Forbes Magazine Highlights Success of One-Year MBA Program From: University Currents Date: February 4, 2000 By: Carey Hoffman The short and sweet story is UC's one-year MBA program is one of the best values in the nation. That was the conclusion Forbes Magazine reached in its Feb. 7 edition, which evaluated MBA programs nationally by comparing the cost of obtaining an MBA to the rewards. The main study compared only two-year MBA programs, but a sidebar entitled "Short and Sweet" looked at the increasingly popular option of one-year MBAs. UC's College of Business Administration switched to only offering full-time students a one-year MBA in 1995. "The economics of a one-year program can be compelling," wrote Forbes. "Our survey of Cincinnati's first graduating class shows that typical graduates from 1995 repaid their cost of going to school in just 2.6 years and doubled their pre-MBA salary four years later. In contrast, the median payback period for the two-year schools we surveyed was 4.1 years." Forbes constructed its study around data collected from 1994 MBA graduates at universities nationwide. UC was not included on that list because of the switch-over in 1995 to a one-year program. So Forbes contacted UC and arranged to survey the 1995 class. Colleen Leonard, now the brand manager for Procter & Gamble's Secret deodorant, was one of those surveyed. "I almost doubled my salary," said Leonard, who had worked in sales for Black and Decker in Chicago prior to enrolling in UC's MBA program. "I thought getting an MBA would help. I was making a career change, from sales to marketing, and I didn't think that a one-year program was going to be much different than a two-year program." For most of UC's MBA students, it's not, adds Julie Dixon, another member of that first MBA class in 1995 and the person who oversees admissions into the MBA program as assistant director for CBA's graduate programs. The one-year option is most appealing to those already in the workforce because it is more practical, Dixon said. "The major difference is a two-year program has an internship between the first and second years. When you've already been employed, it's not that big a factor. The vast majority of our students are from the working world. They average 4.5 years of professional experience," she said. A two-year commitment -- and the extra tuition involved - is impossible for many of those students. The one-year program is more intense, demanding 15-18 hours of credit a quarter, which can be another benefit to students, Dixon said. "The additional skills they come out of here with are they become very efficient, are able to multi-task and have to be very organized," she said. "When you get used to working 60- 70 hours a week in school, it's easier to make a transition back into the workplace. But I think from a curriculum standpoint things are not much different, except you are getting more courses at one time." "I think it's a well-rounded program and really practical," added Leonard. "The things I learned were really applicable right away when I got out. And I don't feel short-changed I work with lots of MBAs from other schools and I've never felt like they were any better prepared than I was."