DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business will offer a new weekend version of its highly ranked MBA program at the university’s Rolling Meadows Campus starting in the fall of 2002.

The 16-course program, which will focus on management and finance, is being launched to meet the educational needs of northwest suburban working professionals who seek to earn graduate business degrees close to home. Courses will meet from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on alternate Saturdays, with technologically enhanced instruction between class sessions. The program will span approximately 21 months.

The business school will begin taking applications for the new program in December. DePaul has scheduled open houses in January and February for prospective students.

“We researched potential students for our MBA program and found that more than 20 percent live within a 15-mile radius of DePaul’s Rolling Meadows Campus,” said Dan Koys, associate business school dean, who led the team that planned the new weekend program. “Many said they would be interested in attending an MBA program with a weekend format near their homes. We are launching the weekend program in response to this interest and to support the university’s goal of expanding access to education for working professionals.”

Felicia Richardson-McGee, associate director of Kellstadt’s part-time MBA, who oversees the school’s weekend programs, said a Saturday format is more convenient than an evening program for some students. “A lot of MBA students are at a level of employment in which they travel on business frequently during the week, so a weekend program works best for them,” she said.

Kellstadt currently offers part-time MBA courses on weekday evenings at its Loop, Rolling Meadows, O’Hare (in Des Plaines), Lake Forest and Naperville campuses and a weekend MBA program on the Loop Campus. Interest in suburban class offerings is growing. MBA course enrollments at DePaul’s suburban campuses increased by seven percent this fall, compared to last year.

DePaul opened the doors of its Rolling Meadows Campus at 2550 W. Golf Road, in the East Tower of the Meadows Corporate Center, in the fall of 2000. Nestled in the northwest suburban corporate community, the campus is popular among working professionals who fill its classrooms to capacity on weekday evenings. In addition to the business school, DePaul’s School of Computer Science, Telecommunications and Information Systems and the School for New Learning offer classes on the campus.

DePaul’s business school programs have earned an excellent academic reputation while striving to provide students with flexibility and enhanced professional connections. Kellstadt’s part-time MBA program is ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, and the business school’s entrepreneurship program is rated fourth in the country by Success magazine. DePaul enrolls the largest part-time MBA program in the United States accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)—International.

In addition to the part-time MBA, Kellstadt offers a full-time MBA in International Marketing and Finance and specialized master’s degrees in accountancy, E-business, finance, human resources, marketing, taxation, management information systems and economics on DePaul’s Loop Campus. The new weekend MBA program in Rolling Meadows will be discussed at DePaul’s open houses on Jan. 12 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Rolling Meadows Campus and Feb. 1 from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at the Loop Campus, 1 E. Jackson Blvd., Chicago. For more information, call McGee-Richardson at (312) 362-5827 or DePaul’s Rolling Meadows Campus at (847) 437-9522.