Fast. Focused. Future oriented.

The Fuqua difference starts with the structure of our Accelerated Daytime MBA program. Here, you’ll find opportunities to learn and grow by going outside your comfort zone—exploring classes and experiences that help you take initiative, push your limits, and develop the many different skills you’ll need for long-term career success.

Getting started

Your journey begins with an intense month of orientation and immersion in a rigorous, hands-on program of three courses that emphasize leading and managing in an uncertain world. It’s designed to broaden your perspective, challenge the ways you think, and prepare you to maximize your year of study.

The remainder of the academic year is organized into four 6-week terms of MBA classes that each meet twice a week for 2 hours and 15 minutes. The term structure allows you to take a wide variety of electives, which can better prepare you for the next step in your career.

Team up

All Accelerated MBA students are assigned to a team of five to six peers with whom they will complete group projects for various courses. Your team will be hand-picked to allow you to learn from people who look, think, and work differently from you. You’ll learn to draw on each team member’s strengths and move the group toward a common purpose.

Our Faculty

All of our degree programs are taught by Fuqua’s top-ranked faculty, who are recognized for excellence in teaching and industry-shaping research. The courses they teach are academically challenging and relevant to the business world today. Despite world-class credentials, our faculty is highly accessible—they emphasize an open-door policy that encourages both collaboration with students and interdisciplinary thinking. Often, these teachers become your mentors for life.

Our Teaching Methods

Fuqua’s professors use lectures, cases studies, strategic games, simulations, visiting executives, and their own research to create a dynamic learning experience that pushes you to think and work in new and different ways. Net result? You get a deep and broad understanding of current business topics.

Making Theory Real

1. Case Studies

Case studies are real examples of corporate challenges that give you the opportunity to put theory to work. You gain industry knowledge and an appreciation for the management, operations, and leadership challenges that companies face every day.

2. Strategic Games

We've all played games before, but in an MBA classroom they take on a whole new meaning. Fuqua teaches you to recognize patterns and understand the basic nature of games. You’ll learn to identify what is happening around you and that you’re part of, so you can see the big picture, your options, and possible outcomes.

3. Realistic Simulations

The use of sophisticated business simulation teaches you how to run a company in a realistic business environment. You’ll get hands-on experience that goes way beyond what you’d learn in a textbook.

4. Research Centers

Our research centers are vital links between academic inquiry and real-world business. They create insights, dialogue, and curricula that change the course of business and enrich the student experience. Each research center draws on faculty from across Fuqua's academic areas, experienced practitioners, and students to address current business problems.

In ten months, Accelerated Daytime MBA students complete a combination of required and elective courses. Some course titles are subject to change.

  • Orientation (3 days)
  • Summer (4 weeks)
    • Entrepreneurial Action and Mindset (required)
    • Technology Driven Transformation of Business (required)
    • Business Computer Applications (required)
    • CLEAD 1 (required)
  • Fall 1 (6 weeks)
    • Electives (3-4)
  • Fall 2 (6 weeks)
    • Electives (3-4)
  • Winter
    • Optional elective workshop in Managerial Improvisation
  • Spring 1 (6 weeks)
    • Electives (3)
  • Spring 2 (6 weeks)
    • Business and Common Purpose in a World of Differences (required)
    • Electives (3)

Print Calendar

Month Date Event
July 2024 8 - 19 Business, Communications, and Culture Program [optional, unless required by Admissions] 
  12 Software Tools for Analytics course opens, Online Modules [mandatory], first day of classes
  21 - 26 Health Sector Management (HSM) Boot Camp [required for HSM Certificate]
  29 Duke I&E Innovators' Spark [optional]
  30 International Student Welcome Day
July - August 2024 31 - 2 First Year MBA Student (Class of 2026) Orientation
August 2025 5 First Day of Classes for First-Year Daytime MBA Students
  5 - 26 First Year Daytime MBA Student Classes [no classes on weekends]
  27 - 29 First Year Daytime Student Exams
  28 - 29 Class of 2025 C-Lead Course
September 2024 3 Pre-Term Accounting Review [optional]
  3 – 4 Career Management Center Programming
  5 FALL 1 SESSION BEGINS
October 2024 15 Fall 1 Session Ends
  17 - 19 Fall 1 Exams
  20 - 27 FALL BREAK
  28 FALL 2 SESSION BEGINS
November 2024 27 - 29 THANKSGIVING BREAK
December 2024 10 Fall 2 Session Ends
  12 - 14 Fall 2 Exams
  15 WINTER BREAK BEGINS
January 2025 6 - 10 Managerial Improvisation Course (optional Winter Term)
  16 SPRING 1 SESSION BEGINS
  20 Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday (no classes)
  21 M/Th classes held on Tuesday
  22 T/Fr classes held on Wednesday
February 2025 25 Spring 1 Session Ends
Feb - March 2025 27 - 1 Spring 1 Exams
March 2025 2 - 16 SPRING BREAK
  17 SPRING 2 SESSION BEGINS
April 2025 25 Spring 2 Session Ends
  28 - 30 Spring 2 Exams
May 2025 10 Class of 2025 Daytime MBA Commencement Ceremony
  11 Class of 2025 Duke-wide Commencement Ceremony

Print Calendar

Month Date Event
July 2025 7 - 18 Business, Communications, and Culture Program [optional, unless required by Admissions] 
  11 Software Tools for Analytics course opens, Online Modules [mandatory], first day of classes
  20 - 25 Health Sector Management (HSM) Boot Camp [required for HSM Certificate]
  28 Duke I&E Innovators' Spark [optional]
  29 International Student Welcome Day
July - August 2025 30 - 1 First Year Accelerated MBA Student (Class of 2026) Orientation
  31 First Day of Classes (Leading Business in a Complex World) for First-Year Accelerated MBA Students
August 2025 27 - 28 Class of 2026 C-Lead Course
  26 - 29 First Year Accelerated MBA Student Exams
  29 Pre-Term Accounting Review — 1pm - 5pm [optional]
September 2025 1 Labor Day (no classes)
  2 Pre-Term Accounting Review — 1pm - 5pm [optional]
  2 - 3 Career Management Center Programming
  4 FALL 1 SESSION BEGINS
October 2025 14 Fall 1 Session Ends
  16 - 18 Fall 1 Exams
  19 - 26 FALL BREAK
  27 FALL 2 SESSION BEGINS
November 2025 26 - 28 THANKSGIVING BREAK
December 2025 9 Fall 2 Session Ends
  11 - 13 Fall 2 Exams
  14 WINTER BREAK BEGINS
January 2026 5 - 9 Managerial Improvisation Course (optional Winter Term)
  15 SPRING 1 SESSION BEGINS
  19 Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday (no classes)
  20 M/Th classes held on Tuesday
  21 T/Fr classes held on Wednesday
February 2026 24 Spring 1 Session Ends
  26 - 28 Spring 1 Exams
March 2026 1 - 15 SPRING BREAK
  16 SPRING 2 SESSION BEGINS
April 2026 24 Spring 2 Session Ends
  27 - 29 Spring 2 Exams
May 2026 9 Class of 2026 Daytime MBA Commencement Ceremony
  10 Class of 2026 Duke-wide Commencement Ceremony
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Start Date: August 2024
Duration: 10 months
Location: Durham, NC
Style: Cohort-based
Curriculum: General management, plus 15 concentrations and two certificates
Elective Options: 100+

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Accelerated Daytime MBA

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