Core Curriculum
As an EMBA student, you will earn the 60 credits required for graduation over a period of 20 months, taking 12 credits during each of five terms. Columbia Business School’s core curriculum, a series of focused, rigorous and relevant courses taken largely during the first two terms, makes up a large portion of the EMBA academic experience. Taught mainly by full-time faculty members, the core is designed to give you fluency in the academic disciplines and applied functional areas.
In the fall of 2008, Columbia Business School launched a revised core curriculum that provides students with the same strong foundation of core business skills while giving them the opportunity to take one additional elective in the third term.
Year 1: A Solid Foundation
The first year of the EMBA Program, like that of the traditional MBA format, focuses on key business skills through the following core courses:
- Financial Accounting
- Performance Measurement
- Corporate Finance
- Decision Models
- Managerial Economics
- Macro Economics
- Organizational Change and Leadership
- Marketing
- Operations Management and Operations Strategy
- Managerial Statistics
- Strategy
- Markets requirement course
Year 2: Developing More Focused Skills
Year 2 adopts an executive education approach that is pragmatic and application-based, with a more flexible format. You are able to choose from a wide array of electives and are also able to participate in elective block weeks, which bring students from Columbia’s two other EMBA programs, Berkeley-Columbia Executive MBA and EMBA-Global, together for an intensive, cross-cultural learning experience. In terms 4 or 5, you are also strongly encouraged to participate in an International Seminar.
