Student Experience

Get Involved / Participate

West Chester University offers a number of programs, events and workshops to help you level up your business skills.

The Cottrell Entrepreneurship Center fosters entrepreneurship across West Chester University and throughout Chester County, PA. Students are encouraged to participate in annual competitions in business and social innovation to help advance prototypes with the right connections and funding to get you started The Center also offers a Global Entrepreneurship Week, Entrepreneurship Club and Chapter. Learn more and get involved with The Cottrell Entrepreneurship Center’s programming today!

Cottrell Center Programs

Student Groups

Business student groups are essential to growing your network and help you gain valuable skills outside of the classroom. Consider joining activities such as the Human Resource Association!

Learn more about Student Groups

Where do Our Current Students live?

Our online MBA program draws students from different walks of life from all over Pennsylvania, the U.S., and the global community. You will expand your professional network and gain perspectives from fellow students living across the globe.

map of where wcu students are from

What do students say about our program?

  • Application Process (Thomas Farrell): The application process was easy enough to navigate through the extremely helpful guidance of the MBA office. The professors and GA's have always been open and available in any assistance I've needed throughout each course I have taken.

    Online Learning (Gemma Giuffrida): Online learning adds to the flexibility of the program. I did not have to spend time driving to and from the university, which gave me more time to be able to spend on my work. I was also able to complete my work from any location. This helped me mentally, as I was able to complete my work from wherever I was happiest and most comfortable in completing my work. With the advancements in technology, the classes were easily accessible and able to understand, making a seamless online learning experience.

    Work/Life Balance (Rachel Clouser): The online classes opened opportunities to complete the degree that I would not have otherwise due to the lack of flexibility. This schedule made it easy to for me to coordinate between school, career and life commitments. WCU’s online MBA allowed the flexibility to take classes, view lectures and turn in assignments at my convenience.

    Flexibility (Kara Robbins): The program is nice because each class is only 7 weeks long, so it goes by very quickly and doesn't feel as daunting.  The professors in the MBA were easily accessible if needed and responded to emails quickly.  

    Preparation for Today’s Workforce (Rachel Heist): The MBA program prepared me for today’s workplace, where companies are turning to remote work more and more often. I’ve gained experience working in groups and teams that are entirely virtual, and that has prepared me for my current career path with a remote company. This made the transition to remote work very seamless and gave me a head start on how to be successful and collaborative in a virtual community.

    Work/Life Balance (Emily Cooper): Having 100% online classes, with no set meeting times, has allowed me to fit the MBA program into my life seamlessly. Manageable workloads, clear deadlines, and professors who are eager to assist if needed have made me confident in my ability to meet all requirements throughout the program. Each of the 10 MBA classes in the program are 7 weeks long and there are 5 sessions each calendar year which makes finishing in just 1-2 years possible while still juggling full time work, life, and school.

  • Online Learning (Rachel Clouser): One of the most positive aspects of this online learning experience has been the time that I have saved from not having to travel from one place to the university. This has been for one of the reasons I have selected the WCU MBA over other MBA Programs in Pennsylvania. Learning online has created a new dynamic of communication between myself and the professors, and studying from my house has given me the ability to dictate the speed of my learning, as I can spend as much time on certain topics as I need to understand them completely. Further, online learning allows me to better manage my own time more efficiently.

    Application Process (Courtney Medwin): The MBA office was extremely helpful during the application process. My advisor was very responsive and worked with me every step of the way! It truly felt as if everyone wanted to see me succeed.

    Preparation for Today’s Workforce (Rachel Clouser):  The WCU MBA prepared me and my peers for today’s workplace, where teams are split into multiple offices, and clients can be located around the world. Organizing time and resources in the program becomes the key to success and with this brings a career advantage. When working with other students remotely, I needed to share documents, set priorities, solve problems, deliver presentations, coordinate research, and write theses without physically meeting with my team, which is required in much of today’s job markets.

    Real-World Application (Emily Cooper): Throughout the program, professors try and incorporate real-life events into the course work. In addition to relevant events, I have also found myself incorporating the coursework into everyday life and work. With a deeper understanding of all aspects of business, it has allowed me to think more thoroughly about company, financial, or political decisions and the “why” behind them or the implications they may have. In comparison to undergrad, I believe you have more real-life experiences under your belt when entering the program, which makes the course content more digestible. I find myself more easily being able to comprehend the topics and relate it to experiences I have had in life or employment, which has been a great benefit to the program.

    Work/Life Balance (Thomas Farrell): As a full time working professional, I have been able to manage both work and school due to the flexible schedule of the West Chester MBA program. The asynchronous learning style makes earning your MBA obtainable while still working full time and not giving up your personal commitments or social life.

    Networking (Rachel Heist): The MBA program has offered me the unique opportunity to collaborate with peers in both similar and very different career paths than me. I’ve been able share ideas and strategies with peers who are in similar careers, and I’ve also learned about other careers that out there that I have not even considered in the past. The MBA program at WCU has opened my eyes to other career paths that may be available to me and has also helped me improve my existing professional skills because of the networking I have been able to do with other students in the program.

  • Work/Life Balance (Kara Robbins): My experience was kind of unique since I had a baby during the program, but it was still doable. The workload is manageable, but students will need to carve out time and understand that some weekends may include finishing group projects, papers, or quizzes. What made getting a master's financially possible for me was consistently having a graduate assistantship position. I wish I would have known those were available sooner because I would have gotten my MBA years ago! Each semester I worked 10 hours as a graduate assistant, in addition to working my full-time job, and caring for my 3 young children. Some semesters it worked best to log those hours over the weekend, and other times I "scheduled" an hour before or after work and an hour during my lunch break to get the hours in. It was a lot at times, but completely worth it!

    Online Learning (Courtney Medwin): As an out-of-state student the online learning part of the MBA program is very beneficial. I’m able to learn from great professors and collaborate with classmates regardless of where I’m located or my schedule. It’s been great to learn and work at my own pace.

    Networking (Rachel Clouser): There is an abundance of opportunities for students to build personal connections with current students. WCU’s MBA is online, however, it requires me to interact with my peers regularly, including collaborating on assignments and encourages the exchange of ideas and information. Each student brings a unique perspective and background to the work, allowing everyone to learn from one another. The chance to network with my peers from all industries, backgrounds and geographic locations is invaluable and can help me build my career potential.

    Real World Application (Rachel Clouser): It has been most beneficial for me and my peers that readings and assignments are based on real-life business scenarios, such as the Silicon Valley Bank's Parent Company filing for bankruptcy, and allow us to tailor projects to our specific industry problems we face today that need solving. This means that course content avoided giving students the same “bland” experiences each week and provided assignments/readings based on real opportunities to develop insight to grow as a learner in our fields.

    Flexibility (Gemma Giuffrida): Because the whole degree is online and asynchronous it allows for individuals in many different stages of life to be able to complete it. I work a full-time job, a small part-time job, and am taking part in a GA position during my last semester of the degree. I have always been able to find time to complete my work since I could do it early in the morning, late at night, whenever I had time.

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47%

employer
reimbursed

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2%

of graduates
are self-employed*

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2%

are pursuing
advanced degrees*

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96k

average
annual salary*

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79%

in a career
oriented job*

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91%

use their
MBA at work*

*Our students come from all walks of life and a variety of backgrounds.  We're a mix of seasoned, advanced professionals and traditional students who have recently started their careers. We survey all of our new students and recent graduates.   The statistics provided above reflect the latest information from our 2020-2021 surveys of our new students and our new alumni.