Get Matched With MBA Programs

What Can You Do With an MBA in Connecticut


As you think about returning to school to earn your MBA, you have several factors to think about. Where will you go? How much financial aid will you need? Is a full-time MBA program on the table, or is a part-time MBA all you have time for?

The most important factor for you to muse over: What impact will your MBA have on your career? You want to rise within your profession, and possibly gain a promotion from your employer. That means the MBA program you choose will have to give you the educational foundation that leads to a higher salary. You also need a program that has an excellent return on investment.

Beyond thinking about the future after earning your MBA, you need to consider today. If you were in an MBA program today, how much time would you spend studying, taking tests, in class, and commuting? If you can’t realistically manage a full-time, in-residence program, then a part-time or even a virtual program would better fit your life. You might even want to look at accelerated graduate programs that will get you through your core content fast and let you move into your concentration quickly, whether that is focused on international business, health care administration, law or policy studies, project management, or just a general business MBA. There is an opportunity out there that will work as if it were designed with you in mind.

Your employer may want you to enter an MBA program and graduate—fast. If this is the case, a 12-month program will make you and your employer happy. If you have a career separate from business, such as engineering, then a program that is STEM-certified will allow you to remain in this field even as you move up in the ranks.

Compare Popular Online MBA Programs

Top 10 Best MBA Programs in Connecticut


1

Yale University

Score: 98.62

  • Graduate Tuition
    • In-State: $46,900
    • Out-of-State: $46,900
  • Net Price: $18,647
  • Acceptance Rate: 5%
  • Retention Rate: 98%
  • Graduation Rate: 98%
  • Total Enrollment: 14,776
  • Undergrad Students: 6,645
  • Graduate Students: 8,131
  • Grads Salary: $94,000
  • Student-to-faculty: 6:1
  • Yale University
2

University of Connecticut

Score: 78.14

  • Graduate Tuition
    • In-State: $18,174
    • Out-of-State: $40,086
  • Net Price: $23,985
  • Acceptance Rate: 55%
  • Retention Rate: 91%
  • Graduation Rate: 83%
  • Total Enrollment: 27,003
  • Undergrad Students: 18,983
  • Graduate Students: 8,020
  • Grads Salary: $78,000
  • Student-to-faculty: 16:1
  • University of Connecticut
3

University of Saint Joseph

Score: 74.85

  • Graduate Tuition
    • In-State: $14,850
    • Out-of-State: $14,850
  • Net Price: $25,860
  • Acceptance Rate: 75%
  • Retention Rate: 78%
  • Graduation Rate: 61%
  • Total Enrollment: 1,992
  • Undergrad Students: 831
  • Graduate Students: 1,161
  • Grads Salary: $84,000
  • Student-to-faculty: 8:1
  • University of Saint Joseph
4

Fairfield University

Score: 71.68

  • Graduate Tuition
    • In-State: $20,034
    • Out-of-State: $20,034
  • Net Price: $46,065
  • Acceptance Rate: 52%
  • Retention Rate: 91%
  • Graduation Rate: 84%
  • Total Enrollment: 6,019
  • Undergrad Students: 4,757
  • Graduate Students: 1,262
  • Grads Salary: $84,000
  • Student-to-faculty: 12:1
  • Fairfield University
5

Central Connecticut State University

Score: 70.39

  • Graduate Tuition
    • In-State: $8,058
    • Out-of-State: $20,756
  • Net Price: $17,088
  • Acceptance Rate: 77%
  • Retention Rate: 77%
  • Graduation Rate: 53%
  • Total Enrollment: 9,468
  • Undergrad Students: 7,665
  • Graduate Students: 1,803
  • Grads Salary: $74,000
  • Student-to-faculty: 14:1
  • Central Connecticut State University
6

Quinnipiac University

Score: 68.37

  • Graduate Tuition
    • In-State: $19,710
    • Out-of-State: $19,710
  • Net Price: $39,051
  • Acceptance Rate: 84%
  • Retention Rate: 88%
  • Graduation Rate: 77%
  • Total Enrollment: 8,788
  • Undergrad Students: 6,073
  • Graduate Students: 2,715
  • Grads Salary: $76,000
  • Student-to-faculty: 11:1
  • Quinnipiac University
7

