Enrollment: 64
Average GMAT: 550.00
GMAT Range (25-75%): 480-640
Average Undergrad GPA: 3.22
Regular Application Deadline: 04/01
Rolling Admission: Yes
School Type: Public
Average Age: 25.00
Average Work Experience (months): 85
Student Faculty Ratio: 22:1

Part Time Program: Yes
Evening Program: Yes
Executive MBA Program Offered: Yes
Total Faculty: 10

Average Starting Salary: $60,000.00
Hired Consulting: 17%
Hired Finance: 10%
Hired Marketing: 10%

Out-of-State Tuition: $10,818.00
In-State Tuition: $4,716.00

Students Say - Academics
With a "unique combination of excellent and caring professors, a well-run program, and a great environment," the College of Business at California State University-Chico well serves the needs of its part-time and full-time MBA student populations. Students tout the school's convenient location, strong regional reputation, and affordable tuition in citing their reasons for choosing the school.
The Chico MBA requires students to complete 30 credit hours of graduate-level courses. The core curriculum consumes 24 credit hours; the remaining six are devoted to electives. Students may take all their electives in one discipline to earn a degree with a concentration in accounting, finance, human resources, management information systems, marketing, or supply chain management; or, they may take electives in a variety of disciplines to earn a general management degree. Students lacking undergraduate coursework in business and management may be required to complete up to 27 credit hours of foundation coursework prior to commencing the MBA. Students can complete the MBA program in 18 months or less by attending on a full-time basis; all students must complete the program within five years of commencing. A Professional MBA (PMBA) program is also available. PMBA classes meet on Saturdays only; students complete the PMBA in 24 months.
Students here appreciate the program's emphasis on group projects. One tells us: "Nearly every class has teamwork. This truly prepares you for the real working world" and helps students develop "people and presentation skills and good verbal and written communication skills." They also approve of the curriculum's focus on "developing practical skills that make graduates effective," calling the Chico MBA "a great hands-on education system." Professors here "are caring and have both practical and academic knowledge" and "are willing to back up students in regard to group-related problems. There is a great support system in this MBA program." On the downside, some here feel that "the program could be improved by making it more rigorous, or at least by requiring a higher level of commitment from the students."

Students Say - Admissions
Applicants may be admitted to the Chico MBA program under the 'Conditionally Classified' status if they (1) have earned a satisfactory undergraduate GPA (at least 2.75 for the final 60 semester hours of undergraduate work or comparable grades in a more recently undertaken graduate program); (2) have received acceptable GMAT or GRE scores (at least 50th percentile in math and verbal portions); and (3) have demonstrated aptitude in business and management through academic and/or career achievement. Applicants must provide the Admissions Committee with official transcripts for all undergraduate and graduate work; an official score report for the GMAT or GRE; letters of recommendation; a personal statement of purpose; and a resume. Two years of work experience is recommended but not required. Students advance from "Conditionally Classified" status to "Classified Status" once they have completed (or placed out of) the non-degree "common body of knowledge" prerequisites to the MBA program. Finally, students are reclassified as degree candidates once they have successfully completed at least nine credit hours toward the MBA degree.

Students Say - Campus Life
Cal State Chico is situated on a "charming campus in a great town with a huge park." Chico itself is "a wonderful community with enough diversity to make it interesting, but small enough to make the lifestyle warm and comfortable." The combined result of these factors is "a friendly environment" for MBAs. One student speculates the Chico "has more entrepreneurs per capita than any other US city, which means a creative and business-supportive environment." Top employers in the area include Enloe Medical Center, the county and city governments, the university, TriCounty Banks, Sierra Nevada Brewery, and SunGard Bi-Tech.
The Cal State Chico campus offers "quite a bit of activities and performances," but few MBAs have the time for such diversions. As one explains, "Generally, MBA classes are during evenings, so there's really not much time for us to be involved in. During the daytime, there's quite a bit of things going on, but for us who hold full-time jobs, we don't really have time and energy for it."
Chico attracts a youngish student body; reports one MBA, "Most of my fellow students are younger and unmarried. They are friendly and nice to work with but only half have work experience that adds value to the program." The "team-oriented" program requires students to be "cooperative and friendly," and most here are "wonderful and hardworking, although there are a few slackers." Students note "a large disparity between the international students, students who came directly from their undergraduate studies, and those students who have been working for several years."

Students Say - Careers
MBA career-planning activities at Cal State Chico are handled by the office of Career Planning and Placement, which, according to the school's website, "engages in various recruitment, retention, graduation, and placement activities to support its diverse student population." About one in five Chico MBAs works in government after receiving the MBA; one in ten is employed in the financial services sector. Operations and production, consulting, and finance and accounting each claim about 20 percent of Chico MBAs. Students report that the MBA program "does a great job of placing graduates in jobs." Top employers of Chico MBAs include Accenture, Bearing Point, Capgemini, Chevron, Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, IBM, KPMG, and SAP.

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