4:39 p.m., May 16, 2007--University employees who want to earn a master of business administration degree on a fast-paced schedule now have the opportunity to do so with the help of a new scholarship opportunity.

The Executive MBA, an accelerated degree program for experienced working professionals, will offer two scholarship opportunities to qualified UD employees

The scholarships will cover 75 percent of the total program fee, representing significant savings to the student compared with the currently available partial tuition waivers. To be considered for a scholarship, an applicant must be a senior-level University employee with at least 10 years of professional experience and meet all other requirements for admission to the Executive MBA program. Generally, successful candidates will have at least three to five years of their professional experience at UD.

Except for a one-week residential session at the beginning of the program and a required study-abroad trip during the final semester, Executive MBA students attend classes entirely on weekends and complete the program in 19 months. Classes meet at Arsht Hall on the Wilmington Campus from 4-9 p.m., Fridays, and from 7:45 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays, with generous breaks between the five nine-week semesters.

The fast-paced, weekend format was designed to meet the needs of busy managers who are unable to pursue a graduate degree full time or to take night classes for four years, according to Gloria Diodato, assistant dean for graduate and executive programs in the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics. The schedule is structured to give students maximum flexibility to work around their business and travel schedules and their growing career responsibilities, she said.

The deadline to apply for an employee scholarship for the next Executive MBA class is July 15. The weeklong residency at the University's Virden Center in Lewes will begin Sunday, Aug. 19, and the class will complete its studies in March 2009.

Executive MBA students enter the program as a cohort, with no more than 35 members, and stay together as a group throughout the 19 months of classes. Organizers say the varied professional backgrounds of students enable them to learn from one another as well as from the faculty.

“One reason we wanted to offer this scholarship opportunity to UD employees is because they will bring additional diversity to the program and make it more robust,” Diodato said. “A professional working in a nonprofit, academic institution will have a very different perspective to share with the other students, who tend to work in corporate positions.”

In turn, she said, the employees will bring their enhanced business knowledge from the program back to their jobs, assisting the University as well as their own careers. As an example, Diodato said, senior-level employees whose jobs require them to deal with budgets and other business matters but who lack an academic background in business might find an MBA especially useful.

Scholarship recipients will be responsible for paying 25 percent of the total Executive MBA fees. Based on the 2006-07 program fee of $51,500, a scholarship recipient would pay $12,875--with a portion due each semester during the 19 months--while the scholarship would cover the remaining $38,625. The total fee includes books, weekend meals at Arsht Hall and the international trip.

The program fee for the Class of 2009 will be determined in July but is expected to increase no more than 5 percent.

In addition to having 10 years of professional experience, employees seeking scholarships must hold positions in which they manage people or projects and have significant authority for decision-making. They also must obtain the recommendation of the dean, vice president or vice provost of their unit. Taking the Graduate Management Admission Test is optional.

For more information about the Executive MBA program and the scholarship opportunities, contact Denise Waters, director of recruitment and admission, at [watersd@lerner.udel.edu] or visit the program's web site, [www.EMBA.udel.edu], where an online admissions application is available.

Diodato said the University expects to continue offering the scholarship opportunities, with up to two available for each new Executive MBA class. The Class of 2009 will begin the program in August 2007.