Planning your degree or certificate

Recommended Course Sequencing and Tips

The following section provides guidelines and recommendations for crafting your MBA degree plan. We realize that you may have to create a different degree plan for yourself than what we typically recommend based on the number of credits you plan to take in a given term, class availability, and the term during which you begin (i.e., Fall, Spring, or Summer).

📆 General Planning Guidelines

The program is designed to be part-time.
Most students take between 4.0 - 6.0 credits in the Fall/Spring semesters, 1.0-2.0 credits in the Winterim terms, and 2.0 – 4.0 credits in the Summer terms. If you are working, we highly recommend that you stay within our recommended credit ranges per term.
Some students may have extra bandwidth to take more credits than we recommend. Students who take 9.0 or more credits are considered full-time student status.
The maximum time to degree is seven years from when your first MBA class was taken. Most students finish in 2.5-3 years, taking about one class at a time.
To qualify for Financial Aid, students must be enrolled in a minimum of 4.0 credits in the Fall/Spring semesters and 3.0 credits in the Summer term.

To learn more about degree and course requirements, refer to the FAQs in the Online Course Resources (OCR) page which contains helpful information about the MBA program.

⌚ How much time will I spend on a course per week? Time on Task Calculations

In a face-to-face course, credit hours are generally based on the hours per week the students spend in the classroom or lab, or “contact hours” with the students. A course that meets for three 50-minute periods per week during a full 15-week semester is considered 3 credit hours. But how do contact hours translate to the online environment, particularly when there are no synchronous meeting requirements?

To determine approximately how much time you can expect to spend on any given course, use the following formula:

Number of credits x 45 hours / Weeks of duration

For example, MBA 700 is 1.0 credit and runs for seven weeks.

1.0 x 45 / 7 = ~6.5 hours per week

A core course is 4.0 credits and runs for 14 weeks so the time on task for that course is between 12-13 hours per week.

Keep in mind this formula provides estimates to help students plan their schedules. Each student will spend a different amount of time on a course depending on a variety of factors including prior knowledge, reading and comprehension speed, and ability to grasp the concepts introduced in the course.

Core and Business Essentials Courses – What You Need to Know

💼 Business Essentials (MBA 708 & 709)

Business Essentials courses are required prior to taking Core Courses.

🧭 Defining your Plan for Success: The MBA Mindset (MBA 700)

Students typically take MBA 700 as their first MBA course alongside the Business Essentials courses.

✒️ Core Courses (MBA 701-705, 710)

Core Courses are intended to be taken in sequential order and one per semester. These are our recommendations for planning Core Courses in your schedule.

We highly recommend that students take one Core Course at a time. These courses are 14 weeks, 4.0 credits each, and require a high demand of time and rigor.
Begin with MBA 701, then move on to MBA 702 in the next semester, and so forth.
MBA 705 and MBA 710 are typically taken during the same term.
Core Courses are only available during Fall and Spring semesters.

Elective Courses – What You Need to Know

Use the Online Course Catalog to see which electives are offered during each term and to better understand the sequencing of your coursework. We recommend bookmarking the Online Course Catalog as this will be your reference tool each time you register for courses.

❄️ Winterim Electives

Winterim courses are held in January and are three weeks long. We recommend you take only one elective course during Winterim. The workload can be more intense since the course is very condensed.

🏥 Healthcare Management Electives and Emphasis

For more information on the healthcare elective offerings and the Healthcare Management Emphasis, please refer to the 36-Credit MBA in Healthcare Management tab on the UW MBA Consortium website.