Business professionals who are already working extra hours to prove themselves worthy of a promotion may find it overwhelming to give up time for an MBA program. An MBA, however, can add significantly to a professional’s job experience and marketability, making it more plausible that he or she will get a promotion or benefit greatly from a career switch. MBAs generally earn higher salaries and take on more responsibilities at work, awarding them a more direct role in moving their company forward. To accommodate busy working professionals and their hectic schedules, many graduate and business schools offer evening and night programs. These are designed specifically with the intention of giving working professionals the opportunity to further their careers without having to quit their jobs, reduce their hours or give up weekends with family and friends in order to earn an MBA.

Evening MBA programs are offered as part-time alternatives to traditional, week-long, full-time programs. Even though they may take longer to complete — three years for a student who attends classes regularly — these programs afford much more flexibility and allow students to continue working at their normal jobs. Classes may be offered at the school’s main campus or at various satellite campuses around the city or even country to accommodate more students. Typically, part-time evening MBA programs require students to spend one to two nights per week, and students will usually take one or two classes at a time, per semester or per quarter. This system allows for a more focused study of each subject, instead of trying to cram several different classes and theories in at a time. Core courses in modern MBA programs are offered in areas like accounting, information systems, entrepreneurship, marketing, international business, statistics, financial management, micro- and macroeconomics, organizational behavior, business ethics, and leadership. Many part-time evening MBA programs still allow students to specialize in a particular field, like international business or global management, real estate, human resources management, information systems management, marketing, and others.

Because evening and weekend MBA programs typically attract the same types of students — working professionals looking to advance their careers through continued education — the classroom dynamic is very different from that of a traditional undergraduate or even full-time graduate program offered during the day. Students in evening MBA programs will almost always have solid work experience to pull from, making class discussions and project collaborations richer. Students can also help each other view things from a different perspective and share what it’s like to apply certain business principles in different office settings.

Even though evening and part-time MBA programs are designed to give busy professionals an opportunity to continue work while going to school, it isn’t always the most flexible option. Students will have to spend time commuting between work, school and home, depending on how close they work or live to campus. Three years may also seem like a long time to earn a degree and wait for a promotion at work; however, an evening schedule can be the right choice for many individuals.