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Despite over 100 years of existence in some form or another, the MBA continues to be one of the most high-profile graduate degrees of all times. Ever since its beginning, prospective candidates have considered non-MBA options but have mostly settled for
nothing short of the MBA. But, the traditional full-time two-year MBA is increasingly facing competition from other options - both on-campus and off-campus. Although the MBA has gained in relevance over the last several decades, more recent years have seen several other options have gained credence as their alumni base has grown.

Here are some programs that are options for those who are seeking specialist rather than general qualifications.

M.S. / M.Sc.

M.S. or M.Sc. degrees tend to offer specialisation in specific areas, e.g., Marketing, Information Systems, Accounts, Finance, Hospitality, etc. The emphasis is on specialization rather than general management that drives the typical MBA, at least initially. These programs are usually shorter in duration and are often run by business schools themselves.

Some of the more famous programs in the finance area are the Masters in Finance (MiF) program offered by the London Business School and the MS in Computational Finance offered by Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School or the hospitality programs run by New York University or Cornell.

Mid-Career MBA Programs

Programs like the Sloan Fellowship at Stanford, MIT and LBS, as well as HBS' General Management Program are shorter duration programs designed to target an audience that doesn't exactly fit into the flagship full-time MBA profile and does not see the merit of doing the part-time Executive MBA.

These are programs that cater to those who have over 7 to 10 years of experience and are usually taking a break from their well-established career. Although more expensive when compared on a like-for-like basis with the traditional MBA, these programs are highly-targeted and assume a certain degree of business understanding. Recruitment support is almost zero and you are expected to manage your career yourself.

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Atul Monga graduated from London Business School with an MBA in 2005, and currently works in the transaction support space with a leading professional services firm. Prior to that, he was with the Kotak Mahindra Group, and also spent time as an independent advisor. He has been counseling international MBA candidates for the last several years, answering questions relating to the GMAT, international MBA programs and careers. He is active contributor at CoolAvenues and Moderator of CoolAvenues' GMAT Forum.