When considering a graduate program for professional advancement, many seek out a Master of Business Administration or MBA. But BIC provides another option that’s a bit less known: the Master of Professional Studies or MPS.  Since both focus on business careers, many candidates applying to the BIC program often ask: what’s the difference?

A typical MBA requires 60 credits (600 class hours) of graduate work and prepares graduates for such jobs as business analyst or strategist, management consultant, project manager, and operations analyst. An MPS is also an industry-related degree which is more application than research driven. It requires fewer credits for completion, usually between 30-40 credits, and can take anywhere from one to two years to complete. Like the MBA, an MPS is a terminal degree, often applied to interdisciplinary studies. The MPS equivalent among professional degrees includes the Master of Public Administration (MPA), the Master of Social Work (MSW), the Master of Business Administration (MBA), and the Master of Fine Arts (MFA), among others. Other universities in the New York City area that offer the MPS are Cornell, St. John's, NYU, and the School of Visual Arts. While less common than an MBA, it is a nationally recognized degree.

The only CUNY college to offer an MPS is The City College of New York (CCNY). Its Branding + Integrated Communications (BIC) MPS is 36-credit, portfolio-driven program that combines theory and practice in an interdisciplinary, multi-tracked curriculum. BIC addresses the expanding opportunities and needs of marketing communications industries on behalf of both private and not-for-profit organizations. The program seeks to urgently address and shape the new cross-disciplinary challenges of creating and managing brand identity at a time when global, digital and more immersive -- even tactile -- communications are rapidly evolving and technology is constantly changing.

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