Online MBA applications have rebounded, with the number of programmes on offer up nearly a third over five years, as more students are preferring these courses to on-campus ones.
Two-thirds looking into doing an MBA last year favoured blended or hybrid formats, compared with a third wanting to study only on campus, according to a survey of 1,908 prospective students by consulting company CarringtonCrisp.
David Weir, an alumnus of the online MBA at London’s Imperial College Business School, valued the opportunity to apply his learning to his job while studying remotely. “There were massive practical benefits to doing the online MBA that you don’t get in person,” Weir says. “It supercharged my career.”
For much of his degree, between 2022 and 2024, he worked at business consultancy Deloitte’s financial advisory practice. Through connections he made on the course, Weir says he helped to develop an artificial intelligence-powered tool to streamline financial due diligence for mergers and acquisitions.
The number of online MBA programmes has increased over the past five years from 555 in 2018 to 732 in 2023, higher education research company Validated Insights said, while more top schools are entering the market. Last year, Edhec Business School in France launched its first fully online MBA.
Demand for online MBAs often correlates with economic cycles. When job markets are robust, professionals tend to be less inclined to leave secure roles for full-time study, boosting the appeal of part-time online courses that allow them to continue working — and earn an income — while studying.
The picture today, though, is more nuanced and, given the economic uncertainty and high inflation facing many, the financial benefit of working while studying is especially appealing, says Joy Jones, chief executive at the Graduate Management Admission Council, which runs entrance exams to business schools.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the appetite for online learning soared as professionals used lockdowns to develop new skills. But as networking and travel returned, applications declined as many prospective students gravitated back to traditional on-campus options.
Now, online courses are on the rise again. More than half of programmes in the US had an uptick in applications in 2024 for a second consecutive year, the GMAC found, prompting Jones to say that online courses are “holding their own”.
Candidates have outnumbered their on-campus counterparts since 2020, making up 58 per cent of total MBA enrolment in 2023, the Validated Insights researchers found.
Online students are typically older, with more work experience, and tend to hold leadership positions. Often, the two formats of online and campus work in harmony.
Despite the growing popularity of online options, some potential employers remain sceptical. A GMAC survey of 1,000 corporate recruiters and staffing groups last year found two-thirds believe in-person programmes provide stronger technical training, while nearly three-quarters say students develop better leadership and communication skills.
Lee Newman, dean of IE Business School in Madrid, acknowledges the challenge. “It has taken time to move past the perception created by massive open online courses, or Moocs, where online learning was seen as little more than pre-recorded video lectures leading to a certificate,” he says.
But Newman draws a clear distinction between lower-cost, self-paced online MBAs and premium courses from a well known prestigious school offering live instruction.
Meanwhile, Keith Bevans, a partner and head of consultant recruiting at Bain & Company, says online MBA graduates are considered on an equal footing in the hiring process. “I don’t start with any preconceived bias for or against them,” he says.
Bevans adds that traditional MBAs offer advantages around networking and mentorship, which thrive in face-to-face interactions. But he notes that online MBAs develop another relevant skill: virtual collaboration.
Indeed, the post-pandemic shift to hybrid work is helping erode employers’ doubts. “Most businesses deliver staff training online, which means people are comfortable with virtual learning and see its quality as equal to in-person programmes,” says Michele Roberts, an associate dean at UNSW Business School in Sydney.
Business schools are also finding ways to address concerns about networking, by integrating in-person elements into their online courses. The Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, hosts “access weekends” where online students take intensive, full-time MBA-style sessions on campus.
The approach has had some success. Meg Lukus, executive director of Tepper’s part-time and online MBA programmes, notes that 90 per cent of online participants who seek promotions or career changes typically achieve them within four months of graduation. The average salary increase is 47 per cent from the start to the end of the MBA programme, with the median exit pay being $159,183.
“We’ve been able to diminish that employer stigma” about online courses, says Lukus.
Steven Jensen received two promotions, rising from adviser to senior manager to lead director, at US drugstore operator CVS Health during his online MBA at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business between 2021 and 2023.
“One of the really nice benefits of the online MBA was that it enhanced my ability to build relationships and manage tasks remotely — skills that directly align with my role at CVS,” he says. The healthcare group covered part of his tuition fees, a sign that more companies are backing online MBAs.
Andrew Crisp, owner of CarringtonCrisp, believes there is still some way to go for full acceptance. “There will be a day in the future where it’s normal to have a FTSE 100 chief executive who did an online MBA,” he says. “That’s when the barriers to acceptance will fully break.”
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