Why a Master of Business Administration

The Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree at the Milgard School of Business is a comprehensive 64-credit graduate degree designed to provide experienced professionals and managers with new tools for responding to the challenges of change. The MBA program encourages managers to develop a strong mix of leadership, technological, financial, analytical, relational and communication skills needed to lead organizations facing an increasing pace of change. Our high-quality program is immediately relevant to practicing managers. 

Our MBA degree is a hybrid program that can be completed in 6-7 quarters. Please view the Design and Courses page for a detailed description of the program structure. 

Application deadlines:

  • March 1: Priority domestic applicants and international students planning to apply for a new student visa (F1/J1)
  • August 1: Final application deadline for domestic applicants (US citizens or permanent residents with green cards) and international applicants who currently have an H1-B, H4, or other visa (including transferring an I-20 from another school) 

START YOUR APPLICATION NOW

Admission Requirements

The following are required for admission to the Milgard School of Business MBA Program and the University of Washington Graduate School:

  1. A baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university.
  2. Prefer 3.0 grade-point average calculated from the applicant's final 90 graded quarter credits or 60 graded semester credits.
  3. The GMAT/GRE is currently waived for all applicants. Applicants may leave the test section blank when submitting the application.
  4. Minimum of two years of managerial and/or professional work experience:
  • Management: Defined as direct responsibility for the assets of an organization; supervision of two or more people (e.g., manager, executive leader, team leader, group/project coordinator, etc.); special projects; processes; databases; budgets, etc.
  • Professional: Requires professional expertise in business functions such as sales, accounting, human resources, finance, marketing, operations, etc. and/or technical functions such as engineering, research, logistics, computer programming, sciences, etc.
STEP-BY-STEP LIST

How to Apply

Step

Action

1. Create a Profile & Complete Application

Create a "new applicant profile" by providing your contact and other personal information at the University of Washington Graduate School application website.

Next, please select the Graduate application type and then choose one of the UW Tacoma Program: Business, Milgard School of (Tacoma) MBA

Follow directions on the online application to create your applicant profile. 

2. Provide Supporting Documentation

Complete each section of the online application:

  • Upload your Resume
  • Upload Unofficial Transcripts from each college/university attended
  • Upload admission essays
  • Employment History
  • Applicant Survey
  • Designate professional references to receive the online reference form. Note: After you enter and submit the reference’s email address they will receive an email—even if you haven’t paid your application fee yet!
  • Optional: Complete the MBA Applicant Scholarship Application *see scholarship webpage for deadline.

3. GMAT/GRE

GMAT/GRE scores are currently waived for all applicants until further notice

4. Acknowledgment

Login to the UW Graduate School Application and verify that your application is complete.  Please note that all required materials must be received before your application can be evaluated. You may be contacted by the Milgard MBA Program Office requesting additional material as needed.

5. Decisions

The MBA Admissions Committee reviews applications on a rolling basis.

6. Post Admission Follow Up

If you are admitted to the Milgard School of Business MBA and choose to attend, then log back into your application page and follow the steps online.

International Students

If you are an admitted international applicant and indicated you would be requesting an I-20 or DS-2019, you will be given separate instructions. International students often have very specific questions regarding language, financial requirements, and employment opportunities. Due to the program starting in autumn quarter, there is a limited amount of time to submit your request and provide the financial documents. Delaying this process may result in not obtaining your visa in time to join the program.

  • Transcripts: In addition to the transcripts listed above, international students must submit their official transcripts and degree statements from all institutions attended with certified translations in English to the UW Graduate School.
  • All I-20 Forms: If you are currently residing in the U.S., provide photocopies of all 1-20 Certificate of Eligibility forms with the F-1 visa stamp, or DS-2019 (Certificate of Eligibility forms) with the J-1 visa stamp or any current visa status forms issued to you. Please mail copies of these to the UW Graduate School and the Master of Science in Business Analytics at the Milgard School of Business, University of Washington Tacoma.
  • All international applicants are required to review the following website: https://grad.uw.edu/prospective-students/how-to-apply/international-applicants/

March 1 is the final date for applicants with international baccalaureate degrees or higher to apply to the Milgard MBA.

Your international transcript must include:

  • Degree statement, including date of graduation and title of academic degree awarded
  • All coursework with grades
  • The record must be submitted in the original language along with a certified English translation

For application review by the Milgard MBA admission committee you may provide copies if they meet the criteria outlined above.

If you are admitted to the Milgard School and choose to attend, then the UW Graduate School will require you to submit official International Academic Credentials.  For additional information on this requirement, refer to the UW Graduate School website.

Required Supplemental Application Materials & Resume

Your resume, submitted online in plain text, or uploaded in Word or PDF, should include the following:

  • All managerial and professional work experience since graduating from high school
  • Any relevant community and/or extracurricular activities
  • Any awards, honors, or other forms of recognition (academic, community, military, etc.) earned

Personal statement - all applicants must submit the 2 required short essays online in plain text, or upload in Word or PDF in one paginated document using a minimum font size of 11. An opportunity is provided to include an optional essay. The required essays (750 words per essay maximum) address the following topics:

Essay 1: What are your career goals?
Essay 2: How will the UWT MBA program help you accomplish your career goals, given your current professional and educational background? If you are interested in a concentration, please highlight that in this essay.

Unofficial transcripts - Upload unofficial transcripts from all colleges and universities you have attended. If you aren't able to upload the document, then please mail copies of your unofficial transcripts to the Milgard School of Business, ATTN: MBA Program Advisor.

Optional essay - Use this essay to include any other information you believe would be helpful to the Admissions Committee in considering your application (250 words maximum) and uploaded in Word or PDF in one paginated document using a minimum font size of 11.