Students can complete a graduate degree in as little as a year at the Kellogg School of Management. There is also a traditional two-year program and a part-time program with classes in the evenings and on Saturdays. Students can pursue accelerated joint degrees like an M.B.A.-J.D. in three years at the Northwestern Law School or a four-year Ph.D. in Management and Organizations and Sociology at the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Kellogg also offers a unique, two-year program for students to earn both an M.B.A. and a master of engineering management, called an MMM degree. Courses at Kellogg focus on teamwork and experiential learning, in addition to a mandatory course in global studies.

Outside of classes, students can get involved in the extensive research facilities on campus, including about 25 centers like the General Motors Research Center for Strategy in Management and the Center for Executive Women. Guest speakers give free research seminars frequently, often more than one a day. There are also about 50 student organizations to join, which range from Business with a Heart to the Sports Business Club. Students take classes on the business school campus in Evanston, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, and about a quarter of graduate students opt to live nearby in university-owned studios and apartments.

There are more than 50,000 Kellogg graduates, including Edwin Booz and James Allen, cofounders of consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.; Ted Phillips, president and CEO of the Chicago Bears; and Andrew Fastow, former CFO of Enron Corp.