Today we turn our attention to cross-registration, an oft-overlooked indicator of academic opportunities. In an age of increasingly interdependent business operations, cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary study is becoming an ever-more important aspect of students’ academic preparation. In addition, the growing popularity of joint and dual degree programs in law, medicine, languages and other fields shows students’ widespread interest in studying beyond the traditional boundaries of the MBA. Given that many of the leading business schools make their homes at the U.S.’s top research universities, cross-registration with other schools or departments on campus can provide MBA students with extraordinary access to the leading minds in academia.

Wharton, NYU Stern, Fuqua and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business are among the schools that have embraced cross-registration, allowing MBA students to take between 4 and 6 courses outside the MBA program. Wharton students often use these courses to pursue intensive language study, perhaps in preparation for a career in international business, or to pursue more in-depth knowledge of a niche field, such as taking a biotechnical engineering course to prepare for a career in the biotech industry. At Chicago, MBA students are permitted to take more than half of their electives outside of Booth. One popular option for cross-registration is the University’s certificate in Health Administration Studies, a program composed entirely of cross-registered students pulled from the University’s graduate schools.

At Stern, MBA students may cross-register for up to 15 credits of elective courses at other schools within NYU, though the courses must be related to business or management and be clearly relevant to the MBA program. As a result, although language proficiency is encouraged, language courses are not eligible for cross-registration credit at Stern. The Fuqua School of Business at Duke takes a different approach to language learning, allowing Fuqua students to register for language courses at Duke University, the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler School, North Carolina State and North Carolina Central.

Unlike Chicago, Fuqua, Stern or Wharton, Harvard offers limited opportunities for cross-registration, allowing students to take just two courses outside of the business school, likely due to the administration’s strong belief in the value of the case method of instruction. However, Harvard students who do chose to cross-register have unique access to course options, including classes offered by any of Harvard University’s graduate schools, plus graduate level courses at MIT Sloan and at Tufts’ Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Given the differences in school’s cross-registration policies, applicants with interdisciplinary or in-depth interests may want to consider the opportunities for cross-registration available at their top choice schools.