SAN DIEGO -- Sixty MBA candidates will start classes Thursday at UC San Diego's new Rady School of Management, which will focus on the region's thriving biotech and telecommunications industries.

Robert Sullivan, dean of the Rady School and former dean of the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School, told The San Diego Union-Tribune that, in five years, he expects to have 400 full-time MBA students, 800 executive MBA students and 100 full-time faculty.

"The demand will come if we offer value," he said.

International competition is stiff for MBA candidates, and schools have begun specializing in specific industries. The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School focuses on finance, for instance.

"With UCSD, an emphasis on biotech might be an important niche," Daniel LeClair, vice president of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International, told the Union-Tribune.

The 11 Rady professors were recruited from top business schools such as MIT, Yale, UCLA and the University of Texas, Sullivan said.

Planning and recruiting for the Rady School took less than three years.

San Diego State University and the University of San Diego also offer MBA degrees, and the deans there are working to keep both competitive.