New Online MBA Program to Debut at South Carolina HBCU

• Voorhees University, a historically Black university in South Carolina, will launch an MBA program next year.
• The fully online MBA program will welcome its first cohort in January 2024.
• The MBA program will also feature options for students to minor in data analytics or human resource management.
• Those fields are both projected to grow, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

A historically Black university in South Carolina will soon offer a new online master of business administration (MBA) program.

Voorhees University's new MBA program will be offered online and feature specializations in human resource management and data analytics, according to a press release, two high-demand fields projected to grow.

That program will welcome its first cohort in January 2024 after the school received approval from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

Offering an MBA with these minors allows Voorhees University to provide students with a well-rounded education that combines core business knowledge with specialized skills, preparing them for successful careers in various business domains, Voorhees University School of Business and Entrepreneurship Dean Katherine Whitaker said in the release.

An MBA can help equip students for better career prospects, better earnings, and a good return on investment. The Voorhees MBA program will feature a broad curriculum focusing on business-related topics like finance, marketing, and strategic management. And like other MBA programs, it will also feature concentrations to allow students to hone their skills in a specific area.

The Voorhees MBA program will allow students to concentrate on data analytics or human resources in addition to offering general coursework.

Data analytics could be set for meteoric growth, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projecting that jobs for mathematicians and statisticians will grow by 31% from 2021-2031. Demand for data skills has increased as businesses work with an ever-growing trove of data to make key decisions.

Many business schools have put data at the forefront of their curriculum as demand from private employers grows. Tulane University earlier this year announced a new MBA curriculum focused entirely on data-driven decision making and experiential learning.

Human resources is a ubiquitous field across industries, and employment of human resources specialists and human resources managers is projected to grow by 8% and 7%, respectively, from 2021-2031, per the BLS.

Voorhees isn't the only university set to offer a new MBA program: Glenville State University in West Virginia will debut its first MBA program this fall, featuring a focus on data-driven analysis. The private Ursuline College in Ohio recently announced a revamp of its MBA program to be entirely online, reflecting a focus on flexibility for students.