Distance Learning Master Degree

The focuses for MBA programs have been in sustainability, international business and leadership. Graduate students at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, N.H., on Nov. 30, begin classes in a new MBA program. It's a "green" MBA in Energy & Sustainability Studies. A growing number of business schools are also offering doctoral programs for senior-level business managers who want to move into teaching careers or integrate research skills into the workplace, an August 2009 Bloomberg Businessweek article noted.

Time-saving graduate programs might allow students to more easily obtain their degrees and advance within their fields or embark upon new careers. RN to MSN programs, for instance, allow registered nurses with hospital diplomas or associate degrees to move immediately on to a graduate degree. Vanderbilt University makes available an RN to MSN program that allows nurses to take an online degree course in between spending blocks of time at the Tennessee campus. Students with bachelors degrees in other disciplines might participate in accelerated graduate nursing programs offered by Regis and Creighton universities, located respectively in Colorado and Nebraska. In California, Azusa Pacific University in June introduced a Millennium Master's in Business Administration program that involves campus and international studies and takes 13 months to complete.