Core Curriculum

Our core curriculum is at the intersection of rigor and flexibility

Wharton’s academic departments have designed a rigorous core curriculum that will teach you the essential skills and concepts that alumni of the Wharton MBA program are expected to have mastered. These core concepts serve as the foundation for upper-level study and will resonate throughout your career.

While the theories taught in the core are indispensable to your academic development, we recognize that you are an individual with a well-developed sense of what it is that you want from your experience. For you, the core curriculum allows for flexibility to accommodate your background, interests, and goals.

The core curriculum is comprised of two parts:

Fixed Core

Taken with your cohort throughout the fall semester of the first year. We will register you for the Fixed Core based upon your cohort assignment.

Management

All MBA students must take the following (see course description):

MGMT 6100: Foundations of Teamwork and Leadership (0.5 CU)

Marketing

All MBA students must take the following (see course description):

MKTG 6110: Marketing Management (0.5 CU)

Microeconomics

Both of the following (see course descriptions):

MGEC 6110 (Effective 2024-2025, course will change to BEPP 6110): Microeconomics for Managers (0.5 CU)

MGEC 6120 (Effective 2024-2025, course will change to BEPP 6120): Advanced Microeconomics for Managers (0.5 CU)

Statistics

One of the following (see course descriptions):

STAT 6130: Regression Analysis for Business (1.0 CU)

STAT 6210: Accelerated Regression Analysis for Business (0.5 CU)

Communication

All students must take the following course (see course descriptions):

WHCP 6110: Management Communication (0.25 CU)

Plus, take one of the following in the spring of your first year:

WHCP 6120: Advanced Persuasion (0.25 CU)

WHCP 6150: Communication Challenges for Entrepreneurs (0.25 CU)

WHCP 6240: Persuasive Writing for Business Leaders (0.25 CU)

All students must also satisfy the Writing Requirement.

Flexible Core

Take courses that best fit your individual needs, backgrounds, and goals. Flexible core can be taken at any time during your MBA career.

Accounting

Take one of the following (see course descriptions):

ACCT 6110: Fundamentals of Financial Accounting (1.0 CU)

ACCT 6130: Fundamentals of Financial and Managerial Accounting (1.0 CU)

Corporate Finance

Take one of the following* (see course descriptions):

FNCE 6110: Corporate Finance (1.0 CU)

FNCE 6210: Introduction to Corporate Finance (0.5 CU)

*Students cannot take both FNCE 6210 and FNCE 6230 (see Macroeconomics below) to fulfill the flexible core requirements. Finance majors cannot take FNCE 6210 or FNCE 6230.

Legal Studies & Business Ethics

Take one of the following (see course descriptions):

LGST 6110: Responsibility in Global Management (0.5 CU)

LGST 6120: Responsibility in Business (0.5 CU)

LGST 6130: Business, Social Responsibility and the Environment (0.5 CU)

Macroeconomics

Take one of the following* (see course descriptions):

FNCE 6130: Macroeconomics and the Global Economic Environment (1.0 CU)

FNCE 6230: Introduction to Macroeconomics and the Global Economic Environment (0.5 CU)

*Students cannot take both FNCE 6210 (see Corporate Finance) and FNCE 6230 to fulfill the flexible core requirements. Finance majors cannot take FNCE 6210 or FNCE 6230.

Management

Take one of the following (see course descriptions):

MGMT 6110: Managing the Established Enterprise (1.0 CU)

MGMT 6120: Managing the Emerging Enterprise (1.0 CU)

Marketing

Take one of the following (see course descriptions):

MKTG 6120: Dynamic Marketing Strategy (0.5 CU)

MKTG 6130: Strategic Marketing Simulation (0.5 CU)

Operations, Information & Decisions

Complete 1 credit unit from the following (see course descriptions):

OIDD 6110: Quality and Productivity (0.5 CU)

OIDD 6120: Business Analytics (0.5 CU)

OIDD 6130: Online Business Models & the Information-Based Firm (0.5 CU)

OIDD 6140: Innovation (0.5 CU)

OIDD 6150: Operations Strategy (0.5 CU)

OIDD 6620: Enabling Technologies (0.5 – 1.0 CU)

OIDD 6900: Managerial Decision Making (1.0 CU)

The fixed core forms the backbone of the fall semester. However, there is still room to take either flexible core courses or electives. In spring semester of your first year, you will have a greater opportunity to complete additional elements of the flexible core while beginning to explore your specific elective interests and/or major requirements. A team of academic advisors are at your disposal, ready to help you chart the best course for you.

Course Match, your personal scheduling agent, is used to register for flexible core courses and for most electives. An orientation to Course Match is provided during Pre-Term.

IMPORTANT: Due to course availability constraints, students who decide to wait to complete the flexible core in their final semester may find their schedule less preferential.