The Wharton School of Business is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, which is a private Ivy League university located in Philadelphia. Their alumnus boasts of well known business chieftains, entrepreneurs, professionals, politicians and high distinguished people in senior management roles across corporations worldwide. The MBA program offered by the school is very well known and considered one of the best programs globally. The program offers over 200 electives, an international robust alumni network, and best in class faculty, access to the best research and knowledge centers.

In 2012, the MBA program has been completely redesigned with focus on flexibility and rigor offering students a wide array of majors and electives to choose from and focus on developing one key area of expertise.

The course curriculum consists of the fixed core, flexible core and the elective courses. Additionally, there are extracurricular activities that are offered beyond just the studies. The first year course focuses on imparting the basic foundation needed to develop unique skills and covers the complete gamut of organizational functions. In short the topics covered are on values of leadership, marketing, operations management, teamwork, economics, micro-economics, managerial economics and statistics. This cross-functional course structure is designed to give the students a solid foundation in the world of business.

The flexible core courses span across wide area of specific interests and are flexible depending upon the student’s learning style, format preferred and timing. The topics include operations, marketing, communication, accounting, corporate finance, macroeconomics, management, Legal studies & business ethics.

The next part consists of selecting your individual expertise or major subject area across 18 categories. Students can also design their own unique major. The objective is to focus on few business areas. Subjects include accounting, healthcare management, insurance and risk management, entrepreneurship management, organizational effectiveness etc.

Electives consist of course topics that interest the student and one can access all the ten leading schools and institutions to undertake an elective of their choice affiliated to the Penn University. One of the key differentiations of the Wharton MBA is the option of doing a dual degree program from other affiliated leading institutions across categories like healthcare, engineering, design, medicine, law, social work etc.

Financing the MBA Program

The program is funded by student’s personal contributions, educational loans, Wharton fellowships and other external scholarships.

Wharton offers numerous fellowships, courtesy of corporate donors, individual benefactors etc. Some of the prominent ones include the following:

Joseph Wharton Fellowship is in honor of the founder of the school and is awarded to students who have displayed meritorious academic, professional or personal achievements.

Howard E. Mitchell Fellowships-Under this fellowship, full tuition is offered to students who hail from under-represented backgrounds. Students not only get the fees award, they also get a chance to participate in leadership programs to further their prospects.

Emerging Economy Fellowships-These fellowships are offered to those students who hail from emerging economies from across the globe.

Forté Fellowships-Remarkable female students who display leadership in either community, academic, team or creative leadership are awarded this fellowship.

Social Impact Fellowships – Students who display leadership in public or non-profit sectors are recognized by these fellowships.

Corporate and Foundation Fellowships-Prominent companies and foundations support the school’s outstanding students with grants and fellowships. Some of the companies include behemoths like Ford Motor Company Fund, Bank of America Foundation etc.

There are external funding options available through various associations supporting causes, interests of people from their country of residence etc.

This prestigious MBA program is recognized across corporations globally as one of the most integrated programs.