Texas Austin McCombs

History

In 1839, the Congress of the Republic of Texas ordered that a site be set aside to meet the state’s higher educational needs. Austin was selected as the site for the university in 1881 after a series of delays. In 1883, the University of Texas at Austin opened with eight professors and 221 students. The School of Business Administration was later established in 1922. In 2011, the School acquired its current name McCombs School of Business due to the $50 million donation received from auto dealership owner Red McCombs.

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of The University of Texas at Austin is to achieve excellence in the interrelated areas of undergraduate education, graduate education, research and public service. The university provides superior and comprehensive educational opportunities at the baccalaureate through doctoral and special professional educational levels. The university contributes to the advancement of society through research, creative activity, scholarly inquiry and the development of new knowledge. The university preserves and promotes the arts, benefits the state’s economy, serves the citizens through public programs and provides other public service.

Core Strengths of the School

The Texas MBA program is built on four key pillars of knowledge and understanding, responsibility and integrity, communication and collaboration, and a worldview of business and society. It is these principles that empower the students to take on responsible leadership roles in the future and contribute towards the society. Apart from building a strong foundation in business fundamentals, the core curriculum offers a series of customizable courses that have a keen emphasis on ethical leadership, global perspective, and managerial proficiency. Further, the elective courses enable the students to tailor their MBA experience in alignment with their career goals. The Texas MBA + Leadership program is a highly relevant and tangible program built to evolve the personal leadership style of each student. The program is structured to transform students into influential business leaders through a series of seminars conducted by industry experts, micro-consulting projects with outside companies, and access to a selected group of professional and executive coaches. Students work in teams for the client companies in the micro-consulting projects, where they tackle a current business problem faced by the company. Students get to learn about the project management process through this experience and report their recommendations to the client by the end of this project.

Uniqueness in MBA Pedagogy

There are ample of hands-on learning opportunities at the campus, as the School believes in learning by doing. Students who dream of an entrepreneurial career can be benefited by the series of initiatives taken by the Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs (TVL). Students get a chance to do consulting for local startups, and solve their business challenges, thus, helping them in introducing their products to market. This experience exposes the students to the intricacies of market validation, competitive analysis, financial analysis, and business model assessment. The New Venture Creation NVC course introduces the students to the issues, concepts and challenges of creating a new venture and equips the students with the requisite knowledge to evaluate the business opportunities as an entrepreneur. Students can participate in the Texas Venture Labs Investment Competition (Texas VLIC) and receive invaluable feedback and guidance from seasoned entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders. Some of the students even go ahead with launching their own businesses. The Venture Partner program enables the students to work on their startups right after the graduation and receive salaries while working on their own ventures simultaneously. The mission of the program is to support student started ventures.

With the intention to provide a global perspective to the students, McCombs offers several opportunities to the students to deepen their understanding on the international business scenario. The McCombs Global Connections MGC comprises of an intensive credit course and an eight-to-ten day study tour to the business powerhouses of the world. Students visit the multinational and local companies of the host country and explore the business and market dynamics of the nation. McCombs has exchange partnerships with leading business schools across the world and students can spend an entire semester in one of the partner schools by enrolling for the Exchange Program to broaden their perspective on international business. The McCombs Adventure Program MAP is a pre-orientation adventure for the incoming students to spend time with seasoned experts who lead international trips to places such as Vietnam and Nicaragua.

CONCENTRATIONS OFFERED

LOCATION ADVANTAGES

The city of Austin is a hub for technology, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, thus offering ample of employment and internship opportunities to the students. Companies such as 3M, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Google, etc. have their operations in the city. The city hosts numerous events such as Eeyore’s birthday party, Spamarama, Austin Reggae Festival, Kite Festival, and Pecan Street Festival, etc. Austin boasts of a strong theater culture with venues such as Zachary Scott Theatre Center, Vortex Repertory Company, Hyde Park Theater, etc. hosting live performances throughout the year. In terms of outdoor recreation, the city offers activities such as swimming, kayaking, rock-climbing, mountain biking and hiking.

CAREER SUPPORT

The Texas MBA Career Management team supports the students by offering a broad spectrum of resources and personalized guidance at each step of their careers. The Strategic Career Planning course in the first year equips the students with the requisite skills to achieve success in their careers. The Career Advisors help the students explore the various career options and do a self-assessment that would guide them to choose a career aligning with their career goals. Students receive expert advice and guidance on resume writing, cover letter composition, interview skills and offer negotiations. The Skill Development curriculum trains the students on behavioral and case interview questions and teaches efficient job search, networking and marketing techniques.