School News

UVA Darden DC Metro in the Rosslyn district of Arlington, Virginia

Darden Launches Part-Time MBA Format for Working Professionals

Darden unveiled a new, flexible format of its MBA this summer. Based at UVA Darden DC Metro in the Rosslyn district of Arlington, Virginia, the Part-Time MBA is designed for working professionals, and the first class will begin in late summer 2022.

The program will be delivered through a combination of in-person and virtual classes. Students are expected to remain employed while completing the program, making it an attractive option for professionals based in the Washington, D.C., metro area or nearby. The School believes the Part-Time MBA may attract candidates who are earlier in their careers than many students in the School’s Executive MBA program.

In the Part-Time MBA, all students will complete a required core curriculum as part of a cohort. After that, students will customize their own experiences via Darden electives. The program offers students the opportunity to speed up or slow down their course of study as their lives and schedules demand. The program can be completed in as few as 28 months or may take up to 48 months total. The most common path is likely to take 33 months. Courses will be offered primarily on weekday evenings.

“The new Part-Time MBA format grew out of a desire to offer another option for students in the D.C. area to pursue the Darden MBA,” said Dean Scott Beardsley. “This format promises the transformational education experience of one of the world’s top business schools, led by the world’s top faculty, but in a format with maximum flexibility to allow professionals to keep advancing their careers, thereby enhancing accessibility.”

Top 10

MBA Rankings

In The Princeton Review’s Best Business Schools 2022 ranking, Darden was ranked among the Top 10 in 11 of the ranking’s categories — achieving more Top 10s than any other school. Darden was named No. 1 for Best Professors for the fifth consecutive year, No. 2 for Best MBA for Management, No. 3 for Best Classroom Experience and No. 5 for Best Career Prospects. The Princeton Review does not issue an overall program ranking. In Bloomberg Businessweek’s Best B-Schools 2021–22 ranking of full-time MBA programs, Darden placed No. 9 in the United States and No. 2 among programs at public universities. Darden was ranked in the Top 15 in the categories of Compensation, Learning and Networking.