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DEFIANCE COLLEGE + POLYMATH INSTITUTE
Pivot MBA™
Build on your experience.
Move into a new industry.
A 20-month online MBA for experienced professionals ready for a career change. Learn with a small cohort, work on real employer projects, and move toward your next role through a paid apprenticeship.
Cohorts begin in January and September.
PROGRAM AT A GLANCE
20 months
Online learning + a paid apprenticeship
20 students
The same cohort in every class
$475 / month
$9,500 total student tuition. An employer partner covers the other half of the degree’s cost.
A FOCUSED PATH FOR CAREER CHANGERS
Your next chapter starts with what you know.
Designed for professionals with five or more years of experience, Pivot MBA™ helps you bring your existing strengths into a new industry. Educators, veterans and public servants are among the people the program is built to serve.
The partnership adds a specialized career-change pathway alongside Defiance College’s existing graduate programs. The first cohort will pursue opportunities in healthcare administration and other fields.
01
Learn through real work
Four courses involve projects for actual employers, giving you experience to bring into your next role.
02
Build a professional credential
Prepare for the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam in your first term. The exam fee is included; certification eligibility requirements apply.
03
Know your classmates
Move through the program with the same 20 students and receive individual coaching from faculty.
04
Connect learning to a career
Finish with a full-time, paid apprenticeship designed to become your next role with an employer partner.
YOUR PATH FORWARD
A clear path from learning to work.
MONTHS 1–17
Learn
Take 14 eight-week courses, two at a time. Online classes meet Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings, allowing you to keep working during coursework.
MONTHS 17–20
Launch
Apply your learning in a two-to-four-month, full-time, paid apprenticeship with an employer partner in your new industry.
AT GRADUATION
Begin your next chapter
Earn your MBA and transition into your new role. Participants commit to two years with their sponsoring employer after graduation.
EMPLOYER-SUPPORTED EDUCATION
A practical investment in your next career.
Students pay $475 per month for 20 months, totaling $9,500. An employer partner subsidizes the other half of the degree’s cost.
The paid apprenticeship provides earnings toward recovering your tuition investment. Apprenticeship pay is at an annual rate of at least $50,000; actual earnings depend on the placement’s length.
Understand the commitment
Participants commit to working for the sponsoring employer for two years after graduation.
Review sponsorship terms, apprenticeship arrangements and the employment commitment with Polymath before enrolling.
MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH PARTNERSHIP
New opportunities, grounded in Defiance.
Defiance College is helping open new paths to graduate education through its partnership with Polymath Institute. The College’s role makes it possible to connect an accredited degree with a program built around working adults and employer needs.
Defiance College awards the MBA, and Polymath faculty teach the courses. The partnership has received approval from the Higher Learning Commission.
The curriculum develops curiosity, creativity, critical thinking and community through studies in systems thinking, human-centered design, leadership and artificial intelligence.
Cohorts begin in January and September.
Ready to explore a new direction?
Visit Polymath to explore the curriculum, review program requirements and find an upcoming information session.