Sitting down with Arman Davtyan, Assistant Dean of Enrollment Management from Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School, the topic quickly shifted from the beauty of Malibu to the future of the American business degree—a conversation often prefaced with the provocative question: Is the MBA dead? The consensus, as articulated by the school, is a resounding no, but the degree’s value is certainly changing. As the Dean noted, “I think the MBA is still king,” and the degree remains the most frequently cited credential for corporate leadership. However, the future is less about the generalist MBA and more about specialization, requiring the university to continually look at “reimagining” the degree.

This evolution means that the focus is shifting away from broad, two-year degrees towards targeted skill development and niche expertise. Pepperdine is responding to this demand by “incorporating these opportunities for students to customize by specializing in things.” We see this in highly tailored tracks, such as a specialization in Healthcare Management or the Center for Entertainment, Media, and Sports (EMS). This move is crucial for professionals who need to understand “the business side of things” in their highly technical fields. The focus is now on immediate market relevance, as the market increasingly demands “something they’re going to need in a matter of months, not in a matter of years.” This means figuring out “what’s inside that MBA” is now more critical than the credential itself.

For experienced professionals, the conversation naturally progresses to the Doctoral in Business Administration (DBA). Viewed as a terminal, practitioner-focused degree, the DBA is positioned as the ideal next step—a doctoral degree for the professional, akin to the shift seen in fields like physical therapy, which moved from being master’s-level to doctoral-level degrees. The DBA is for those seeking to draw upon a “wealth of experience” and then “think about it in a more scholarly way.” Pepperdine’s program is structured to support this, featuring dedicated faculty mentorship and a collaborative, small-group model that gives professionals a “neat setup” to formalize their industry insights. This creates a valuable, differentiated credential for a senior professional fifteen years into their career.

The shifting value of these credentials is acutely relevant to the international student community. While many international students still seek “the traditional study abroad experience,” the long-term career differentiation offered by a specialized DBA or a focused Master’s degree is increasingly attractive. This appeal is compounded by the U.S. visa system. The conversation highlighted a key financial reality for employers: hiring a graduate on an F1 student visa is often cheaper for a company—as the Dean pointed out, “that company doesn’t have to pay a $100k USD” for an H1B work visa—making a U.S. degree a shrewd investment for maximizing career potential.

In essence, while the MBA is definitely “not going away,” business education is transforming from a one-size-fits-all model into a spectrum of speciliazations. Pepperdine is clearly invested in preparing a generation of leaders equipped with both the specialized skills and the ethical compass to navigate this new landscape, ensuring that their education remains globally competitive.

Thank you, Arman, for laying out such a clear map of the future of the business degree. It truly compels one to consider: As the MBA evolves into a series of specializations and the DBA becomes the gold standard for experienced practitioners, how will the market value of these different credentials change for international students seeking long-term professional stability in the coming decade?