Online MBA Rankings: 2015 - 2016

Online MBA Rankings - GMAT Club Online MBA Vault

With the digital revolution, online MBA programs are definitely on the rise. Few of them are top ranked and established in themselves and few of them are new players in the market, including some questionable for profit B Schools which offers MBA degrees exclusively online. Lets dive into why you might consider getting your MBA online and why you might politely decline.

Pros of the Online MBA

• Flexibility
• Return of Investment
• Reduced or Zero opportunity cost
• Mostly Employer sponsored

Cons of the Online MBA

• Reduced opportunities
• Practically zero networking
• Career switch - uncommon

What Should You Look for in an Online MBA?

1. Reputation - online MBA programs tend to have a weak reputation due to some of the first few programs lacking quality control and relaxed admission policy. Thus if you are getting an online degree, you want to get it from a very reputable school, ESP. From one that has a strong name recognition. Fro example UNC, Duke, or Tepper. Thus your first priority should be addressing the perceived reputation.

2. Admission standards. Review the admissions requirements; if the school does not require you to take the GMAT or any other admissions test, that could be a red flag. Remember that low standards and widespread admission was the issue that got the online programs into trouble. Low barriers to entry result into a lower perceived value by the students, lower effort, less aunity, and finally, lower quality of students.

3. Class Profile. You want to check the student profile and see how an average student and your future classmate looks like. If you see that they have no work experience, lack leadership experience, grades or test scores, that's a red flag.

AACSB Accredited Online MBA Programs

If you’re interested in looking at online MBA programs, beware. While there are a few high quality MBA experiences online, they are few and far between. At the very least, you need to insure that the program you’re considering has been accredited by the AACSB, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. For business schools, it’s pretty much the only accreditation that matters. It is the oldest and largest global accrediting body for business schools. Harvard, Stanford, Chicago, Wharton, all the big guys are accredited by the AACSB. Everything else is beside the point.

And even AACSB accreditation does not insure a quality experience. It’s a bare minimum level of approval. Nothing more. There are many AACSB-schools that fail to measure up and provide a top flight MBA education. Again, it’s extremely important to go to the best possible school you can get into. That’s not always possible, and it’s also not always possible that you can afford to take off two years of your life and get into a top-ranked business school.

If you can’t and still want an MBA education, online alternatives are becoming more viable. The fact that Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business is in the game, and the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business is about to get into it, speaks volumes for this alternative way to get an MBA. There’s also IE Business School in Spain, which offers a global online degree in both English and Spanish.

Online MBA Rankings

US news 2016 rankings
FT 2015 Online MBA rankings