Professional MBA

Breakthroughs Happen Here

SMU Cox will continue a test-optional policy for the Professional MBA program. Because our program is small by design, we are able to thoroughly evaluate each application. Test scores serve as one predictor of success in the MBA classroom. For applications without a test score, we assess academic readiness through the review of application materials for evidence of prior academic success, quantitative readiness, and impactful professional experience. We encourage all applicants to evaluate their application strengths and opportunities for improvement and find ways to put forward your strongest application. Our Admissions Team is here and happy to help if you have questions or would like to discuss your application.

Personalized, rigorous, connected: The two-year, part-time Professional MBA at SMU Cox is your route to new career avenues or accelerating the path you’re on. The Cox PMBA program for working professionals lets you focus your curriculum and schedule your classes with a flexibility that few PMBA programs offer. You’re in charge, while we provide the support you need to explore and excel. At Cox, you'll find small classes led by inspiring professors with open doors, powerful leadership training, and career management services that alumni call life-changing. Tack on the connections you'll build to Dallas business leaders and the value of our tight-knit global alumni network, and the Cox PMBA will propel you long after your graduate.

A Perfect Fit for Real Life

 

You’re juggling a lot. We work with you and your schedule to advance your career while you stay in the workforce. At SMU Cox you get a full-time experience in a two-year part-time program.

  • 2 flexible start terms, offered each Fall and Spring. 
  • 11 areas of specialization.
  • 170 electives.

Create your career trajectory on your terms.

 

I was impressed with all aspects of my MBA experience. Professors are experts in their field but also very approachable. I enjoyed my peers and can genuinely say that I made life-long friends. The SMU Cox network is unparalleled and the alumni community is very strong.

JB Askew

PMBA 2017

By the Numbers: The Cox PMBA Class of 2020

  • Class Size

    108

  • Average GPA

    3.22

  • Average Age

    28

  • Average GMAT

    610

  • Average Years of Work Experience

    6

  • Countries of Origin

    10

  • % International

    12%

  • % Women

    44%

  • % U.S. Minority

    30%

After Cox: Alumni Success Stories

  • Lauren Harner, PMBA 2016

    Management Development Program at Holly Frontier Corporation

    Two years into her job as mechanical engineer at Halliburton, Lauren Harner decided it was time to enhance her business skills. She wanted to leverage her experience as a product development lead at Halliburton to become a strategic consultant in the oil and gas industry. Lauren immediately started applying what she was learning at SMU Cox , and leveraged that knowledge to take make a career move.  Working with her Cox career advisor, Lauren negotiated the opportunity to pilot a leadership development program with Holly Frontier Corporation.

  • Dane Karras, PMBA 2016

    Vice President of Engineering at Accelerate Resources

    Dane Karras had come back from a role in Alaska as a drilling engineer when, after six years of on-site work, he decided to focus on the business side of the oil and gas industry. He enrolled in the PMBA program at SMU Cox and steered his academic career while he worked as a senior engineer in his company's business development arm. Less than a year after graduating, Dane made the move to Vice President of Engineering at Accelerate Resources.

  • Bruce Rideaux, PMBA 2012

    Director at PFM Financial Advisors

    Grit and heart — they're at the core of the SMU Cox experience. For Bruce Rideaux, the grit was what he discovered in himself when he was diagnosed with early stage cancer as he was preparing for finals while managing a full-time career as an investment banker. The heart was what he experienced at Cox. It was the support system that buoyed him as he underwent treatment, aced the finals and graduated with his class.