You can ask him. He’ll tell you. As a member of the top-ranked Berkeley Haas Evening & Weekend MBA program’s inaugural Flex cohort, graduating in 2025, Austin Hayden is a passionate advocate for the Flex MBA program.
Austin’s path to the Flex MBA began a decade ago. After selling his startup, he began to think about what would come next for him. After interviewing with Wharton and considering several other top programs, Hayden felt none of them were the perfect fit. He was seeking a program that would challenge him intellectually, expose him to diverse perspectives, and fit his life.
“At the time, I was just coming off of a startup exit and still working closely with the new owners, and an in-person program would have kind of thrown a wrench into that process. Since the co-founders that I had were in Utah,. I interviewed and was accepted and given a scholarship to one of the programs in Utah, but I determined I didn't want to do that program because it didn't fit the criteria I was looking for. I was looking for something that would help me diversify my thought process, something that would introduce me to more diverse people from diverse backgrounds and diverse industries.”
“I also interviewed here in Arizona with my wife at ASU during their part-time program, but it didn't meet the criteria I'd set for myself. I wanted a rigorous, networked, and changing experience.” Dissatisfied with his options, he actually gave up on pursuing an MBA at all since he couldn’t find an option that met his standards for rigor and the flexibility he needed to manage his school and life responsibilities.
When Austin discovered Berkeley’s Flex MBA program, it was a game-changer. "The Flex cohort was the right option for me...it allows me and my wife to continue to live in Arizona, which has been great for us," he explains. The program's flexibility and the rich diversity of the cohort, with students from all over the world, were precisely what he was looking for.
The Berkeley Haas Flex option: A paradigm shift in MBA education
The Flex MBA program is a testament to UC Berkeley’s commitment to meeting the evolving needs of working professionals. It recognizes that the traditional MBA model, with its rigid on-campus requirements, may not be feasible for everyone. By offering a flexible scheduling option, the Flex MBA has opened doors for individuals like Austin, who seek a world-class education without compromising their careers or personal lives.
Key features of the Flex MBA program
Online + On Campus: The program seamlessly integrates live online instruction with asynchronous coursework, allowing students to learn at their own pace and convenience. After the first year, students can choose to take electives either online or on campus, providing additional flexibility.
Same Top-Ranked MBA: Flex MBA students have access to the same renowned faculty, alumni network, and career resources as students in Berkeley Haas' other top-ranked MBA programs. This ensures a consistent and high-quality educational experience across all formats.
Flexibility and Community: While the program offers flexibility in terms of location and scheduling, it also prioritizes community building. Students participate in three required on-campus immersion weekends, fostering strong connections with their peers and faculty.
Proven Success: The Flex MBA has already garnered recognition, ranking #2 in the U.S. News & World Report's 2024 list of Best Part-Time MBA Programs. This demonstrates the program's effectiveness in delivering a rigorous and relevant curriculum in a flexible format.
Evening & Weekend Flex MBA Program by the Numbers
- #2 Part-time MBA Program (U.S. News & World Report, 2024)
- 8 Years of Work Experience (Post-University Median)
- 74% Outside of the Bay Area (Flex Class of 2025)
A self-starter's approach to learning
When asked who would be a good fit for the Flex program, Austin shared, “I think that the Flex program, in particular, is a good fit for somebody who wants to have a top-quality education, is willing to put in work, and is a self-starter. I think people who have those qualities are looking to increase their network, or maybe they're looking to get more educated, or maybe they're looking to make a career change, and they're trying to get additional context for what they should change to. I think if you have those three basic qualities, the Flex cohort is going to be a great experience for you.”
As an experienced entrepreneur, Austin had already honed his self-teaching skills across various business disciplines. However, he recognized the value of expert guidance and the way faculty helped him connect with "threads" of knowledge in a structured way.
“So could I learn about conjoint analysis separately? Certainly, there's YouTube videos on it. There's books you can read. But the value of Berkeley's MBA is its top quality instructors who have significant levels of industry experience, who are teaching me concepts at a level that I can understand and remember.”
