Top 10 MBA Programs for Human Resources Management 2023

Brigham Young’s Marriott School is ranked very highly by the Princeton Review. It has a human resource management department that puts on courses covering employee benefits, wellness programs, disciplinary systems and more. Students can focus on consulting senior managers to change their leadership styles, or work internally on an organization’s entire structure, culture, even strategy. 

Krannert business school at Purdue has a full-time human resources management specialization for MBA students who want to pursue a career in this niche. It provides a broad understanding of HR topics and how they impact both individual and organizational performance. The courses go over HR technology systems, rewards, industrial relations and staffing tools. 

Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management offers 20 MBA specializations – optional, deep dives into niche subjects. The Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) specialization focuses on getting students jobs in human capital consulting or corporate human resources management through a rigorous sequence of courses. 

USC Marshall has dedicated career service team members with backgrounds in human capital management who help students get jobs via advice, training and networking. MBA students at the school can also take classes from USC Marshall’s Center for Effective Organizations (CEO). Founded in 1979, the Center has produced research that influences how corporations are managed.

At Michigan Ross, there’s a Management and Organizations (MO) area that sets MBA students up for corporate and consultancy roles in human capital management. The classes cover a wide range of subjects including ethics and leadership. The MO area is also cross-disciplinary, featuring faculty members from other Michigan departments such as psychology, sociology and education. 

Wisconsin runs an MBA specialization in strategic human resource management which is ranked highly by the Princeton Review. The coursework from top faculty covers compensation, employee relations, labor relations, staff, negotiations and change management. There are also practical learning opportunities on offer, as well as internships that can give students a career advantage. 

Human capital has been central to teaching at Chicago Booth for centuries. The school’s revered generalist MBA covers human resources management in great depth, with the content aiming to help managers understand how they can inspire the people they lead. Students learn from a star-studded line up of stellar faculty, some of whom are Nobel Laureates.  

MBA students at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management can major in human resources management. The courses on negotiations, conflict resolution, decision-making and more, are run by Kellogg’s management and organizations department, where faculty do cutting-edge research that informs teaching in the MBA. Kellogg is also one of America’s best business schools, ranked highly be key publications. 

Katz at Pittsburgh has a one-year MBA concentration in organizational behavior and human resources management. It covers how HR has evolved from personal administration to strategic management of people development. It also explores business ethics and social performance, areas of HR that have been given a renowned focus in recent years, as well as cross-cultural management. 

Students in Broad’s full-time MBA program can pursue a concentration in Human Resource Management, which addresses not only the core human resources components, but also addresses the softer side of the discipline, through topics such as “Social Issues in Management.” According to the school, some of the key placement areas after completing this concentration include “corporate HR,” “human capital consulting,” and “recruiting and talent acquisition,” among other fields.