Pros and cons of the online MBA degree
Distance-learning is popular among working professionals, but some worry about its credibility
UNCERTAIN economic times and growing demands on employees’ time have led to a decline in the number of applicants for MBAs serving professionals who intend to keep working during their studies. According to the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), a quarter of part-time and online MBA programmes received fewer applications for the 2013-14 incoming class than seats available.
OPEN TO ALL
And many of the top business schools – particularly in the US – have yet to offer distance or online learning. “They may feel it lacks the same cache as the full-time campus course,” says Mansoor Iqbal of QS Top MBA. Instead, schools like MIT Sloan have gone down the Mooc (massive open online courses) route, where students watch a series of lectures at home and complete an online test. However, Dr Brigitte Nicolaud of Aston Business School doesn’t see them as a viable substitute for an MBA degree. “They will not teach you the interpersonal, presentation, and other soft skills you would acquire on an online programme.”
For City professionals with a family and stable job, online courses are an attractive alternative to taking 12 to 18 months off work for the traditional qualification. They also offer flexibility in study – students at Warwick Business School, for example, can take up to five years to complete its MBA by distance learning. Some schools allow students to self-pace with “on demand” classes. And Manchester Business School is among many offering blended learning: a combination of face-to-face and online study.
In addition, some prospective students may be drawn in by the cost benefits. Not only are tuition fees often lower (at Manchester, a full-time one year MBA is £38,800, compared with £29,925 for its online equivalent), but studying from home can also mean saving on accommodation and travel in a foreign city.
But while online MBAs can be a convenient option, they are not an easy one. “Course context and standards are the same,” says Nigel Pye of Warwick. Students will need to balance an intense course (they will on average be expected to study for a minimum 15 to 20 hours per week) with a job and personal life. It takes a lot of discipline.
And a key concern is missed networking opportunities from not being physically present on campus. For many applicants, how an institution ranks for potential to network is as important as future salary. But “there is still plenty of interaction from online classes, group and project works,” says Zoya Zaitseva of QS. When considering the alumni community, she says, applicants for both traditional and online courses should research the school’s typical cohort. An online MBA student will be older and more senior. Warwick’s distance learning MBA, for example, has an average age of 36, compared to 29 for London Business School’s full-time course.
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
And while students of the full-time MBA can gain overseas experience, online students miss out. Further, few applicants take advantage of the distance-learning aspect of the course to obtain an MBA from a foreign institution – 89 per cent of online MBA students choose a course based in their own country. It could affect future employability: “around two-thirds of the recruiters we’ve spoken to say they are looking for people with real international experience,” says Iqbal. Given the huge volume of online courses on offer, employers also worry about their quality and credibility. Students should only consider institutions backed by the three major accrediting organisations: Equis, Amba and AACSB.s
But this may not matter – according to GMAC, almost 80 per cent of online MBA students plan to continue working for the same employer. The flexible structure of the online programme suits those wanting to advance at their current companies. And for some recruiters – like those in e-commerce or internet startups – the “engagement with the online world through distance learning can be a boon,” says Iqbal.