What is the Haas School of Business

The Haas School of Business is the business school at the University of California-Berkeley. It offers a wide variety of programs, including an MBA degree, master's program in financial engineering, Ph.D. and undergraduate studies. The school's programs are usually ranked among the top in the country.

BREAKING DOWN Haas School of Business

The Haas School of Business was originally founded in 1898 as the College of Commerce of the University of California, making it the first business school founded at a public university in the U.S. It was later named after Walter Haas, past president of Levi Strauss, who made a significant donation to the school in the 1970s. He passed away in 1979. The current campus was designed by architect Charles Moore and completed in 1995.

An undergraduate degree from the Haas School of Business will include core business classes such as organizational behavior, marketing, business communication, accounting and finance. Students can add a concentration in global management or earn a dual degree in business and management, entrepreneurship and technology.

There are several ways to earn an MBA from Haas:

  • Full-time MBA (two-year program)
  • Part-time MBA (three-year program with classes held evenings and weekends)
  • Executive MBA (completed in 19 months)

The school also offers a master's in finance and Ph.Ds in management, marketing, finance, public policy, accounting and real estate. Only 14-16 applicants are accepted into the Ph.D. program each year, and they are expected to finish in four to five years.

Unlike many other MBA programs in the U.S., 40 percent of the Haas School of Business MBA students are women. They also fare better than many other female MBA graduates. Three years after graduating, women with a Haas MBA report making an average of almost $180,000, second only to Stanford MBA holders and third worldwide.

Alumni from the Haas School of Business include CEOs, CFOs, company founders, a school dean, a comic strip writer, an Olympic gold medalist and South Korea's first astronaut. The school's proximity to San Francisco gives students numerous opportunities for internships at companies such as Google and Visa.