The 25 Best MBA in Nonprofit Management Programs

MBA students at the University of California, Los Angeles, can earn their MBA degrees with a specialization in social impact through the AACSB-accredited Anderson School of Management. This specialization is available for students in the Executive MBA program and the Fully Employed MBA program.

Students in the social impact specialization must take three of the following courses, which are offered by UCLA’s Center for Impact:

• Affordable Housing Development.
• Business Sustainability and the Environment.
• Choice Architecture in Practice.
• ESG & Sustainability Reporting.
• Patterns of Problem-Solving.
• Social Entrepreneurship - Business Models for Social Impact.

UCLA’s Executive MBA program takes 22 months to complete over seven semesters (including summer). Classes are offered in bi-weekly, monthly, and bi-weekly blended formats on Fridays and Saturdays. Classes are offered half online and half at the UCLA campus. EMBA students also participate in a one-week experience abroad.

The Fully Employed MBA program offers three options in terms of class platforms. Students may take classes all day on Saturdays, on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, or a hybrid approach where students combine online work with one weekend a month on campus. This Social Impact MBA program can be completed in as little as 27 months or as many as five years.

The WSCUC accredits UCLA.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 93.50

At the University of Washington, students have the option to add a nonprofit management certificate to their MBA degree as part of the Full-Time MBA program. Run through AACSB-accredited Michael G. Foster School of Business, the nonprofit management certificate requires students to take Managing Nonprofit and Philanthropic Organizations as a core class as well as four electives. Students also complete a portfolio and analytic paper that reflects on key learnings from the certificate program. The certificate will appear on a student’s transcript.

Foster’s Full-Time MBA is a two-year program with classes held on the UW’s Seattle campus. The program begins the summer before a student’s first year with career workshops and webinars. All told, students to take 46 core credits, 44 elective credits, and seven more credits earned from the following options:

• Two international perspective activities.
• Two practical experience activities.
• Foster Professional Development sequence.
• MBA core case competition.
• Summer internship/project.

The NWCCU has accredited the University of Washington.

MBA Website

**Stacked Score: 87.**22

Emory University offers a social enterprise concentration for its MBA students through the Goizueta Business School. Some examples of classes available for the social enterprise concentration include:

• Business and Society.
• Corporate Strategy.
• Multinational Firms and Strategy.
• Nonprofit Accounting.
• Nonprofit Management Topics.
• Social Enterprise/Impact Investment.

The Business & Society Institute at Emory partly runs the social enterprise concentration.

Emory offers its students both a one-year and a two-year track for the MBA program. The One-Year MBA includes Summer Experience where students participate in opportunities on and off campus, such as field visits, leadership training, and international travel. The Two-Year program allows students to go deeper into their studies and experiential learning opportunities with the extended time allotted. Both the One-Year and Two-Year MBA programs are STEM-designated.

The AACSB accredits Goizueta. Emory University holds accreditation from the SACSCOC.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 86.85

The Full-Time MBA program at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business offers students a social impact management focus. The Full-Time Social Impact MBA program has one required course—Social Impact: Business, Society, and the Natural Environment—along with three elective social impact courses and six additional electives. Some examples of social impact electives available are:

• Business Law and Discrimination.
• Corporate Sustainability Strategy.
• Health Sector Issues & Opportunities.
• Leading Mission Driven Organizations.
• Purpose-Led Marketing.

The Full-Time MBA at Boston University is a two-year program with classes on the Boston campus. There are many experiential learning opportunities, including an International Consulting Project, the Behavior Change Practicum, and research work at the Susilo Institute for Ethics in Global Economy.

Questrom School of Business is AACSB-accredited. Boston University is accredited by the NECHE.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 85.62

The AACSB-accredited Max M. Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University offers a social impact pathway for students in its Full-Time MBA program and a nonprofit specialization for those in its Working Professional MBA program.

The Social Impact Pathway is made up of ten and a half credits. Students in this pathway take the following courses:

• Financial Statements of Nonprofit and Governmental Organizations,
• Leadership Effectiveness through Applied Projects and Team Coaching,
• Social Enterprise, and
• Nonprofit Management and Governance OR Nonprofit Arts Institution Governance and Board Leadership.

The Full-Time MBA is a two-year program with an option to engage in a summer internship between Year One and Year Two. Classes are held at OSU’s Columbus campus.

