The University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs and Mendoza College of Business have partnered to offer a dual master’s degree program in global affairs and business administration. The MGA/MBA program serves students with academic and professional interests in global affairs and business. The new program enables students to complete two two-year degree programs within three years.
“Knowing how to engage with the private sector can be an important tool for becoming an effective and ethical changemaker,” said Becca Méndez, associate director of the master of global affairs program. “In an increasingly global workforce, having skills and knowledge in these complementary fields provides a real benefit.”
“A master in global affairs is a perfect complement to a master of business administration,” said Kelli Kilpatrick, Notre Dame MBA program director. “The combination of the two creates an intersection of business and global affairs and would be an attractive course of study for students seeking a truly international approach to growing the good in business.”
“Within my peer group there is huge untapped demand for combining global affairs, economic development, and international business,” said Jamison Greene, a student in the program who is a former financial analyst and Peace Corps volunteer. “The goal is to combine our passions for business and international development and add value to society.”
Timothy Derr, another student enrolled in the program, says he appreciates having two diverse sets of classmates.
“Through the master of global affairs program I have classmates from all over the world, giving me a truly global perspective, and in the MBA program I have peers with knowledge of finance, accounting, real estate, and marketing,” said Derr, a former Peace Corps volunteer and marketing and communications specialist. “Having learned from the exchange of perspectives will provide a real advantage when applying for jobs in sustainable development.”
Interested students apply separately for the MBA in the Mendoza School of Business, and the MGA at the Keough School of Global Affairs. Students can apply to both programs simultaneously, or apply to one program after having enrolled in the other. Applications are evaluated independently by each school using the criteria for their respective programs.
Learn more about the MGA/MBA program
Photo: Timothy Derr, center, a Notre Dame graduate student in the MGA/MBA program, with MBA students Sydney Bailey, left, and Olivia Feldpausch, right, during a presentation to a USAID team at the US embassy in Skopje, North Macedonia. Derr and his classmates traveled to North Macedonia in March as part of Business on the Frontlines, a course offered by the Mendoza College of Business.
