Return to: Darden Graduate School of Business Administration: Programs/Courses
Darden’s Executive MBA Program is designed for experienced professionals who want to continue working full time while earning their MBA degree. The 21-month program prepares practicing managers for high-performance leadership. Through a curriculum that includes core courses, electives and intensive leadership residencies, students develop an enterprise perspective on business. Students study business the way business gets done by making connections across functions within the firm, across companies in the value chain, and around the globe.
Executive MBA students take class in Charlottesville and Rosslyn, Virginia and, depending on their format choice, in locations outside the United States.
Student Body
Each section consists of 65 – 70 practicing managers with a track record of leadership with both the potential and the drive to reach even greater heights. They have on average 11 years of work experience (seven years preferred minimum). Together, they represent a cross section of industries, functions, backgrounds and most importantly, perspectives.
Curriculum
The Executive MBA curriculum consists of five elements that work together to deliver an enterprise perspective:
- Two Leadership Residencies: week-long, multi-disciplinary immersion experiences, concentrating on a leadership challenge (i.e., developing an enterprise perspective; creating the future)
- Core Curriculum: consists of the same ten courses as our residential-time MBA program;
- Experiential Learning course: students apply academic material to their professional context and create knowledge through the transformation of experience;
- Professional Advancement course: students develop the components that all business leaders need to manage their own career and the careers of others;
- Electives: build on and extend the knowledge gained in the core curriculum. Elective offerings reflect the interests of the students as well as faculty resources.
Executive Format Credit Hours and General Requirements
The Executive Format is an integrated program rather than a set of distinct and separate courses. Required courses include the same set of core courses as the Full-Time Format, a set of courses unique to the Executive Format, plus a limited number of elective courses.
The Executive Formats require 60 credit hours of coursework: 25.5 credit hours of core courses, 16.5credit hours of other required courses, and 18 credit hours of electives. Students in the EMBA Format are required to take one global residency and students in the GEMBA Format are required to take four global residencies in order to graduate. Global residencies are managed directly by Darden administration. Weekly attendance and coursework is required. Global residencies require the same amount of class time and training as residential courses held in Rosslyn.
Program Design and Delivery
The Executive MBA delivers a concentrated educational experience while preserving the ability to be fully employed and support family and community service. The schedule blends face-to-face sessions and distance learning, allowing students to earn the Darden MBA in just 21 months. Our blended model allows students to study on their own between On-Grounds sessions, yet have sufficient time at Darden to establish a strong learning community and lifelong professional and personal network.
At the beginning and the end of the 21-month program, all EMBA and GEMBA students will come together in Charlottesville for an intensive leadership residency. These week-long residencies will provide new perspectives on the management challenges you face every day. You will enhance your leadership skills through workshops, coaching and reflection.
Learning in Charlottesville
During leadership residencies, students learn on the historic grounds of the University of Virginia — the only university in the United States designated a UNESCO World Heritage site — granting them the immersive experience of a college town.
Monthly Weekend Residences: Learning in Rosslyn
Weekend residency classes are held at our state of the art facility in Rosslyn — the Sands Family Grounds — a sleek, modern space, 30 stories above the nation’s capital and featuring panoramic views of the Washington, DC area.
Rosslyn is located in Arlington, VA, immediately across the Potomac River from the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC. It is served by three Metro lines and is less than five miles from both Union Station and Reagan National Airport. Dulles International Airport is also a short drive or Metro ride away.
Friday classes begin at Noon and Sunday classes conclude around 3:45 pm, and with a location that is less than five miles from both Reagan National Airport and DC’s Union Station, Darden’s executive formats have never been more convenient or accessible.
Distance Learning
Distance learning in the University of Virginia Darden School of Business Executive MBA (EMBA) and Global Executive MBA (GEMBA) formats helps you maintain work life balance as you integrate your studies into your professional and personal life. In between residencies, these engaging online classes keep you connected with the academic experience as well as the Darden community.