Finding balance
Balancing a demanding remote job, family responsibilities, and rigorous coursework required careful time management and prioritization. Austin shared, “I'm married and I have three children andwant to be a present parent, so I try to keep my weekends clear. I work a decent number of hours every week, probably averaging around 50, so that has made it somewhat challenging. I spend Monday through Friday doing my normal work schedule. I spend a few hours with my kids before they go to bed. Once they're in bed, I'll hop back on my computer and do some more homework. Sometimes that cycle can be pretty tough. It means probably three to four nights a week, I am doing homework, whether that's reading materials or whether that's doing assignments.”
The Flex MBA is more flexible, but it is still a highly rigorous and demanding program. It can take some time to adjust to these extra demands on your time. In his first year, Austin admits that his physical health suffered as he struggled to juggle everything. “The first year for me, it was my physical health that fell off. This second year, I've done a lot better at managing my time and making sure that I can still get to the gym or go on a bike ride.”
Thriving in a diverse and collaborative environment
Austin wasn’t sure what to expect from UC Berkeley, but he has found himself feeling right at home. “I've been surprised how open-minded everyone is, both the students and the faculty. Sometimes it's easy to pigeonhole a university as a certain type of thing. So like business school, for example, they say everything's about money, but my experience here has been we talk about business because that's what we're here to learn about, but we also talk about the value of business to society as a whole, which you probably don't get at every business school.”
One of the most significant advantages of the Flex program for Austin has been the diversity of his cohort. "The Flex cohort is just astoundingly diverse," he says. "People from all over the place who do all sorts of different things are coming together to learn and share stories and information and build relationships." This exposure to diverse perspectives has broadened Austin's horizons and enriched his learning experience.
Learning online with the Flex MBA option
Online programs sometimes struggle to replicate the close collaboration you experience in the classroom, but Austin found that the opposite was true for his MBA Flex cohort. “The people who have enjoyed it the most have enjoyed working with their study groups. The groups that work closely together have had the best experience. The group that I've worked with has been fantastic every step of the way, which has been really awesome. We are willing to work with each other's schedules. If somebody's busy, we are willing to pick up a little bit of extra work that week for them, and they'll do the same for us another week.”
Reflecting on his experiences with in-person and online learning, Austin sees the strengths of both but has found the Flex MBA’s digital classroom experience offers several advantages. “If you're a remote student or a remote employee, any conversation has to be relatively intentional, since you have to schedule time for it. You can be anywhere, doing anything, at any time. I can be on a work trip and I can still attend which isn't something that any of the in-person students can do. It also means that I can interact with my classmates digitally throughout the week. It's just a different sort of dynamic.”
As he nears graduation in 2025, Austin believes that the program's flexibility and global reach represent the future of education. "My personal opinion is, I think that what Berkeley Haas is doing is the future of education," he says. "It's going to allow the university to scale to its audience in a way that no other university has successfully managed yet, at least in any of the top programs around the world. So having people who attend class from China, because that's where they're from, or when somebody in my cohort attends from Egypt or from London or from Germany - I've gotten to see things that I would never have gotten to see in any other programs.”
A transformative experience
Austin’s experience in the UC Berkeley Flex MBA program underscores the program's success in catering to the unique needs of working professionals so they can pursue their educational goals without sacrificing their careers or personal lives. "It's been a fantastic experience," he concludes. "If I had to start over, I would still do this program 100%."
“If I choose to go back into entrepreneurship, it's strengthened pretty much every business muscle, so I can be a better leader. Or, if I choose to stay in the corporate world, it still has made me a better leader. So I now have context and understanding for the decisions that are made within my current company in a way that I didn't have before I started the program, which is something I can now take into my future endeavors and use to make better decisions.”
The Berkeley Haas Flex option offers some unique advantages and allows you to get the same top-ranked MBA without compromising your lifestyle.
