Sharpen the skills to succeed in a startup environment with our MS x in Oakland.
Entrepreneurial success lies in your ability to rise to challenges and persevere. When you earn your MS in Management (MS x) from Northeastern University Oakland, you'll have the unique opportunity to cultivate your entrepreneurial skillset through integrating classroom instruction with authentic experience that will shape your learning. You'll learn from faculty with substantial industry experience, many of whom are entrepreneurs themselves.
Students will delve into topics critical to startups, like venture funding and new product development, and work within a cohort of like-minded classmates with similar aspirations in an environment undeniably conducive to growth. By studying in the Bay Area, you'll have access to some of the most successful tech and social ventures, allowing you to build your network while you gain the tangible skills to launch your own enterprise.
Study entrepreneurship in the Bay Area
Gain access to some of the most successful tech and social ventures.
Study at your own pace
Choose the full-time or part-time format on our Oakland campus.
Forge your path to an MBA
Earn up to 30 credits toward an eligible MBA and qualify for a Double Husky Scholarship.
Access personalized career management
Partner with a dedicated career advisor through the Graduate Career Center.
Learn from accomplished faculty and business leaders
Our faculty are start-up founders, executives, and renowned consultants.
Northeastern values a holistic approach to evaluating applications, considering factors such as academic performance, life as a global citizen, and a commitment to lifelong learning. Our admission decisions consider various aspects, including test scores (if provided), professional achievements, engagement with diversity and inclusion, essays, leadership, entrepreneurial pursuits, personal qualities, and overall fit. While these elements are not equally weighted, they collectively form the basis of our holistic review process. For more information, review our admissions policies. Optional Practical Training (OPT): Full-time study is F-1 and J-1 visa compliant for international students. You may become eligible to apply for OPT work authorization in the U.S. for up to 12 months after you complete your program.
Who is an ideal candidate for this program? If your ambition is to take your inspiration from raw idea to successful launch or to guide decision-making that propels ventures forward, this program is for you. You'll emerge armed with the cross-functional business knowledge to achieve those goals.
Questions? Please email the MS x Oakland team at oakland@northeastern.edu.
Program structure
Full-time format
As a full-time student, you'll take three to four courses per semester. You'll complete your degree in as few as 12 months (or 16 with a summer vacation). Full-time study is F-1 visa compliant for international students, who may also become eligible to apply to work in the United States for up to 12 months after graduation via Optional Practical Training (OPT).
Part-time format
*May be completed at a flexible pace but is usually completed in less than two years.
As a part-time student, you'll build skills that you can apply to your future career and complete the degree on your own schedule (typically taking two classes each term and completing the program in less than two years).
Entrepreneurship Concentration
Core requirements
Reviews the key theories and tools needed to understand how technological change creates new markets and prompts new business models, how technology-based firms can outcompete rivals in fast-growing markets characterized by high uncertainty, and how the evolution of technology in an industry affects the type of firm capabilities needed to succeed over time.
ENTR 6222 | 3 Hours
Explores key principles of accounting, as presented in the principal financial statements. Using those principles, explores a number of accounting practices and issues. Develops tools of financial analysis and financial planning and applies the information gained to business decision making. Utilizing the principle of time value of money to compare inflows and outflows of funds occurring at different times, develops basic decision tools for managers to make sound financial choices and to understand the context in which they are made. At the end of the course, the successful student should have a sound basic understanding of accounting and financial matters and the ability to understand business decisions in context and to evaluate the choices that management faces in the normal course of business development.
FINA 6309 | 3,4 Hours
Examines today's evolving environment, in which effective utilization of human resources is a source of competitive advantage. To maximize the contribution of organizational members, managers must be able to understand, diagnose, and influence workplace behavior in the context of change. Topics include management of cross-functional teams and boundaryless organizations. Emphasis is on the role of corporate culture and distributed leadership.
HRMG 6200 | 3 Hours
Covers basic principles and techniques of descriptive and predictive analytics. What are the essential data analysis concepts underlying business analytics? Topics include descriptive statistics, data visualization, probability and modeling uncertainty, sampling, estimation and confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, analysis of variance, simple and multiple regression analysis, time-series analysis, and forecasting. Emphasizes an understanding of how these tools can support decision making and analytics initiatives in a business context with real-world examples and case studies. Uses various software packages for analyzing data sets and creating visualizations.
MISM 6202 | 3 Hours
Electives
Complete 6 semester hours from the following:
Provides a business perspective on how to design and optimize platform-based business models for growth, value creation, and innovation and a practical analytical toolkit of theories, concepts, and frameworks. Uses case studies from various industries. Many of today's growth enterprises and startups are organized as platforms. Platforms facilitate other actors and support interactions among a wider “ecosystem” of users, services, suppliers, etc., and they have potential for massive growth and value creation. High returns to successful platform business models lead companies to learn to act like platforms. Technology trends toward digitization, big data, automation, etc., accelerate these trends. Aimed at people looking to work within existing companies or those interested in starting or growing new platforms.
INNO 6230 | 3 Hours
Examines the specific situation of entrepreneurial marketing. Topics include how to perform a market analysis when there are limited resources and tight schedules to be met. Also addresses new market situations, opportunity assessment, customer segmentation, going to market, and writing a marketing plan.
TECE 6230 | 3 Hours
Designed to provide students with an in-depth exposure to entrepreneurship in the social sector, a rapidly growing segment of the global economy. Uses the case method to expose students to leading entrepreneurs who have developed and implemented business models to solve social problems such as extreme poverty, disease, illiteracy, and economic and social dislocation. Focuses on uniquely creative and driven people who have dedicated their lives to making a difference in the lives of others through values-based entrepreneurship.
ENTR 6214 | 3 Hours
The curriculum listed above is subject to change. Enrolled students should reference the academic catalog for current program requirements.
Experiential Learning
At the core of a Northeastern education lies the emphasis on experience. The MS x program at Northeastern University Oakland immerses you in experience-powered learning. Beyond the classroom, you can seize opportunities like these.
Plan a successful career with genuine support
Dedicated career support through our Graduate Career Center
Tap into the extensive career planning tools and the deep understanding of the job market that our Graduate Career Center offers. Upon graduation, you'll join an active and esteemed alumni network that's 56,000 in number.
Get job search ready
Explore job postings
Next steps
Questions? Get in touch.
Please send any additional questions you may have to oakland@northeastern.edu.
How to apply
You'll need the following:
- Online application
- Non-refundable application fee
- Two essays / personal statements
- Current resumé
- Two letters of professional or academic recommendation
- Academic transcript(s)
- Passport or permanent residency card (if applicable)
- Optional GMAT/GRE
- TOEFL, IELTS, Duolingo, or PTE Academic (for international students only)