When Jyoti Sardana started the part-time MBA program at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, she never anticipated she would be working alongside professional athletes before her graduation in December 2018. “I knew I wanted a graduate degree, and I was taking a few tests to get my security licenses so I could trade,” says Sardana, who worked as a registered associate at Morgan Stanley when she started the evening program at Maryland Smith’s Shady Grove campus in Rockville, Md.

Some people claw their way into the sports industry. Ted Towne, PTMBA ’08, received an invitation to work in Major League Baseball while studying at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. “My evening classes gave me an edge,” says Towne, assistant general manager and vice president of finance for the Washington Nationals.