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An immersive business education rooted in partnership, research and action.
Drexel LeBow’s Executive Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) is about coaching our researchers-in-training to conduct high-quality, industry-relevant research. Our Executive DBA is geared towards writing high-quality dissertations that can be the basis for meaningful organizational change.
Engaging in our STEM-designated Executive DBA is a process of intense exploration that will challenge you to take your thinking and performance to a new level by not just learning about business in a book but by creating new knowledge to transform the business environment.
Through an integrative framework of empirical exploration and evidence-based decision-making, executives develop successful data-driven strategies and solutions that can be applied to their respective organizations or fields. Students become recognized experts and contributors to the most important business challenges through research and advanced problem solving, which distinguishes them as they move toward or beyond C-suite leadership.
The Executive DBA degree is a part-time executive doctoral program designed to equip executives and senior managers (with 10+ years of industry and/or leadership experience who already hold a master’s degree in a related field of study) with the methods to address complex industry and organizational challenges.
Pursuing a DBA in our R1 Research University
Our highly cited DBA faculty are industry oriented. They teach in both the PhD and the DBA programs, bringing a combination of leading-edge research and methodology with an industry orientation.
Among the many reasons students have chosen Drexel LeBow, one of the strongest is our continued designation as an R1 research university. Our faculty are not simply here to teach; they bring their expertise to ongoing research projects, publications, and more, working side by side with students who are ready to excel and be part of industry-leading research.
I’m always thinking about how to become a better leader. When I read all of the literature on this as part of my doctoral research, it really opened my eyes, and now I’m applying those principles to developing people.
Tarun Sood ’23
Chief Data and AI Officer
American Century Investments
Watch Tarun's storyDBA Completion Time
This lockstep program is designed to be completed in less than 3 calendar years. Our part-time program’s targeted residency structure is designed to fit into students’ busy work and family schedule, not disrupt it.
Designed expressly for high-performing executives and senior-level leaders, the Drexel LeBow DBA course curriculum leverages a hybrid structure and incorporates campus and remote studies, reading, and prep time into your DBA schedule.
Learn more about the DBA format and delivery
Inside the DBA Curriculum
Our curriculum is designed around the dissertation, so students acquire dissertation-required thinking and skills in year one and then conduct their dissertations in years two and three while being closely coached by their dissertation chair and committee. It was designed this way based on the extensive industry experience of our leading faculty.
- Courses are offered across disciplines, teaching candidates to integrate knowledge from business and non-business disciplines to generate new ideas, strategies and practical approaches to address issues facing senior leadership.
- The DBA plan of study is broken down into three types of courses throughout the integrated curriculum: seminar courses, methodology courses and dissertation courses.
- The dissertation is an integral part of the Executive DBA program and serves as a demonstration of academic excellence in applying the science of business with all its expected rigor to an important problem of interest to the industry, as well as providing insight based on theory and supported by appropriate methodological and statistical rigor.
I have had a phenomenal experience with the faculty. They are world-renowned in their field. They make us think on a deeper level.
Executive DBA Faculty
Experts in their respective fields, our research-active faculty go beyond theory. Through their industry-recognized research and publications, they continue Drexel’s rich history in applied, hands-on learning to tackle complex real-world problems in fields as wide-ranging as:
- Accounting
- AI and Machine Learning
- Behavioral sciences
- Economics
- Finance
- Management
- Management Information Systems
- Marketing
Each candidate will benefit from the mentored model led by a dissertation chair, who will guide the student through the process starting in year one, and committee who will evaluate the proposal and the completed research.
Networking
Joining a like-minded group of 18 to 25 executive doctoral students on a guided pathway of coursework provides candidates an extra level of support and opportunity to learn from other top professionals in various industries. Plus, you will be part of the Dragon Network, an active collective of tens of thousands of Drexel and LeBow alumni around the world.
DBA Experiential Learning
While other programs devote much of their time to theory alone, Drexel LeBow’s history of uniting academia and industry-leading companies allows DBA candidates to put theory to test in real-world applications. Many dissertation topics have related directly to issues seen in candidates’ current organizations.
Accreditation and Memberships
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) Accreditation
Drexel’s LeBow College of Business is among the elite 20 percent of business schools to be accredited by AACSB International.
Executive DBA Council
The mission of the Executive DBA Council is to foster excellence and innovation in executive doctoral degree programs worldwide through engaged scholarship, collaboration and networking.
Campus and Facilities
Our 12-story, 177,500-square-foot home, Gerri C. LeBow Hall, is located at the heart of Drexel’s University City campus — at the intersection of Woodland Walk and Market Street — where it forms a gateway to Drexel and serves as a backdrop to the historic statue of A.J. Drexel.
Drexel’s University City campus is located in Philadelphia’s vibrant technology and research corridor, and is just steps to hotels, museums, world-renowned restaurants, and more you would expect from the city where our nation literally began (not to mention a UNESCO-designated World Heritage City, one of only two in the United States).
* Please note: The Executive DBA Program is part-time and not eligible for an F-1 student visa sponsorship. However, we welcome applicants who already have appropriate visas or existing status in the United States that may allow them to study in part-time programs. Plan early, do your research, and seek advice from a trusted immigration attorney to ensure that your immigration status does not prevent you from fully benefiting from your student experience at Drexel. This infographic can help you determine if your current immigration status allows you to study in the U.S.
Explore Executive Education at LeBow