Want to change the world? You’ve come to the right place. The complex social and environmental challenges facing us today demand leaders with the passion, skills, and deep knowledge to create lasting change.

At Booth, you’ll build on the fundamentals of business with opportunities to compete in social venture competitions, serve on nonprofit boards, and consult with mission-driven organizations. Centers such as the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation provide you with a number of opportunities to make the world more equitable and sustainable, while student groups and business accelerator programs such as the John Edwardson, ’72, Social New Venture Challenge allow you to network and get the most of your MBA experience. When you graduate, you’ll be ready to tackle some of the world’s most difficult problems.

At Booth, You Own Your MBA Experience

A Booth MBA is rooted in The Chicago Approach, the educational philosophy that sets Booth apart from every other business school in the world.

What's more, our MBA curriculum for Full-Time and Part-Time MBA students is the most flexible among top programs globally. The level and sequence in which you take your foundational courses at Booth is not set in stone. You can customize your education to support your professional interests and goals, because we know there is no singular roadmap to career success.

Listed here are just a few of the many social impact-focused MBA courses that provide the tools and insights you need to change the world.

Course Short Description
Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation allows students to identify an opportunity for an innovative social venture, research relevant academic literature, conduct customer discovery, analyze the competitive landscape, validate and refine the product/service, propose a business model, go-to-market strategy, and come up with an impact measurement strategy.
Evaluating and Scaling Social Innovation

Evaluation and Scaling Social Innovation is a project-based course that allows students to choose a social or environmental issue about which they are passionate and confront the challenges of foundations and investors by developing an investment hypothesis and possible solution for capital.
Social Impact Lab

Social Impact Lab is a project-based course where students deeply examine a social or environmental issue and work in small groups to develop a proposal for a company, nonprofit, or other organization to address the issue.
Social Sector Strategy and Structure

Social Sector Strategy and Structure gives students use cases and exercises to examine and unpack key topics in social sector management and strategy, including organizational structure from a tax-status perspective, common business models, management tools, and impact measurement.

To see more Booth MBA courses, visit our course catalog.

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MBA Concentrations at Booth You Can Consider

Our flexible curriculum gives you the freedom to focus your MBA experience on a specific area of interest. Earning an MBA concentration gives you deep knowledge in a given field and sets you up for success in your career. Concentrations are available to Full-Time, Evening, and Weekend MBA students.

Several of our concentrations are of particular interest to students planning to pursue social impact with their MBA. In addition, our Civic Scholars Program provides substantial tuition awards to impact-driven professionals who work in the public or nonprofit sector, and the University of Chicago Obama Foundation Scholarship program provides a distinctly interdisciplinary approach to advancing social change.

MBA Student Groups in Social Impact

Joining a student-led group committed to social change is an excellent way to explore career options, make connections with like-minded classmates, and build a strong community. Among our many student organizations are several that are specifically committed to social impact.

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Discover Alumni Outcomes

Our alumni are delivering social impact around the globe—bringing low-cost electricity to Haiti, educating voters across the United States, and providing autism therapy to children in rural communities.

Dig into Our Employment Reports

From government to healthcare to nonprofit management, our graduates are making a difference. See our employment reports for details.

Explore Full-Time Employment Data

Explore Part-Time Employment Data

Booth Research Centers in This Area

Our interdisciplinary research centers give you access to workshops, conferences, leading scholars, and research opportunities.

Faculty Research in Social Impact

Our faculty are award-winning scholars whose work is regularly covered in Chicago Booth Review, our influential magazine focusing on business, policy, and markets.

Leverage Resources Across the University

Students who are interested in a career in social impact can leverage additional resources across the University of Chicago, including the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) and the University of Chicago Urban Labs.

EPIC produces data-driven research that advances society’s understanding of the global energy challenge and translates research insights into real-world impacts through strategic outreach and training for the next generation of global energy leaders.

The University of Chicago Urban Labs works to address challenges across five key dimensions of urban life: crime, education, energy and environment, health, and economic opportunity.

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We take a holistic approach to admissions at Chicago Booth. Explore the admissions process for MBA, PhD, and other Booth programs.

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