Wayne State University - Mike Ilitch School of Business

Asked why they chose the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State, most MBAs cite the affordability and convenience of the program. The school offers classes at its 203-acre main campus in Midtown Detroit, the Oakland Center in Farmington Hills and online; students extol these “convenient campus locations to choose from” and appreciate that “every MBA course can be taken at your choice of the two campuses or online.” Evening classes and “a very flexible online class schedule” further help to facilitate the busy schedules of WSU MBAs, the great majority of whom work full-time while pursuing their degrees.

A “good finance” program and a strong local alumni network are among the other assets cited by students here. MBAs also point out that “WSU is an urban research-centered school,” so “if you were interested in being a researcher, there are some great opportunities here.” The downtown campus is “set in an urban environment” that “helps students get an education above and beyond classroom lectures,” and because some adjunct “professors who teach the MBA classes work for local companies,” participation in the program “is great for networking,” not only with instructors but also with working classmates. Professors, students tell us, “have a nice mix of textbook-to-real world experience and knowledge… many published works and a few were either a CEO or high-ranking executive at a successful company. They challenge us to become better students but make themselves available to assist us in accomplishing our goals.”

On the downside, some instructors have not yet figured out how to maximize the online course format even as it grows more popular with students. “Though some professors structure their in-class and online courses very, very well, this is not the norm at this school,” one student explains. In many cases, “all we get are three to four-hour lectures, a talking head, and PowerPoint. The professors generally record their in-class lectures so we can’t hear the students’ questions,” which students describe as “very annoying. It makes it hard to stay interested and focused.” Some here also feel that the curriculum could use some revamping to place “more emphasis on core subjects and less on electives. Currently there is a 50/50 split.”

Dedicated solely to students in the Mike Ilitch School of Business, the Career Planning and Placement Office offers career counseling and professional development assistance to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as alumni of Wayne State. The center hosts a variety of on-campus interviews, career days, and meet-and-greet events. The center also offers career counseling services and comprehensive online resources. The school is well-integrated into the Detroit community; “In the Detroit area Wayne State business, medical, and law school alumni can be found in all industries and are happy to help fellow Wayne State alumni,” one student reports.

A vast majority of Wayne State students are already working in a full-time, professional capacity when they begin their MBA. Therefore, many students are more focused on pro- gressing in their current job, rather than making a career change or finding new positions.

WSU has an “urban Detroit campus” and so must live with “the city’s poor reputation” for poverty-related crime. Public safety “is better on campus than the surrounding areas, but many people need to park or walk to surrounding areas and have issues.” While “the school is not responsible” for the city’s crime rate, some here feel that “perhaps it could take measures to make the campus area very safe. This could include more police, security, and surveillance cameras.” However, the university does have its own police department. Others are philosophical on the matter. “Until the auto industry rebounds, this urban Detroit campus will always have problems with the occasional stranger on campus. They don’t pose any immediate threat, however it can be an unnerving experi- ence for some people,” one student observes. Students also note that “there are not a lot of healthy eating options around campus, and the rest of the restaurants are hit or miss.”

“There aren’t a lot of graduate-targeted activities or clubs” at either of the two WSU MBA locations, but most students are much too busy for such endeavors anyway. The student body, which “has got to be one of the most diverse student populations in the country,” is a “mixed group of working adults and international students, mostly aged twenty-five to thirty-five.” Students have “varying levels of work experience, although there are few who have management experience.”