This spring, the University of Alabama’s business school encouraged incoming freshmen pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to graduate in five years with an MBA.

UA’s STEM path to the MBA combines students’ technical strengths with the principles of business by having students take 1.5 credit hours of business honors courses each semester of their undergraduate career and a summer of MBA courses following their junior year, said Rob Morgan, executive director for Innovation Initiatives in UA’s College of Commerce and Business Administration.

After graduation, students who maintained a 3.3 overall GPA and achieved a score of 600 or better on the GMAT, or 1200 or better on the GRE, complete a calendar year of study in the MBA program of the Manderson Graduate School of Business, according to a press release.

“We found that our students who come into the MBA program who have undergraduate degrees in the STEM fields, especially engineering, have higher starting salaries and more job offers when they leave,” said Morgan, the founder of the program.

He said the program, modeled after similar early admission practices of medical schools, invited students based on a 3.3 GPA and a minimum ACT score of 28.

Due to the entrance requirements, many of the students in the program are on University scholarships. After receiving their undergraduate degrees, students accepted for the fifth and final year of the program will be offered the same scholarship they had upon entering UA, Morgan said.

Caleb Lundy, a chemical engineering major, said he enrolled in the program to ensure he has a job in the present economy. Though the program is relatively small, Lundy said he enjoys the sense of community it has created.

“We have the reassurance that we’re going to be together in that class for four years,” he said. “So that gives extra incentive to make personal relationships.”

Though he plans to attend law school following graduation, Lundy decided to take the STEM path for a more competitive edge in the job market.

In its first year, the program is very experimental. Lundy said Morgan plans to study the STEM groups through graduate school and beyond to see if the program alters the students’ success.

STEM has 14 students from Alabama; the other 30 students have come from states as far as California and Maryland, Morgan said.

The high inclusion of women enrolled in the program contributes to the program’s diversity. Morgan said many of the women, who make up nearly 36 percent of the 44 students, are involved in engineering but concentrate on various focuses within the field.

In addition to a rigorous course load, students will work in teams to complete community projects, the release said.

Eventually, the business school hopes to offer the program to sophomores, and perhaps to juniors as well. Additionally, they may look into a similar program for other areas of study, such as the arts and literature.

Because STEM students represent the largest growing portion of U.S. jobs, the business school is currently keeping them as its priority, Morgan said.

“At no time in Alabama’s history has science, technology and engineering been as important to the state’s future as now,” said J. Michael Hardin, dean of the Culverhouse College of Commerce.