Masters Quesion

[quaker2011]

I've been wondering recently, what Masters degree are you awarded (if any) if you do not complete a PhD program in business. It's not too uncommon for students to start a program and not finish after a few years, so I was wondering if you start a PhD in business what degree do they give you if for whatever reason you find you cannot finish after a year or two? Do you get an MA in Econ like an econ PhD program?

[walt526]

No, I don't believe that you are awarded a degree like you are in Economics.

The Masters-level degrees offered by business schools require fairly specialized coursework: MBA, MFE, etc. These are completely different courses than what a PhD-track student would take. Something like a MAE (Masters Applied Economics) would come closest, but I'm not aware of any top level business schools that offer it.

Depending on the situation, it may be possible to transfer to a Masters-program if you decide to leave the PhD, but more likely than not you will be starting nearly from scratch with coursework. And you will unlikely receive any sort of funding.

[zshfryoh1]

Most B-schools will give you a masters degree if you complete your first two years and pass your prelims, same as in econ. I know for a fact that at least one top 10 US B-school gives an MPhil, and I have been told that most others give an MA or MPhil too. Most PhD granting econ departments in the US don't offer a terminal masters degree but still give it to students who pass the first two years of the program and the same goes for B-school programs.

[possible_phd]

I've seen plenty of PhD grads from top schools pick up MAs along the way.

[taxPhD]

I know Washington-Seattle awards a Masters of Science in Business Administration (MSBA) to all PhD students upon completion of their two years and comps.

About the Program - Ph.D Program - Michael G. Foster School of Business - University of Washington, Seattle

[NewBoston]

Depending on how you swing it, you can often get at least one masters degree en route to a PhD. Say you are doing a PhD in Finance, you are often asked to pick up minor areas in Economics and something quantitative (say math or stats.) If you take the same courses as the people in the minor area (say, normal PhD level Econ and not Bus. Econ) you can often fulfill the requirements with only a few extra classes. Thus, even if your program is not as awesome as UW-Seattle () and there is not business masters to pick up, you can still pick up something interesting in a minor area. Chicago has students without a masters degree pick up a MBA along the way (although this is somewhat rare in other programs.) Alternatively, you can take a Pokemon approach and try to 'catch them all' so to speak.

[possible_phd]

Well, the MBA along the way requires a lot more coursework AND the students have to pay for it.

[quaker2011]

I've known people to start PhD programs (Business and others) who go on to pickup an MBA at the same school (top 10 MBA programs too) with full funding. Then again this was 20-30 years ago so things are probably different now. Thanks for the answers.

[possible_phd]

Really? Where? The only school I can think of who allow for the MBA along the way option is Chicago, and they clearly say you need to pay for it. It's like getting a JD in addition to a PhD or something -- it's outside of what the PhD would require, so it isn't covered by your funding.

[quaker2011]

This was at Wharton, HBS, and a few other places. The PhDs were in business, CS, policy, and other subjects. As I said, it was 20+ years ago for these guys and times have changed a lot in MBA admission, the cost of school, and funding.