Western Connecticut State University

Score: 67.99

  • Graduate Tuition
    • In-State: $8,058
    • Out-of-State: $20,756
  • Net Price: $15,862
  • Acceptance Rate: 84%
  • Retention Rate: 74%
  • Graduation Rate: 51%
  • Total Enrollment: 4,417
  • Undergrad Students: 3,799
  • Graduate Students: 618
  • Grads Salary: $67,000
  • Student-to-faculty: 11:1
  • Western Connecticut State University
8

Southern Connecticut State University

Score: 67.89

  • Graduate Tuition
    • In-State: $8,299
    • Out-of-State: $18,092
  • Net Price: $18,712
  • Acceptance Rate: 83%
  • Retention Rate: 73%
  • Graduation Rate: 53%
  • Total Enrollment: 8,889
  • Undergrad Students: 6,920
  • Graduate Students: 1,969
  • Grads Salary: $69,000
  • Student-to-faculty: 11:1
  • Southern Connecticut State University
9

University of Hartford

Score: 67.55

  • Graduate Tuition
    • In-State: $14,652
    • Out-of-State: $14,652
  • Net Price: $31,687
  • Acceptance Rate: 83%
  • Retention Rate: 74%
  • Graduation Rate: 57%
  • Total Enrollment: 5,732
  • Undergrad Students: 3,969
  • Graduate Students: 1,763
  • Grads Salary: $78,000
  • Student-to-faculty: 8:1
  • University of Hartford
10

Albertus Magnus College

Score: 65.77

  • Graduate Tuition
    • In-State: $22,176
    • Out-of-State: $22,176
  • Net Price: $27,469
  • Acceptance Rate: 80%
  • Retention Rate: 70%
  • Graduation Rate: 50%
  • Total Enrollment: 1,275
  • Undergrad Students: 987
  • Graduate Students: 288
  • Grads Salary: $80,000
  • Student-to-faculty: 15:1
  • Albertus Magnus College

Why Consider an Online MBA?


While an MBA program may be your biggest attraction to search for a program in Connecticut, don’t forget about its differing landscapes. Hilly forests, harbors, and even beaches are all a part of this state’s wonders. Villages, towns, and cities also feature village greens, with centuries-old houses surrounding them.

What else is drawing you to go to graduate school here? Maybe a program that consists of only 12 classes, for a total of 36 credit hours; if you particularly want to earn your MBA in 24 months or less, you are right to be looking to apply at Connecticut’s universities.

A program that offers a wide exposure to all of the skills and knowledge you’ll need as you move upward in your company may cause you and your employer to take a serious look.

Find Your Online MBA Program

If you like to examine rankings lists, you’ll find at least one Connecticut school featured. Publications, such as Princeton Review and the Hartford Business Journal, will give you guidance.

It’s no secret that the business world demands much of its managers and executives. In response, several of Connecticut’s best advanced MBA programs offer paths that will make it possible for you to jump-start your progress to a C-suite office. Business analytics is a field that is projected to grow by about 10% by 2026. This means that employers need to hire about 800,000 more MBA graduates.

A well-designed MBA program teaches you how to understand today’s markets and how they impact organizations like yours. You’ll also learn about complex concepts and how to dissect them.

Percentage of Students Enrolled By Distance Education


Typical MBA Concentrations


MBA programs based in Connecticut are similar to those offered in other states. Most of Connecticut’s flexible programs also give students access to concentrations that allow professionals to study one specialty that gives them the sort of specialized knowledge an MBA graduate needs in business. There are many options but one of the most popular in many states is business analytics. This is a discipline that companies across the country and across the globe find they need.