There are no set classes for the nonprofit specialization within the Working Professional MBA program. Instead, specializations with this program are determined by the student with the guidance of their academic advisor to create a uniquely individualized experience for them.

The Working Professional MBA program is a part-time program that offers students work/school flexibility and balance. Classes are held online, on campus, or a hybrid of the two. Classes are held in the evenings and on the weekends. The Working Professional MBA can be completed in as little as two years, although two and a half years is typical.

The Higher Learning Commission accredits Ohio State University.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 76.60

Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, offers a concentration in nonprofit management as part of its Social Impact MBA program. In addition to the core MBA courses, students with the nonprofit management concentration also select 12 credits from the following options:

• Corporate Governance.
• Fundraising and Development.
• Managing the Triple Bottom Line.
• Nonprofit Models that Have Changed America.
• Public Finance and Budgeting.
• Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
• Social Justice and Philanthropy: Effective Grantmaking Tools and Strategies.

Students also complete a four-month team consulting project for an organization as part of the concentration, assessing the organization’s social impact or environmental impact and offer improvements.

The Social Impact MBA program, part of the AACSB-accredited Heller School for Social Policy and Management, can be done at either full-time or part-time enrollment. Classes are typically held once a week during the day, although a few evening courses are available. For those students enrolled in a full-time capacity, the MBA program can be finished in 16 months.

The New England Commission of Higher Education has accredited Brandeis University.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 66.78

The Baumhart Scholars MBA program is a social impact-focused program offered by Loyola University Chicago. Run by the Quinlan School of Business, the Baumhart Scholars MBA is intended for working professionals. This is a cohort-based, 16-course program. In addition to foundational business courses, students take six social impact-focused courses:

• ESG in Investing.
• Impact Investing.
• Influential Leadership.
• Innovative Corporate Responsibility.
• Social Enterprise.
• Values-Based Leadership.

Through evening and weekend classes in downtown Chicago and online, students can fit a top graduate business program into their personal and professional life.

Students typically take classes two evenings per week at Loyola’s Chicago campus. Some classes are also available in an online format. In addition, students attend Saturday seminars over two Saturdays each quarter at the Water Tower campus.

Loyola University has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 48.79

The College of Business and Public Administration at Drake University offers an online MBA program with an area of emphasis in public and nonprofit management. For this area of emphasis, students select three courses from among the following options:

• Nonprofit Management.
• Public Management.
• Public Organizations & Leadership.
• Public Policy.
• Resource Development and Program Performance.

The College of Business and Public Administration is accredited by the AACSB. Drake University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

The Online MBA program at Drake is entirely asynchronous and completed entirely online. This 36-credit program is intended to be a part-time program and will be completed in two years.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 48.05

At Louisiana State University, MBA students may pursue a nonprofit specialization as part of the Flores Full-Time MBA program and the Flores One-Year MBA program. Students select three courses from among the following options:

• Public & Nonprofit Organizations.
• Public Budgeting.
• Fundraising & Grant Writing.
• Seminar in Nonprofit Management.

Run by the AACSB-accredited E. J. Ourso College of Business, the Flores Full-Time MBA program is designed for students who recently completed their undergraduate coursework, are young professionals, or who are looking for a career shift. This is a 22-month program with an on-campus orientation on LSU’s Baton Rouge campus. They also participate in a summer internship between the first and second year of the program. The Flores One-Year MBA program is an 11-month program for those who have already completed an undergraduate business degree.

Louisiana State University has been accredited by the SACSCOC.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 44.16

At the AACSB-accredited Spears School of Business, MBA students at Oklahoma State University may complete a concentration in nonprofit management as part of either OSU’s On-campus, Professional, and Online programs. In addition to the following two required courses—Business and Nonprofit Organizations and Fundraising for Nonprofits—students must also complete six credits from the following available courses:

• Creating Ethical Work Places.
• Entrepreneurship in Science and Technology.
• Ethical Leadership and Organizations.
• Grant Writing.
• Leadership Challenges.
• Leading Organizational Change.
• Management and Organizational Theory.
• Managing Confrontations.
• Negotiation and Third Party Dispute Resolution.
• Social Entrepreneurship.
• Supporting Emerging Enterprises (practicum in South Africa).
• Sustainable Enterprises.

