Higher Ed

The Evolving MBA Program

MBA PROGRAMS ARE ADAPTING TO A WORLD REPLETE WITH AI AND OTHER CHANGES.

By George N. Saliba, Contributing Writer On Mar 10, 2026

Artificial intelligence (AI) instruction is permeating MBA degree programs in tandem with other trends such as teaching Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) concepts and embedding hands-on learning approaches throughout various programs.

As AI continues to rapidly automate corporate tasks in finance, consulting and marketing, MBA programs’ AI instruction is keeping pace in many ways including, but not limited to, universities leveraging highly trained advisory boards and educating their professors about AI.

Case in point: Select faculty at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have undergone world-class, cutting-edge and intensive quantitative AI learning via Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), all while NJIT has been categorizing each of its courses into those that are highly technical with AI (e.g., data analytics) or where AI instruction is more conceptual (e.g., management classes).

“Once we classified these courses, we asked faculty to integrate AI into their syllabuses,” says Oya Tukel, Ph.D., dean of the Martin Tuchman School of Management and Martin Tuchman School of Management professor of operations and supply chain management at NJIT. “Right now, all of our graduate programs do have an AI component in them.”

Teaching AI

Teaching AI can be a balancing act, according to Marilu Marcillo, D.M., MBA, dean of the school of business and information sciences at Felician University. “[As an example], we know that AI is going to replace the journalizing and ledgerizing that typical accountants have to do. [But,] that is a skill we still have to teach our students because when they become accountants in the future – even though they’re not going to have to journalize or ledgerize themselves – they need to be able to know when the AI tool has made a mistake, or be able to find that mistake and then use that information to make managerial decisions that will help an organization be more nimble, effective, or efficient.”

Expressing similar sentiments is Keith Diener, MBA director and professor of business administration studies, public law, at Stockton University: “A question that comes up is: How can we better tailor our classes so that students are doing original work and not only relying on AI? We would like them to be able to utilize it, but we’d also like them to be able to continue with critical thinking skills and have the ability to do the work that AI could alternatively do for them.”

Overall, teaching with AI in MBA programs is a complex undertaking at a unique point in history. Against the backdrop of the consulting firm McKinsey reporting that generative AI could contribute up to $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy, prospective graduate business students are taking note. For example, fully 60% of Gen Xers (born 1965-1980) “say AI is critical to their business education,” while 50% of Millennials (born 1981-1995) and 44% of Gen Zers (born 1996-2012) agree, according to the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC). Based on GMAC’s surveys of both prospective students and future employers, the two groups agreed that AI is ideally used in the classroom as a “tool for learning how to develop strategies and make business decisions.”

Experiential Learning

While AI can, in fact, have both technical and conceptual roles within MBA programs’ curricula, the practice of overall hands-on, experiential learning is ever-important: Since AI increasingly automates tedious/routine tasks in the corporate workplace, MBA graduates will need to rely on higher-level human problem-solving, emotional intelligence and decision-making abilities.

These skills are being taught via MBA programs’ external internships and co-ops, study abroad programs, cutting-edge business simulation software, and by solving problems for actual companies. On the latter point, for example, United Parcel Service (UPS) provides Felician University with real-world problems for its MBA students to solve.

At a different institution – Kean University – Veysel Yucetepe, Ph.D., professor and chairperson, department of marketing, global business and economics (and also director of Kean’s MBA program), says, in part, “Right now, students are looking for MBA programs that will help them advance [their careers] quickly or to find jobs quickly. Therefore, they want some hands-on experience while they’re in the program.”

He adds, “There will be more project-based MBA courses with the help of AI. That is not just in this country; it is changing all over the world. Students cannot just be passive listeners in the classroom; they have to be active. They have to participate and do projects. Case studies are good, but some of the case studies are old. That will [also] be updated based on new trends, including AI.”

Simulations

Like some other MBA programs, Stockton University is availing itself of GLO-BUS® Business Strategy Simulation, which the software company describes as a “completely online exercise where teams of students run a digital camera company in head-to-head competition against companies run by other class members. Company operations parallel those of actual digital camera companies.”

Stockton’s Diener says, “Our faculty members utilize [GLO-BUS®] to simulate real-life businesses, and then [students] go through the lifecycle of a business in their capstone class, from [business] creation through a variety of different obstacles that businesses would typically face in the real world.”

Stockton University additionally offers study abroad programs where, for example, in the fall of 2026, students will learn about various countries as well as global sustainability before traveling to Europe for hands-on learning.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)

Also trending in MBA programs is the incorporation of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) concepts, which can be important, since a company like PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), for example, has invested $12 billion and is expected to hire 100,000 people to support ESG and trust services by the next year or so.

“Large firms like BlackRock [and] Deloitte are no longer looking for people who are ESG generalists, but they’re looking for students who have specialization,” says Felician University’s Marcillo. “Our curriculum bridges that gap.”

Marcillo adds that the university’s managerial accounting instruction provides data tools to help fight greenwashing; its innovation and adaptation class prepares students for the decarbonizing economy; and its organizational performance and ethics instruction treats governance as critical risk management.

She also says, “By solving the nonprofit challenges in [their] capstone course, our students are going to graduate with a proof-of-work portfolio that demonstrates ESG literacy to recruiters.”

Conclusion

Various MBA trends highlighted on these pages are all occurring within a global context where workers, supply chains, and information are intertwined across continents. Universities are therefore increasingly incorporating global aspects in their curricula.

Amid all of these changes, much has been said about the value of certificate programs and other business-related micro-credentials that can help bolster people’s careers by providing just-in-time learning. However, the MBA degree has lasting value and often remains a gold standard necessary for corporate advancement.

“If you want to move into upper leadership or upper management, then you need to have that MBA degree as even a point of consideration,” concludes Felician University’s Marcillo.

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