It used to be that professionals seeking master of business administration (MBA) degrees had no choice but to leave the work force for two years to enroll in traditional, full-time business school programs. But today’s prospective MBA students – who range from busy managers, frequent business travelers and professionals working unconventional schedules to career changers and stay-at-home parents planning re-entry into the workforce – are causing a major shift in the MBA market toward flexibility. Part-time programs now account for 64 percent of MBA enrollments in American business schools, while the full-time slice of the market has fallen to 21 percent, according to the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business-International (AACSB).

DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, a part-time business education leader, will add a new twist to this trend in September when it launches an MBA program that is both part-time and daytime. DePaul’s Morning MBA program will offer core courses in the morning on the university’s Loop Campus in downtown Chicago. Most part-time MBA programs across the country currently are offered in the evening or on weekends.

Courses in the new program will be taught by the same faculty who teach in DePaul’s top-10 ranked Evening MBA program. Depending on their educational background, students will be able to complete the program in as little as 18 months.

“We believe this new Morning MBA program will serve a broader range of potential students who need even more flexibility in their part-time MBA program,” said Ray Whittington, dean of the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. “For professionals, such as consultants and entrepreneurs, who don’t work conventional 9-to-5 hours, and others working flextime, attending a morning program can be a much more convenient option,” he said.

The new offering also supports Kellstadt’s overall efforts to address issues that prevent women from pursuing MBA degrees, a problem facing business schools across the country. U.S. business schools average 35 percent female MBA enrollment; DePaul’s enrollment is slightly above average at 39 percent. Desire for work/life balance and lack of women role models are among the top barriers that keep women from pursuing MBA degrees, according to a study conducted by the nonprofit women’s business organization Catalyst and the University of Michigan.

“Increasing the flexibility of our part-time MBA program by adding a day program provides more choices and makes it easier for students to balance their work, family and educational lives,” Whittington said. One group that may find the part-time day format appealing: stay-at-home mothers who are preparing to re-enter the work force as their children begin school. Pepperdine University in California successfully launched a morning program geared to such moms last year.

Kellstadt is taking a number of additional steps to support women students enrolled throughout its programs. A student organization, DePaul Graduate Women in Business, is being formed. The business school also is expanding its outreach to women’s business organizations and plans to enhance mentoring and networking programs for women students through its Career Management Center, which offers part-time MBA students free access to a full complement of career services.

Offering highly respected, practical and flexible programs of business study, DePaul’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business enrolls more than 1,800 students. Its part-time MBA program is ranked ninth in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s guidebook, “America’s Best Graduate Schools 2008”. The program offers 26 concentrations, including one in entrepreneurship, which is ranked No. 2 in the country by Entrepreneur magazine.

For more information about DePaul’s Morning MBA program, contact Robert Ryan, assistant dean of the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, at (312) 362-8810 or rryan1@depaul.edu, and visit the: program’s Web site.

For a schedule of upcoming Kellstadt open houses, visit the open house Web site.