3 Questions for SFBU President Nick Ladany on MBA Pro+

Nick Ladany, the president of San Francisco Bay University, has spent more than 30 years in higher education as a professor, dean and president. He writes a regular Forbes column on reimagining higher education to better serve students.

My curiosity was piqued when I heard about the launch of MBA Pro+ at a tuition of $10,000. President Ladany graciously agreed to answer my questions.

Q: SFBU is launching MBA Pro+ at a moment when many people are questioning the value of graduate business education. What problem are you trying to solve, and how is this program designed differently from a traditional M.B.A.?

A: Traditional business education was built for a different era. Today, AI is changing how organizations operate and redefining what employers expect from leaders. Graduate education must evolve to prepare students for a world that is changing faster than ever before.

Higher education has done a decent job expanding access to knowledge, but in a world where information is everywhere, knowledge alone is not enough. If we think about competence as consisting of three components—that is, knowledge, self-awareness and skills—knowledge only hits upon one-third of competence. We address competence fully. In other words, the real advantage comes from thinking critically, solving complex problems, communicating effectively, building strong professional relationships and using AI responsibly.

We built MBA Pro+ from the ground up around what students need to succeed in today’s world. Rather than adding pieces of AI to a traditional online M.B.A., we designed a new learning model that combines rigorous academics, human-centered and personalized AI-enhanced learning, a flexible self-paced curriculum, and one-on-one faculty mentorship to help students develop the capabilities they’ll need throughout their careers.

Q: AI is now everywhere in higher education, but many institutions are still treating it as an add-on. How has SFBU incorporated AI into the learning model behind MBA Pro+, and what roles do faculty expertise, curriculum design and student engagement play in that experience?

A: AI will continue to transform society—with or without higher education. So, I believe we need to stop teaching students about AI and start giving them the opportunity to learn through it.

That conviction led us to invest more than 16,000 hours into redesigning every aspect of the learning experience. Working with faculty, learning experience designers, industry experts and AI technologists, we created a co-intelligent learning experience that combines the strengths of artificial intelligence with meaningful human interaction.

At the center of this model is our skill-based Think → Do → Create learning system, which is designed to transform knowledge into real-world capabilities through a continuous cycle of personalized learning, application, feedback and improvement. We bring this experience to life through Bayley, our curriculum-aligned AI system, which enables students to apply what they learn through immersive simulations, interactive role-playing and real-time feedback. Rather than relying on a traditional lecture-to-exam model, students continuously apply their learning in authentic business scenarios while building a portfolio that demonstrates their capabilities.

Most importantly, by integrating AI into the learning process, faculty spend more time providing the personal mentorship and professional connections that help students grow as leaders.

Q: You’ve written about building a more accessible, outcomes-focused university. What do you hope other institutions learn from SFBU’s approach to creating affordable, adaptable learning experiences with real-world value?

A: We need to stop building graduate education around institutions and start building it around our students.

According to the latest GMAC Prospective Students Survey, today’s M.B.A. candidates are increasingly prioritizing affordability, return on investment and career outcomes when choosing a graduate business program.

I believe those are entirely reasonable expectations and higher education should respond accordingly.

It starts with affordability. At $10,000 for the entire degree, MBA Pro+ is designed to reduce the financial burden of earning a graduate degree and help students pursue career advancement without taking on the level of debt often associated with an M.B.A.

Building around students also means designing learning experiences around how they actually live, learn and work. Many graduate students are balancing careers, families and other responsibilities, so flexibility isn’t just a convenience—it’s essential. By creating an asynchronous, self-paced learning experience, we aim to empower busy professionals to develop new capabilities without putting their lives on hold.

At the same time, flexibility should not come at the expense of meaningful engagement. Through Bayley’s AI-enhanced learning model, we can further personalize learning to each student’s abilities, professional goals, learning preferences and lived experiences—while providing continuous opportunities to apply what they learn and receive valuable, real-time feedback.

It also means focusing more on developing the capabilities employers actually value. We’ve aligned Pro+’s Think → Do → Create model with 45 employer-demanded competencies—from critical thinking and creative problem-solving to communication, adaptability and responsible AI leadership—because these are the capabilities graduates will need long after today’s specific technologies have evolved.

Most importantly, it means building a model that can adapt to an uncertain future. We’ve learned a tremendous amount from our faculty, students and employer partners throughout this journey, and we’re confident SFBU is moving in the right direction. But one of our core beliefs is that learning never stops—and that applies to institutions as much as it does to individuals. While it’s too early to measure the program’s long-term impact, we’ll continue listening, learning and evolving in response to the needs of our students, employers and society.