Catholic MBA programs see business as force for good, blending doctrine, commerce

(OSV News) -- It's the most popular graduate degree in the United States: a Master of Business Administration. And there's no shortage of institutions of higher learning at which to earn one -- more than 500 American schools offer MBA studies.

But for scholars seeking an MBA rooted in Catholic ethics and social teaching, there are now more choices, as Catholic colleges both launch and expand their degree offerings.

The Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America in Washington will inaugurate its first Master of Business Administration program in late August, with an online version starting in January 2026.

The nine-month, 36-credit-hour, accelerated MBA program is tailored to recent college graduates with less than five years' professional experience, and includes both an internship and study abroad "capstone" experience -- the first of which is planned to take place in Rome. Tuition is $1,385 per credit hour. (The required "capstone" experience incurs additional fees.)

"Pretty much anyone in the world can benefit from this education," said Andrew Abela, founding dean of the Busch School of Business. "Even if they're already employed somewhere and want to advance their careers, and want to learn how to do it in a way that is consistent with being a faithful Christian."

The Busch School of Business is one of only 6% of business schools in the world accredited by AACSB International (the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), the world's top business accrediting organization.

"We have a phrase we use in the Busch School," continued Abela, "and we have used it since the beginning: that business is a force for good. As our late Holy Father said, business can be a noble profession, so long as you see in it a higher calling. And that's what we're helping our students understand, is that higher calling. Which," he added, "is not in opposition to profitability."

Abela -- who co-wrote "A Catechism for Business: Tough Ethical Questions & Insights from Catholic Teaching" (Catholic University of America Press) -- noted that Busch School graduates "are highly successful in business; they get paid very well because they're very effective, but they're very good. And the good is in both senses -- both in an ethical sense and in an effectiveness sense, combined together always."

Attesting to Abela's assertion, 96% of Busch School undergraduates secure full-time employment within six months of graduation.

"What's particularly distinctive about the Busch School of Business -- distinctive from most other business schools -- is that our full-time faculty are equally split between scholars and former executives," explained Abela. "Many other business schools have former senior executives as adjunct faculty or may have one or two full-timers. For us, by design, the whole faculty is split half and half."

Specializations within the new MBA -- for which a certificate is awarded in addition to the degree itself -- include strategic management, data analytics or church administration. Courses emphasize practical learning through case studies, collaborative projects and real-world applications.

"This is the culmination of 12 years of our work since the foundation of the Busch School in 2013," Abela shared. "We started with an undergraduate program, and we made sure that whatever we were teaching -- whether it's finance, or marketing, or accounting, or whatever -- that all of the subjects are taught from the perspective of a Christian anthropology; an understanding of who the human person is: created in God's image, saved by Christ, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. And that changes some things more than others."

So how does that perspective impact course content?

"Some parts of accounting -- for example, debits and credits -- aren't going to change much," said Abela. "But when you start to think about the various principles you use in accounting -- when you come close to any sort of ethical questions -- then it really matters, making sure you understand who the human person is."

Harvey Seegers, associate dean of the Busch School of Business, echoed Abela's explanation.

"We are very proactively going to be integrating Catholic social doctrine into all of the courses in the MBA, whether it's in person or online," said Seegers. "We will be talking about subsidiarity, solidarity; we'll be working in the cardinal virtues -- really trying to make it a Catholic-centered MBA."

Both administration and funders have shared a common emphasis.

"The men and women who put the seed capital into the Busch School of Business -- notably Tim Busch, and many others who have contributed -- have been relentless in their insistence that this not be just another MBA program," Seegers shared. "That this be an advanced course in management, and that it was decidedly Catholic."

More than 1,000 applications were received by students hoping to undertake the new MBA.

"We purposely had not gone forward with an MBA program before, because we thought it was important for us to get AACSB accreditation," Seegers explained. "When we decided to go forward, we announced that to our board of visitors. And they emphasized what we were already going to do -- let's not make this just a generic MBA."

In the fall of 2022, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, unveiled enhancements to its own MBA program, including new courses in leadership, personal vocation, and an in-depth integration of Catholic social teaching into real-world business principles and best practices.

Thirty-six credit hours -- at $600 per credit hour -- are required in the online program, which can be completed in one to two years.

"There is an unprecedented level of confusion in contemporary society, and the business world is certainly not immune," said Jeff Rankin, associate professor of business and director of Franciscan's MBA program. "Our enhanced MBA program equips graduates with the knowledge and skills that professional success and transformational leadership require, and does so in a moral framework that promotes their full flourishing as human beings."

Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, North Carolina -- founded in 1876 by the Benedictine monks of neighboring Belmont Abbey -- has seen steady enrollment growth since it introduced its MBA in 2023.

A reported 80% of Belmont Abbey MBA graduates secure a job within three months.

The degree -- available completely online, requiring 30 hours of classes, and with tuition of $795 per credit hour -- can be finished in one calendar year. Students select from multiple concentrations, including traditional disciplines such as leadership and marketing, and more unique studies such as motorsports management.

New MBA concentrations added in June 2025 include artificial intelligence, business analytics, cybersecurity, finance and health care administration.

"Our program was founded on developing moral and ethical business leaders with a focus on the Catholic intellectual tradition and Benedictine ethos," said Brad Frazier, professor of business and director of the MBA degree. "For their first course, all MBA students begin by taking MAL 602, 'Ethical Leadership for the Common Good.'"

Students are, Frazier explained, "immersed in ethical and moral leadership, theological study of the Rule of St. Benedict and other Catholic leadership texts, and philosophy of seeking what is good, right, and true."

"This is," he added, "a unique course for all MBA students that allows Belmont Abbey to provide a foundational structure for our students, who learn to embrace and understand the need and obligation for our business leaders to act with integrity."

The curriculum is infused with "continuous reinforcement of the need for moral and ethical leadership not only in their course of study, but in their careers," said Frazier.

The ultimate aim of the MBA program is both practical and transcendent.

"Belmont Abbey," Frazier concluded, "seeks to develop ethical leaders and send them into the world to make a positive impact -- and to be a blessing to themselves and others."