Classes in the nonprofit specialization can be completed online or at OSU’s Stillwater or Tulsa campuses. The MBA can be completed with 36 credits for those students enrolled in a full-time capacity in the On-Campus MBA program. For those who choose to enroll through the online format or who are experienced working professionals in the Professional MBA program, this is a 33-credit program.

Oklahoma State University is accredited by the HLC.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 36.89

The Pamplin School of Business at the University of Portland offers an MBA in Nonprofit Management. This is a 36-credit program. Students take two classes per semester and can complete the program in two years. The MBA program is set up in a cohort format with classes held in person. It is aimed at full-time working professionals, and, as such, classes in the MBA in Nonprofit Management program are held once a week in the evenings, Mondays through Thursdays. This schedule means students are enrolled part-time.

Students take 18 credits of nonprofit core classes, which include:

• Accounting and Financial Controls for the Nonprofit Organization.
• Financial Management for the Nonprofit Organization.
• Marketing for the Nonprofit Organization.
• Negotiation and Persuasion Strategies.
• Social Venture Management.
• Strategic Fundraising.

They also take nine credits of nonprofit electives and Economics and Metrics for Sustainability, Introduction to Operations & Technology Management, and Statistical and Quantitative Analysis as the three required MBA core courses.

Pamplin School of Business is accredited by the AACSB. The NWCCU accredits the University of Portland.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 34.40

At Willamette University, students can pursue a Public & Not-for-Profit Management concentration as part of its Early Career and Career Change MBA program. It is run through the AACSB-accredited Atkinson Graduate School of Management. It is also dually accredited by the NASPAA: the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration for public administration accreditation. Classes in this concentration include the following in addition to either a government or nonprofit management internship:

• Philanthropic Investment for Community Impact (which is a two-semester course).
• Public Policy Studies.
• Seminar in Benefit-Cost Analysis.
• Strategic Marketing for Public and Private Not-for-Profit Organizations.
• Sustainability Management.

As it sounds, the Early Career and Career Change MBA is designed for either students who have recently completed their undergraduate coursework or who are looking to make a career change. This is a full-time program that can be completed in 21 months. Classes are held in Salem, Oregon. Students in this program can complete just an MBA or a joint BA/MBA or MBA/JD.

The NWCCU has accredited Willamette University.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 31.06

MBA students at the University of Massachusetts Boston College of Management can earn a specialization in nonprofit management. This option is available for both the Online MBA program and the on-campus MBA programs. This specialization is a three-course sequence. They may also choose to complete a nonprofit management practicum, which can be applied as one course to the specialization requirements:

• Nonprofit Management.
• Public Policy Challenges: Urban Nonprofit Organizations.
• Written Communication for Managers.

The UMass Boston MBA is a 12-course program. Students can choose to either enroll full-time or part-time. The curriculum is the same whether students choose to attend in person or online. For those who enroll in on-campus classes, courses are held once a week in the evenings. For those who prefer an online program, classes are asynchronous.

The AACSB has accredited the College of Management. UMass Boston holds accreditation from the New England Commission of Higher Education.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 30.13

MBA students at Calvin University can pursue a concentration in nonprofit management as part of their Online MBA program. This is a 36-credit program that students can complete entirely online. Depending on whether a student enrolls part-time or full-time, the Online MBA program can be completed in as little as 12 months or up to 24 months on average, though students have up to four years to finish the program as needed.

In addition to the 12 required courses in the Online MBA program, the nonprofit management concentration is made up of nine credits over three courses:

• Designing and Effective Nonprofit Organization.
• Nonprofit Boards and Community Leadership.
• Nonprofit Financial Management.

Calvin University, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 23.83

Mount St. Mary’s University offers a not-for-profit management concentration as part of its MBA program. Run by the IACBE-accredited Richard J. Bolte, Sr. School of Business, Mount St. Mary’s MBA program is available in person at its Emmitsburg or Frederick, Maryland campuses, online, or in a hybrid of the two formats. This is a part-time program designed with working professionals in mind. Students can earn their MBA degrees in as little as one year, but many take two years to graduate. This 12-course, 36-credit program has classes one night per week in the evenings.

To earn a concentration in not-for-profit management, students must take two electives in the field of nonprofit management in addition to the 12 required MBA program courses.

The MSCHE has accredited Mount St. Mary’s University.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 21.57

The Portland MBA for Career Explorers program at Portland State University offers its students a certificate option in Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship Graduate Certificate as an addition to the MBA program. Classes for this certificate are held online and are paired with two- and four-week field studies. There are three required courses for this certificate in addition to the social innovation field study course:

• Design Thinking for Social Innovation.
• Money Matters for Social Innovation.
• Storytelling and Impact Measurement for Social Innovation.

