Corporate MBA and business leadership degrees

Organizations choose Kelley for top-tier business management training

Kelley pioneered high-quality online graduate business education, offering degree programs consistently ranked among the best in the country. And we have a proven record of providing successful, customized programs for a wide range of corporate partners in Indiana and worldwide—for more than 40 years.

Our degree partnerships offer business leadership degrees, including a master’s in strategic management and an MBA, that seamlessly build upon each other, providing a path to a prestigious Kelley degree for your leaders or members. Corporate returns include:

Stronger management and strategic thinking capabilities
Career advancement benefits for recruiting top talent
A corporate retention strategy that includes growth opportunities
A unique culture of learning and engaged team building
A stronger leadership pipeline
An option to customize course material to focus on core needs within your business.

Explore a partnership

Schedule a consultation.

Email Kelley

See what partnerships look like.

Go to partnerships

What students learn

Our degree partnership programs are taught by the same world-renowned Kelley faculty who teach our residential programs. Your employees will grow professionally through:

A “just the academics” focus. We’ll sharpen and build their skill sets with high-quality academics and with networking and career development focused on internal corporate needs.
Developing firm-specific human capital. As the degrees become more advanced, our students engage in projects designed around specific needs within their organizations. This can include real-world case studies in your industry and company-specific issues you face.
Action learning. We believe that a hands-on approach to learning ensures that your employees leave our program with relevant work experience and the confidence to succeed.

Kelley student sitting working on a laptop and writing in a notebook.

Energize and engage your people with these degrees designed exclusively for our degree partnerships. The level of customization is up to you.

Business Management Certificate (BMC)

Students learn how to improve business operations through:

Project management
IT leadership
Business research
Artificial intelligence

Master of Science in Strategic Management (MSSM)

Mid-career and advanced professionals build capabilities in:

Organizational development and change
Strategic thinking
Operational management
Competitive analysis
Entrepreneurship

Partner MBA

Mid-career and advanced professionals go deeper into these topics:

Business law and ethics
Economics
Marketing
Finance
Operations

“At Kelley, online education isn’t just convenient—it’s transformational. We collaborate with our partners to design practical, interactive degree programs that align with their strategic goals and energize their people.”

Carolyn GoernerFaculty Director of Kelley Executive Education Custom Degree Programs

FAQ

Our degree partnerships enable companies and organizations to create learning and advancement opportunities for their employees through high quality, online business degrees. Custom options can focus course material on core needs of the organization.

Unlike other Kelley degree programs, our Partner MBA, MS in Strategic Management, and Business Management Certificate are designed for corporate partners that want to develop and retain leadership and talent. Our partnerships build leadership pipelines and engage talent who want to make a greater impact on their organization. Networking and career development focus on internal corporate needs instead of helping students find jobs outside of the company.

The Business Management Certificate (BMC) can serve as a stackable pathway to an MS in Strategic Management (MSSM). MSSM credits can be transferred to the Partner MBA. Essentially, employee cohorts can begin earning the graduate certificate, go on to earn an MSSM, and later, obtain the Partner MBA.

Rates are negotiated based on the amount of customization, which results in a significantly lower cost than comparable programs.

The more employees you have signed up, the more available offerings for your organization. For example, if you have 35 employees interested in receiving an MBA through this program, we can completely customize the coursework for your organization. With targeted topics and fewer electives, the coursework is streamlined for relevance to your team.

Kelley designs our online graduate programs for professionals who work full time. Your talent can learn valuable business skills in a format and pace that works with their lives and your retention goals. For example, some programs allow their talent to take up to five years to complete their MBA. They can adjust their schedules or take a term off depending on other commitments, and depending on employer allowances, they can enter the program during any of the four terms for the degree. Core courses are delivered throughout the curriculum instead of at the beginning of the program.

How do I learn more about degree partnerships, with or without customization?

Check out our partners

Corporations, associations for professional athletes, and other organizations choose Kelley for top-tier business management training, including our Partner MBA.

Check out our partners

Schedule a consultation

Email the team to schedule time to discuss degree partnerships and customization options.

Schedule a consultation

Fill out the form

Provide information about your corporate development needs to receive more information about degree partnerships and custom options.

Meet our team

Carolyn Goerner

Faculty Director of Kelley Executive Education Custom Degree Programs

Carolyn Goerner, PhD, is the faculty director of Kelley Executive Education Custom Degree Programs at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and is the John D. Long Distinguished Fellow for KEEP Leadership. She joined the Kelley faculty in 2000 after receiving her PhD in management and human resources at The Ohio State University. Carolyn was a human resource management consultant for 10 years prior to graduate school.

Since joining IU, Carolyn has designed and delivered a variety of courses to executive, graduate, and undergraduate student audiences. She is also a LinkedIn Learning author of eleven courses including Overcoming Imposter Syndrome, Empathy at Work, and Advanced Negotiation Strategies; her courses have been viewed by over a million people. Carolyn has received IU’s highest teaching honors, including the Trustees' Teaching Award and the Alumni Association Student Choice Award.

Carolyn is passionate about live theatre, IU Football, IU Women’s Basketball, Indy car racing, and the Green Bay Packers. She lives in Greenwood, Indiana, with her husband Peter and their dogs, Charlotte and Etta.

Christine Everett

Interim Executive Director of Kelley Executive Education Custom Degree Programs

cdavis@iu.edu

Hannah Burcham

Assistant Director of Admissions

hanburch@iu.edu

Hannah Burcham is the assistant director of admissions for Kelley Executive Education Programs. Before coming to KEEP, she worked for five years in the graduate admissions office at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering. She completed her undergraduate degree at IU Southeast and obtained a BS in Business by triple majoring in human resource management, business management, and marketing. Hannah continued her studies at IU Bloomington and received a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education and Student Affairs as well as an MS in Education with a focus on adult education.

Organizations choose Kelley for top-tier business management training

Explore a partnership

What students learn

Energize and engage your people with these degrees designed exclusively for our degree partnerships. The level of customization is up to you.

Business Management Certificate (BMC)

Master of Science in Strategic Management (MSSM)

Partner MBA

FAQ

What are Kelley degree partnerships?

How do these degrees differ from other offerings at IU?

What is the “stackable approach” to partnership degrees?

How much do the degree programs cost?

What does flexibility mean for these degrees?

How do I learn more about degree partnerships, with or without customization?

Check out our partners

Schedule a consultation

Fill out the form

Meet our team

Carolyn Goerner

Bio

Christine Everett

Hannah Burcham

Bio

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