Customize your learning experience
The Mentored Study Program is a 3-credit-hour, semester-long elective course for MBA students who want to explore a specific area of interest. It’s a unique opportunity in your MBA journey where you design the engagement from beginning to end. Enhance your understanding of a career path or industry with an experienced mentor, and round out your education with specialized experience in your desired field.
Niche down, skill up
With Mentored Study, there’s no such thing as your aspirations being too niche. If you’re interested in exploring a future in sports management, sustainable fashion, decentralized finance, climate tech, or other specializations, you can find a mentor in that field and gain valuable experience for academic credit.
Grow with professional feedback
Build a relationship with an experienced professional who aligns with your interests through Mentored Study. Whether you partner with a mentor from our facilitated list or source your own, you’ll benefit from exclusive exposure to your mentor’s organization and rich feedback provided by someone invested in your career success.
“One of my favorite experiences at Fuqua.”
“Super interesting to see a tech startup right here in Durham!”
“Good for those interested in VC but with limited previous experience.”
How to take Mentored Study
Connect with us
Follow our page on Fuqua Connect, then attend an info session or watch a recorded session on Panopto.
Find a mentor
There are multiple channels available for finding mentors.
- Secure a project from our Fuqua-facilitated list, which is available on Fuqua Connect.
- Source a mentor through your personal network, aligning with course requirements for your project.
- There are Mentored Study cohorts available with some of our partners, including Duke Capital Partners, Duke Athletics Fellowship, New Venture Fellows, NC IDEA, and Flare Capital Scholars. Contact them directly to learn more about their individual recruiting process.
Decide on a project
You will collaboratively design a project scope that works for you and your mentor organization. Mentored Study mentor organizations usually align with one of these three categories:
- Entrepreneurial Action: startups, venture-backed companies, high-growth, corporate innovation
- Capital Investment: Angel networks, VC and growth equity, ETA/search funds, asset management
- Common Purpose: Social entrepreneurship, mission-driven, nonprofit
Submit your enrollment request
Send in your enrollment request here after attending an info session and finding a willing mentor. Our office will confirm your project with your mentor, then enroll you in the course.
FAQ
Course timeline
Exact dates vary each year, but our timeline for Mentored Study across the Daytime MBA and Executive MBA programs follow this outline.
Daytime
Fall
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- August – Info session and enrollment
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- September through December – Course
Spring
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- November – Info session
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- December through January – Enrollment
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- January through April – Course
Summer
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- Various start dates (Four consecutive weeks)
Executive MBA
Summer
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- May – Info session
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- June – Enrollment
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- June through September – Course
Fall
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- August – Info session
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- September – Enrollment
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- September through December – Course
You’ll spend about 72 hours total on your Mentored Study project. Students dedicate 6 hours per week for 12 weeks in the fall or spring semester, or 20 hours per week in the summer.
You will earn 3 credit hours over the course of the whole semester. You will receive these credits at the end of the semester. Grading is credit/no-credit.
Yes! You can take Mentored Study twice if you’d like. You can enroll in one Mentored Study project per cycle, and a maximum of 6 credit hours of Mentored Study can apply towards your graduation requirements. You can only take on one Mentored Study project at a time.
Contact the Experiential Learning Office by emailing msp@fuqua.duke.edu.