The Iowa State Professional MBA Program was voted the best MBA Program in Des Moines by readers of Business Record.

Iowa State’s program was established in 1999 and requires students to take 10 core courses and six elective courses, which overall is 48 credits.

“We are honored at having our program recognized as being the very best in Des Moines,” said David Spalding, Raisbeck Endowed Dean  in a press release. “Our professional MBA program is taught by the same internationally known faculty that teach the full-time MBA on campus in Ames … It’s a quality program that offers flexibility for professionals who seek career advancement in about two years.”

Russ Laczniak, director of the MBA Program, said there are efforts being made to begin an executive MBA Program.

An executive MBA program is similar to a normal MBA program, but is aimed toward those who want to be higher up business executives, such as the CEO or president of a company.

“Part of the Iowa State mission is the idea of practical education,” Laczniak said. “I really believe that the Exec. MBA will allow us to kind of engage and take that mission of practical education in the Ivy College of Business to the next level.”

With the formation of the Executive MBA Program, they plan on involving the advisory council extensively, this way they can create non-classroom learning activities.

“Why I get excited about it, is because we will be doing this program with emerging business leaders,” Laczniak said. “It gives us the opportunity to see how learning really works, which is both ways.”

Laczniak said this will allow them to be more practical in their approach and what is going on in the modern business world through the two way system, it enhances the work the staff does with undergraduate students.

“By us learning back, it actually enhances what we are doing with undergraduate students,” Laczniak said. 

The Executive MBA Program will officially launch in August 2019, applications are available online on the Ivy College of Business Website.