The mission of the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University is threefold:
- “To create and disseminate knowledge through research, teaching and learning; and to transfer intellectual products to society.”
- “To serve our students by teaching them problem-solving, leadership and teamwork skills, as well as the value of a commitment to quality, ethical behavior, society and respect for one another.”
- “To pursue the advantages provided by a diverse and relatively small university community, open to the exchange of ideas, where discovery, creativity and personal and professional development can flourish.”
Using these tenets as the foundation of education, Tepper administrators and faculty seek to create high-impact business leaders with relevant skills in entrepreneurship, technology, management and ethics. Tepper consistently ranks in the top echelon of MBA programs: The Wall Street Journal once named it the third best business school in the country.
Unlike many MBA programs that rely heavily on the case study method of learning, Carnegie Mellon instead implements a process it has developed over the years called management science. This form of teaching studies decision-making in complex, dynamic business environments, and uses interdisciplinary collaboration to help students discover effective practices.
Tepper rejects the idea of antagonistic competition as a learning motivator. There is, as they say, no competition for the sake of winning. Instead, the school fosters community with small class sizes and a culture that values intelligent, team-minded leading. The school revels in technology and innovation as a transforming educational experience. Students are encouraged to take smart risks in an effort to learn and innovate.