S. News & World Report ranked UCCS 7th among top public western universities offering mostly master’s and bachelor’s degrees.
In both the 2006 and 2007 editions, UCCS ranked in the top tier of all public and private masters universities in the West. Masters universities provide a full range of undergraduate and masters degree programs.
In rankings released in early 2007 by the National Science Foundation (NSF) on federal and non-federal research expenditures, the University of Colorado and its three-university system maintained its position in the top 10 percent of universities in the United States. The University of Colorado has maintained its top 10 ranking for more than five years. The university system is ranked 14th for total federal and non-federally funded research and development expenditures. Among public universities, CU is ranked 6th in federally financed research expenditures.

Strengths

Recognized as the leading university in the Rocky Mountain region.
Approximately 46,000 students on four campuses.
CU is one of only 34 public universities invited to join the prestigious Association of American Universities.

You're learning all of these things; your perspective is changing; your knowledge base is deepening; there's just no way around the fact that you're going to be a more robust asset.

— Lynnette Stephens

COO, Major Medical Supply

Executive MBA Class of 2009

This has given me a much broader understanding of finance, the way that we set water rates, why we issue bonds at certain times based on market conditions and the economy, and given just a much better overall perspective of what it means to be a leader in this field.

— Brian Good

Director of Operations, Denver Water

Executive MBA Class of 2009

There is no other class on campus that these instructors would rather teach than the EMBA program, and they actually compete to be able to teach this program. They know their topic, and they are able to teach it with such a degree of energy and excitement that really gets you engaged.

— Bob Sztukowski

Executive MBA Student

I literally in class would pull up my business' QuickBooks accounting system ... so I was applying it instantaneously.

— Cindy Brown

CEO, Blue Moon Works

Executive MBA Class of 2005

I will, from personal experience, tell you that it's one of the best things that you can do not only personally but career wise. You'll come out of this with more options than you ever imagined.

— A.J. Workman

VP Sales, Blue Moon Works

Executive MBA Class of 2005

Between the group settings and the interactions in class, it is very common that students will tell you they are learning a tremendous amount from other students in the class … we're structuring the program trying to get that interaction.

— Richard L. Wobbekind

Associate Dean, MBA and Executive Programs

Professor of Finance

The small study group experience provided me an opportunity to explore and appreciate diversity in a collaborative environment. As the Director of Space Systems Program Operations, I implemented this model in a corporate structure when building the operations team to oversee and improve space sensor production performance. The result was a highly creative, effective team and a reduction in overall cycle time and workmanship defects.

— Laryssa Densmore

Director of Space Systems Program Operations, Raytheon Company

EMBA Class of 2000

On entering the program I knew that I would gain great value from the financial analysis and accounting classes. One big surprise though was the great practical benefits I obtained from other courses. Halfway through this class, I basically recovered the financial investment in the program by applying a few key marketing principles at my company.

— Everod (Eveready) Samuel

President, Samuel Engineering Inc.

Executive MBA Class of 2002

The CU Executive MBA program was a lot more rigorous, fulfilling, and rich in content than a traditional MBA. There was just no comparison. All of my classmates were intent on getting their education, developing professionally, and opening up new opportunities. After completing the program I took advantage of CU’s dual-degree option to complete a second master’s degree in finance. With the Executive MBA as my core, I was largely able to design my own program.

—Derek Figueroa

Chief Financial Officer, Seattle Fish Company, Denver, Colorado

The most valuable aspect of the program was the confidence it gave me in the leadership of my division. It was great to work with and learn from professors who are active in the 'real world' and well respected across the world.

— Tina J. Valdez

International Chief Information Officer, Vice President Hosted Technology, TeleTech