Thunderbird's specialized MGM program delivers cross-cultural, hands-on training in the nuances of international management, preparing students with the perfect balance of practical and people skills to inspire, influence and drive global success. Students globalize their mindset and marketability by pairing their deep-dive leadership training with an innovative concentration area, foreign language options, practical training, consultative collaborations with corporate partners, internships, real-world simulations and study abroad modules.
Programs start in August or January with a 16- or 21-month track.
The accelerated MGM allows students to earn both a bachelor's and master's degree in as few as five years. With the help of their undergraduate academic advisor, this cost-effective option allows students to take 12 credit hours of core master's degree classes during their senior year based on their major map.
Students in the MGM program can choose from one of the 16 concentration areas or design their own concentration. This program features three concentration options for STEM specializations that meet F-1 student visa status requirements, starred below.
Thunderbird concentrations:
- global affairs
- global business*
- global digital transformation*
- global entrepreneurship
Concentrations offered in partnership with other ASU schools and colleges:
- creative industries and design thinking
- data science*
- development and innovation
- digital audience strategy
- health care delivery
- integrated health care
- legal studies
- nonprofit leadership and management
- public administration
- public policy
- sustainability solutions
- sustainable tourism
Students complete rigorous core courses in global management, international political economy and cross-cultural engagement, with electives spanning the gamut of the university's offerings. The result is a flexible, multidisciplinary curriculum featuring a rich variety of coursework in international business and management, social sciences and humanities.
A Thunderbird education features experiential learning for exponential impact. Applied learning courses give students diverse opportunities to work face-to-face with clients or participate in real-life simulations as part of their program. Students have a variety of options to develop and refine their hard skills by choosing from a wide spectrum of hands-on courses and applied learning offerings that are at once practical and cutting-edge, preparing them to enter the workforce and thrive immediately. These real-world experiences are built into the curriculum, ensuring 100% participation from Thunderbird students.
Moving from theory to real-world practice, students get invaluable experience by taking on projects for major corporations and other global organizations, including nonprofits and government agencies. In the Global Challenge Labs, students work on consulting projects in emerging markets while developing leadership, cultural sensitivity and international business acumen.
In the Global Organizational Consulting program, students gain distinctive experience in consulting frameworks through client projects. Internships allow students to work for multinational businesses in a wide variety of industries in full-time positions for at least eight weeks on graduate-level projects or over the summer. Thunderbird's simulations present real-world scenarios in the areas of global marketing, global finance and global strategy, allowing students to test solutions in a sandbox setting. They can also travel to specific regions to study local business practices, master intercultural management skills and develop international relationships that can last a lifetime.