  • Business Analytics:
    Business analytics gives you the knowledge you need, no matter your company’s focus. You’ll review and analyze the full spectrum of business-specific data, then come to a conclusion about the results you uncover. This allows you and your managers to make the correct decisions.
  • Marketing:
    Digital marketing strategy is specific to marketing online. You’ll focus on digital analytics as you take courses in digital marketing. If you’re going to focus on marketing and you plan to be analyzing the data that results from your company’s marketing efforts, this concentration is ideal to help you master the necessary skills and find success.
  • Healthcare Management:
    If you’re going to be working in a healthcare setting as a manager or executive, then this concentration will provide the knowledge you need before you graduate. You’ll take many courses including healthcare economics, insurance, risk management, staff management, management of long-term healthcare organizations, and even a course in global healthcare systems.
  • Finance:
    In the finance concentration, you’ll learn to make fast, strategic decisions even as the market conditions are changing from minute to minute. This concentration is perfect for an asset valuation or portfolio management career. Your clients expect you to make the right, effective wealth management decisions to create high returns.
  • Supply Chain Management:
    If your future is in supply chain management, again, this is a quick-changing environment. You’ll learn how to spot complications in supply chain availability then develop the best solutions for fixing the problems in real time. This concentration is well-suited for MBA graduates in logistics, purchasing, transportation, operations, and supply chain management.

Accreditation in Connecticut


Any MBA program in Connecticut that receives an accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) already ranks in the top 5% of business schools worldwide. This tells you that these programs are of the highest quality. Business schools with AACSB accreditation have successfully passed a rigorous set of standards. Among the areas examined are students, academics, faculty, and research. With accreditation, you know a school’s program has been rated and judged to have the highest standards.

AACSB and ACBSP accredited programs are viewed by employers and businesses as being some of the best in the US and around the world. As you choose an AACSB-accredited program, know that, when you graduate, you’ll receive a more competitive salary.

If you are wondering why this accreditation is so important, the AACSB, which is a non-profit organization, focuses solely on advancing business and management education. They also make sure that anyone who attends these programs will benefit from the best, high-quality faculty and a curriculum that challenges you to expect more of yourself.

Even more important, once a college of business has received AACSB accreditation, they undergo reviews every five years. These are comprehensive continuous-improvement reviews. Accreditation is a resource you can use to find the best possible program.

Career and Job Outlook for MBA Graduates


Connecticut’s economic picture mirrors that of the United States. The unemployment rate, as of May 2021, was 8.1%. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the civilian labor force is growing.

In the business world, financial jobs are slowly increasing, as are positions in professional and business services.

Find Online MBA Schools

Top Employers in the State by Number of Employees


Company Industry Headquarters City Number of Employees
State & Local Government Government Connecticut 166,000+
Pratt & Whitney Aerospace East Hartford 8,000+
Hartford HealthCare HealthCare Hartford 30,000+
Eversource Energy Utilities Berlin 9,000+
Hartford Financial Insurance Hartford 6,800+

Average Degree Salary Ranges Potential


  • Earnings with Associates - $41,880
  • Earnings with Bachelors - $70,844
  • Earnings with MBA - $99,734

Careers for Connecticut MBA Grads


  • Director of Finance and Pricing:
    As the Director of Finance and Pricing, you’re responsible for providing all financial and revenue management leadership data over to the Business Unit Management Team. You’ll give corporate managers periodic updates on business unit performance, including key performance indicator analysis, cost/benefit analysis, pricing analysis, and other benchmarks. You may also assume a leadership role in counseling the Business Unit Vice President and management team on promotion, brand strategies, tactics, and pricing.
  • Director of Human Centered Care:
    As the Director of Human Centered Care in a healthcare corporation, you take the lead in developing new, innovative approaches to offering the highest level of care to patients. You’ll also lead the way in building teamwork and collaboration among team leaders and team members so outcomes are all positive. You’ll be expected to inspire and motivate by role modeling and coaching your healthcare team and to direct resources most effectively to create a positive impact on human experience.
  • Senior Financial Analyst:
    As a Senior Financial Analyst, your main responsibilities may have you creating end-of-month reports that are timely and accurate. This requires digging into all spending details and summarizing the drivers of all variances as compared to current year’s plan and prior reports. You’ll also prepare financial summaries to point out expense results. And you will establish collaborative relationships with internal partners (Central Finance, Accounting) and cost center owners.
  • Associate Director of Program Management:
    As the Associate Director of Program Management, you’ll assume responsibility for all processes of a company program. You’ll assist the program manager in meeting on-time delivery requirements, improving product quality, and driving cost reduction strategies. You’re also responsible for executing the development of programs, to include product reliability improvements and tests, and the on-time delivery of customer proposals.
  • Assistant Vice President or Associate Financial Advisor:
    As Assistant Vice President or Associate Financial Advisor, you have to build and maintain a business brand by carrying out your marketing plan, utilizing effective prospecting and sales skills, converting prospects, and assisting your current clients in meeting their life financial goals as you recommend appropriate investment plans and products.