The Portland MBA for Career Explorers program is run by the AACSB-accredited School of Business Administration. It offers daytime classes for those looking for a career pivot or who are early-career professionals. Classes are held on campus in a cohort format. Students can earn their MBA degrees in 21 months.

Portland State University is accredited by the NWCCU.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 19.77

In Boston, Massachusetts, Suffolk University offers a Government & Not-for-Profit Accounting concentration as part of its MBA program. Students in this concentration must take the Not-For-Profit and Governmental Accounting course along with their choice of two classes from the following:

• Financing State & Local Government.
• Nonprofit Financial Management.
• Revenue Strategies for Nonprofits.

The MBA at Suffolk University is run by the Sawyer Business School, which is accredited by the AACSB. This is a 16-course, 36-credit program. For full-time students, it is possible to complete the program in just 11 months. Part-time students typically complete the program in just 16 months. Students also have the opportunity to engage in a variety of consulting projects and travel seminars as part of the program.

Suffolk University is accredited by the NECHE.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 17.13

The College of Business and Public Management at the University of La Verne offers a nonprofit management concentration for students enrolled in its MBA program. It is technically a concentration typically offered by the Master of Science in Leadership and Management program. In this nonprofit management concentration, students take the Leadership: Theory and Practice course along with at least two of the following course options:

• Accounting & Compliance for Nonprofits.
• Effective Fundraising.
• Grant Writing for Public and Private Funding.
• Managing Nonprofits.
• Marketing for Nonprofits.

The MBA at the University of LaVerne is a 36-credit program, which students can complete in 18 to 36 months, depending on if they are enrolled full-time or part-time. Classes are held on campus in La Verne, California. For students with at least three years of professional experience, the MBA for Experience Professionals (MBAX) is a great option. It is only a 33-credit program with the same 18- to 36-month timeframe. This version of the program is offered with online courses and with on-campus classes at La Verne, Bakersfield, Burbank, Irvine, Ontario, Santa Clarita, Vandenberg Space Force Base, or Naval Base Ventura County for maximum flexibility for its students.

The University of La Verne is accredited by the WSCUC.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 16.72

The School of Professional and Continuing Studies and Department of Business Management at Springfield College offers an MBA in Nonprofit Management program. Students in this program take the following required courses:

• Accounting for Nonprofits .
• Economics of the Firm in Contemporary Society.
• Fund Development and Philanthropy.
• Global Strategic Management.
• Human Resource Management.
• Law, Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility.
• Leadership and Governance for Nonprofits.
• Managerial Finance.
• Strategic Marketing.

In addition, students must choose to take either the Operations and Information Management course, the Entrepreneurship course, or participate in an internship.

The MBA in Nonprofit Management program requires 30 credits to complete. Students can expect to earn their MBA degrees in one year for those enrolled full-time. However, students do have the option of part-time enrollment and working through the program at their own pace. This is a fully online program.

The IACBE has accredited the School of Professional and Continuing Studies and Department of Business Management. Springfield College, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, holds accreditation from the NECHE.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 16.68

Bard College in Annandale-On-Hudson, New York, offers an MBA in Sustainability with a focus area in nonprofit management. Students in this focus area must complete the following four courses in addition to a capstone portfolio-building project:

• Becoming a Sustainable Organization.
• Data, Analytics, and Decision Making.
• Non-Profit Management.
• Principles of Sustainable Management.

The MBA in Sustainability is what Bard College calls a “low-residency” program. Students attend a number of three- and four-day retreats on campus over the course of their two to three years in the program. In between these retreats, students participate in both online evening classes and on-campus weekend residencies. Students may enroll in this program as either full-time or part-time students.

The MSCHE has accredited Bard College.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 13.67

The MBA program at Rockhurst University’s Helzberg School of Management offers a nonprofit leadership concentration. This concentration requires that students earn at least eight credits from the following courses, which are all three credits apiece:

• Charitable Giving and Relationship Management Seminar.
• Marketing Communications for Nonprofits in the Digital Age.
• Nonprofit Governance and Executive Leadership.
• Program Planning and Evaluation.
• Resource Development for Social Impact.

