Johns Hopkins Carey Business School full-time MBA achieves STEM designation

Editor’s note: This story, initially published in January 2023, has since been updated to reflect Johns Hopkins Carey Business School as one of the first 10 business schools in the country to claim a STEM designation for its entire MBA program.

Just three years after reimagining the full-time MBA, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School is officially one of the first 10 American business schools to claim a STEM designation for its entire program. 

The distinction holds particular value for international students. In general, eligible students and graduates can apply to spend up to 12 months employed by an American company as part of a program called Optional Practical Training, overseen by the U.S. federal government. But with a STEM-designated MBA, students and recent graduates may be eligible for an extension on that OPT authorization, for up to 36 months instead of 12.  

Domestic students may find a STEM designation advantageous as well, since a STEM-designated MBA prepares them for leadership in fields that benefit from advanced knowledge of elements like business analytics, digital marketing, and others. 

“A STEM-designated full-time MBA is one more way that we offer our students the innovative Carey advantage,” said Alex J. Triantis, dean of Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. “It’s part of a list of forward-thinking ways we design programs to give our students and alumni an edge. It lets them advance their careers and their leadership in the increasingly collaborative business world.” 

While some business schools claim STEM designation in elements of their MBA program, in order for an entire MBA program to be STEM-designated, more than 50 percent of its courses must meet criteria for STEM designation. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  

Carey offers two pathways in its MBA program: one for Analytics, Leadership, and Innovation; and one for Health, Technology, and Innovation. Because both pathways in the full-time program share required STEM courses, both pathways are STEM-designated. 

The designation also applies for Carey Business School’s dual-degree students who are pairing the full-time MBA with another graduate degree. Carey offers a Master of Public Health/MBA with the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Both of these programs are now STEM-designated. Carey also offers an MD/MBA with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; an MBA/MA in International Relations with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; and a JD/MBA with the University of Maryland Carey School of Law. In these dual-degree programs, only the MBA degrees are STEM-designated. 

STEM education typically takes a cross-disciplinary approach to teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Johns Hopkins Carey Business School prizes innovation as a signature of its educational and research experiences. That’s what makes this MBA designation a powerful advantage. 

“The Carey STEM-designated MBA is a testament to our focus and superior skills in skills, data analytics, innovation, and business fundamentals, making our students more valuable in the current competitive market,” said Full-time MBA Program Director Stacey Lee. 

Carey Business School’s full-time MBA STEM designation comes just weeks after the school announced that the program’s 2022 graduates landed base salaries 25 percent higher than those in 2021, and saw signing bonuses 29 percent above the previous year’s mark. In November, the Forté Foundation listed Carey a leading school in gender parity for its program, with 52 percent of its enrolled students identifying as women. It was the third year in a row that the program achieved gender parity.  

Over the three years since the program was reimagined, 94 percent of all graduates had full-time jobs within 90 days of graduation. Their average starting salaries have climbed 32 percent since 2020. Three years post-MBA, Carey graduates have doubled their pre-MBA salaries. Five years out, their salaries are nearly four times higher than they were before earning their MBA.