    Collaborate with the marketing team and managing partners in annual business and marketing planning processes, helping to maintain the plan throughout the year and providing suggestions to help meet firm goals.

  • Finance Leadership Development Program:
    In this global rotational program, you’ll undergo training as a future Finance leader of the company that developed this program. You’ll be rotated through different financial roles within the company, beginning in the Global Corporate headquarters, located in Stamford, CT. You’ll gain global experience, build an in-depth understanding of the functions and businesses within the company, and enhance your financial skills. Once you complete this two-year program, you will be expected to join the company in a permanent Finance role in one of the company’s U.S. or international offices.

How to Choose & FAQ's


Before you begin applying to the schools you’re most interested in, you should gain an overall understanding of each school’s culture, academic program, mission, location, and the students. If a physical visit isn’t possible, go to off-campus events hosted in your community by the university. Try to connect with current MBA program students in the schools you’re interested in attending. You can do this through a social media site such as Facebook or Twitter or you can try reaching out through alumni networks.

By doing this, you’ll be able to determine if a particular school is a good fit or if you won’t be comfortable there. If you aren’t comfortable, you may not succeed as you could otherwise and you might want to skip these options. Figure out why you really want to return to school. This helps you to determine which opportunities to reach out for. Unless applying is free, you may want to limit your applications to your top three choices.

  • What are your long-term plans? Identifying these will help you to make any necessary changes—switching industries, growing into an executive position, or moving beyond your current work position. Knowing your goals, you’ll be able to match your studies with your preferred position types.

    You may need to find an MBA program with concentrations, so you can specialize in your chosen field.

  • Deeply explore each program’s credentials. You want to be sure that, for the money you will be putting into your education, you will be in a program that is recognized for excellence and accredited. Look for regional accreditations of the entire university, as well as AACSB accreditation of the business school.

    Visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website so you can find accreditation status on each program you’re considering.

    Search Programs Offering MBA Majors

  • Closely related to program credentials is determining the potential return on investment of the programs you’re interested in. Look at annual program cost and the time required to complete your MBA. Explore how much you’ll lose in wages if you have to leave your position or, at the least, reduce your weekly hours on the job.

    Next, think about a salary change after graduation. With an increase in pay, how long will you need to pay back tuition costs and make up for salary losses? Don’t forget hidden costs, such as gas, commuting, parking fees, and potentially a new computer.

  • It’s no longer a bad idea to return to your alma mater. With new technology, such as distance education and even e-readers, you’ll be able to gain access to new ideas that may not have been present when you gained your undergraduate degree.

    If you no longer live in the community where your old college is located, you may need to attend online. This will give you more access to new professors, learning materials, and students from different states, which will broaden your learning and exposure to new ideas. So, if your old university has everything you’re looking for, go ahead and request admission. You have little to lose and much to gain.

  • Talk to current MBA students in the schools you’re reviewing. It’s tough, going through an MBA program, continuing to work, and taking care of family issues. If you’re involved in your community, that’s an additional strain on your time.

    This is why MBA programs should have a strong support system that includes technical, academic, emotional, and career support. Even if you plan to take part in a university’s online program, you should still receive all of these forms of support—just as the students who attend in person receive. You’ll have a more successful outcome with all of these supports in place.

Search All Programs