UMKC will offer a one-year MBA program with free tuition

The University of Missouri-Kansas City will launch a fast-track, one-year MBA program in fall 2015 that offers a financial kickstarter — free tuition.

The Master of Business Administration program at UMKC’s Henry W. Bloch School of Management is aimed at helping “high-potential young adults” accelerate their careers through intensive coursework that blends teaching in innovation, entrepreneurship and classic business training, the university said.

The Bloch school will join about 20 schools around the country to offer one-year MBA programs that are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Other universities with similar programs include Northwestern, Cornell and Emory.

Students applying to the Bloch school’s intensive full-time MBA program must have a bachelor’s degree, a minimum of two years’ experience in a for-profit business and a minimum score of 650 on the Graduate Management Admission Test. According to UMKC, only about 20 percent of all students taking the GMAT score 650 or higher.

Students will be required to complete 42 hours of coursework during the year — 26 credit hours in the first semester and 16 in the second. An eight-week paid internship is required in the second semester along with a three-week experience abroad.

Applicants will be accepted online beginning Dec. 1, and the school hopes to enroll 30 to 40 students the first year.

Admitted students will receive scholarships in each of the first two years of the program to cover full tuition, thanks to funding from the Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation.

UMKC said the estimated tuition for the program is $50,000, meaning for an incoming class size of 30 to 40 students, the Bloch foundation would be contributing $1.5 million to $2 million.

“We want to continue to be recognized as an outstanding school of business, so we need to grow and add new programs that will benefit the Kansas City business community,” said Henry Bloch, the co-founder of Kansas City-based H&R Block Inc., a longtime supporter of the Bloch school and chairman and director of the family foundation providing the scholarships.

Dustin Cornwell, director of MBA programs at the Bloch school, said the curriculum in the one-year program should provide students with a strong foundation in business, communication and leadership skills.

He said the school is seeking to partner with area companies on internships, guest lectures and other student programs and events.

The university will continue to offer traditional part-time professional MBA and executive MBA programs.

This story was originally published November 18, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "UMKC will offer a one-year MBA program with free tuition."