This is a part-time MBA program. Classes are held in the evenings on weeknights at Rockhurst University’s Kansas City, Missouri, campus. In total, students who earn a nonprofit leadership concentration as part of their MBA program will take 32 credits.

Rockhurst also offers a certificate in nonprofit administration that can be stacked onto your MBA program. This is a 10-credit certificate program where students take three required courses—Program Planning and Evaluation, Nonprofit Governance and Executive Leadership, Resource Development for Social Impact—and four more credits from the following two-credit electives:

Students would select four credits of electives from the following:

• Charitable Giving and Relationship Management Seminar.
• Conflict Management & Negotiation.
• Corporate Social Responsibility.
• HR and Managing People.
• Innovation.
• Marketing Communications for Nonprofits in the Digital Age.
• Organizational Change.

The AACSB has accredited the Helzberg School of Management. Rockhurst University is accredited by the HLC.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 12.79

The IACBE-accredited School of Business and Nonprofit Management at North Park University offers students two nonprofit-focused certificates to choose from in addition to their MBA program. These are both 12-month programs with five required courses each. Students may choose to attend classes online or in person.

The certificate in nonprofit governance requires the following five courses.

• Fundraising for Nonprofit Organizations.
• Nonprofit Board Governance and Volunteer Management.
• Nonprofit Financial Management.
• Nonprofit Law, Policy, & Government Relations.
• Nonprofit Management: Theory & Application.

The certificate in nonprofit management requires the following five courses.

• Fundraising for Nonprofit Organizations.
• Measuring Outcomes and Assessment.
• Nonprofit Financial Management.
• Nonprofit Management: Theory & Application.
• Nonprofit Marketing Analysis and Consumer Behavior.

The MBA at North Park is typically completed in two and a half years, though students can complete it in 21 months. This is a 36-credit program with 13 required core courses and an additional five electives, which can be applied toward the completion of the certificates above.

Students may choose to complete their MBA with North Park University either entirely online, on North Parks’ Chicago or Grayslake campuses, or through a hybrid format. For those students who opt for the online format, classes are asynchronous.

North Park University is accredited by the HLC.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 8.32

In Orono, Maine, the University of Maine offers its MaineMBA in Public & Nonprofit Management through its AACSB-accredited Maine Business School. This program requires eight core business courses and one core nonprofit course: Managing Governments and Nonprofits. A selection of two nonprofit-focused electives is available from a myriad of topics, such as:

• Grant Writing and Development.
• Human Resource Management and Policy.
• Innovation and Change in Nonprofits.
• Managing Cities, Towns, and Counties.
• Measuring Performance in the Public and Nonprofit Sectors.
• Public Finance and Budgeting.
• Strategic Planning in the Public and Nonprofit Sectors.
• Volunteer Engagement and Management.

The program is aimed at both working professionals and early career professionals. Classes are available in an asynchronous online format, a synchronous online format, and in person.

The New England Commission of Higher Education has accredited the University of Maine.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 6.96

Located in Winona, Minnesota, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota has a certificate in nonprofit management which students can stack onto their MBA program through the School of Business and Technology. This is a 12-credit certificate program that takes two semesters to complete. This is an entirely online program made up of the following four courses:

• Community Engagement and Partnerships.
• Nonprofit Fund Development and Financial Management.
• Nonprofit Human Resource Management.
• Strategic Nonprofit Management.

The MBA program at Saint Mary’s can be completed in just 12 months for those students to enroll with at least 12 credits per semester. With the addition of the nonprofit management certificate, this is a 36-credit program. Saint Mary’s MBA is a fully online program.

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 5.82

Christian Brothers University employs a Stackable Certificate model. It allows students to earn up to four certificates as part of their MBA program. This degree is offered through CBU’s School of Business. The MBA curriculum, therefore, is made up of the following core certificate areas, each of which contains nine credits and three courses:

• Ethical and Responsible Leadership,
• Business Analytics and Finance, and
• Strategic Thinking and Change Management.

In addition to these three areas, students also take nine credits of classes in elective areas, including the option of a certificate in nonprofit management.

CBU’s MBA program requires a total of 36 credits. This is a 13-month program with students taking two classes every eight weeks. Classes are held one night per week on CBU’s Memphis campus, although there are virtual options available for some classes.

Christian Brothers University is accredited by the SACSCOC.

MBA Website

Stacked Score: 5.40