From Capstone to Career: UNO MBA Alumni Find Real-World Success

Ask Alyssa Cave, Lainey Kula, or TJ Andreasen what made their Master of Business Administration (MBA) Capstone different at the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s (UNO) College of Business Administration (CBA), and they’ll tell you it wasn’t the typical sit-and-listen lecture or hypothetical case study.

In the final semester of their MBA, all students must participate in the program’s capstone course. A capstone course is the culminating experience of a degree program where students apply the knowledge and skills they’ve gained in the classroom to a real-world project. Instead of completing typical classroom work, students collaborate with community partners, businesses, or nonprofits to solve authentic challenges and deliver actionable results.

Tasked with developing a business plan and location analysis for Peterson Orthodontics, Cave, Kula, and Andreasen dove into months of market research and strategy.

On presentation day, the trio stood before not just their professors, but also Landon Peterson, D.D.S, M.S, to deliver real recommendations for where and how he might expand his practice. This wasn’t a typical class assignment, and the impact on everyone involved was evident.

Learning Beyond the Textbook

For the students, it was an experience that blurred the line between classroom and career, giving them a taste of real consulting work. For the client, it was an infusion of fresh insights and data-driven strategy, courtesy of a team of soon-to-be MBAs.

“The Capstone project felt more like a job than a class. You wanted to do your best because it was for an actual client, not just a test,” said Andreasen.

Getting an A took a backseat to delivering results for a real client. The team spent weeks conducting a broad market analysis for the orthodontics clinic: evaluating demographic trends, mapping out competitors in suburbs like Gretna and Papillion, and gauging local economic growth.

“The project taught me to think more critically. In the real world, things are more subjective; there isn’t always a clear right or wrong answer. It pushed me to analyze situations from different lenses,” said Cave.

Hands-on problem solving became the norm. With guidance from faculty, the students learned to ask the right questions, interpret industry data, and challenge their own assumptions in ways a standard class rarely requires.

That difference in learning stuck with them. Looking back, the trio agree that the Peterson Orthodontics project is one of the most memorable highlights of their UNO MBA experience. It wasn’t forgotten after finals week; it’s something they still talk about years later. By working on a project where the stakes were higher than a GPA, they internalized skills and confidence that carried into their careers.

The UNO Difference: Real-World Partnerships

What made such a transformational experience possible? It’s woven into UNO’s approach to education. The MBA Capstone course is intentionally designed as more than just a capstone in name; it’s the culmination of the program where knowledge meets practice. Students in the course undertake an integrative applied project for a local organization, including nonprofits, small businesses, startups, or government agencies.

For Peterson, the Capstone project didn’t just provide classroom practice for students, it planted the seed for his business’s future. At the time of the project, he was weighing where to expand his practice. The team’s research pointed to Gretna as a prime location, backed by population trends, family demographics, and competitor analysis.

Two years later, Peterson purchased his first Omaha practice and, by fall 2025, is opening a second office in Gretna. He credits the UNO students with influencing that decision, noting that their analysis always kept Gretna “in the back of his mind” as an expansion opportunity.

Peterson also emphasizes that the students’ work provided more than surface-level data. They dug deeper into details such as household incomes and population size, giving him the confidence that Gretna wasn’t just a hunch, it was a strategic decision.

“I wouldn’t have had access to that level of detail if it wasn’t for the Capstone project,” he explained. “The Capstone project definitely had an influence on my decision. Gretna was always in the back of my mind, and the students’ analysis confirmed it was a strong location for a practice.”

A Win-Win for Students and Businesses

There’s also a broader community benefit: many of UNO’s graduates, like this trio, choose to stay in the Omaha area after earning their degrees, bolstering the local talent pool. Programs like the capstone course help make that possible by introducing students to local industries and leaders while they’re still in school.

“These partnerships show that UNO students can deliver real value. Businesses walk away with something they can use, and that boosts the university’s reputation in the community,” said Kula.

UNO’s Capstone program is forging these kinds of connections every semester, proving that when students and local businesses partner in the spirit of learning, everyone wins. It’s a model of education in action.

“Business owners should take full advantage of the opportunity. The students are young and eager, and they’re going to provide exactly the kind of research and insights you ask for. “Don’t hold back, give them everything you want answered, and you’ll get a wealth of knowledge,” said Peterson.