Many wonder if an Online MBA degree really holds as much water as its campus counterpart. We’ve all seen pop ups with the headline: “Get your MBA online for $7,000, no GMAT required!”, so skepticism of online education is understandable. People who have thought about enrolling into an online MBA program are generally scared away when they see these obvious scams. Some people think that employers will undervalue this type of degree, so they reject the idea of enrolling altogether.
The ones usually thinking of enrolling are people who cannot take a full two year MBA program at a campus, because of lack of time or because they have jobs to attend to. If they truly want to further their education, then flexible online classes are their only solution. The good news is that an online MBA can indeed boost your career. There are many misconceptions about the online MBA program which could ease the mind of many. Here are a few:
When you come across a website called “get-your-mba-online-free-30-days.com”, you can already tell that it’s time to close all browsers and run a virus scan. There are hundreds of mass-market online schools on the internet, many just trying to make profit as fast as possible, offering admission to anyone who can pay their tuition. The fact of the matter is, these schools are severely lowering the reputation of all online schools. The same way that a couple of bad students make a whole class look disruptive.
In reality, there are many online universities with serious requirements and prerequisites. For example, the Fuqua School of Business (Duke University) offers MBA programs online, but, requires a GMAT score and minimum years of work experience, with some programs as high as $135,500. Legitimate online schools will cost as much – or more, as their full time counterparts because of technological needs and extra hours required of faculty.
There exist hundreds of accredited schools and universities offering online MBA degree programs. And not soft accreditations either. The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), a highly-regarded accrediting agency, has approved many online MBA online programs. And others are approved with regional accreditation, which means that the program is approved by the US government.
There is no doubt that a widespread prejudice is rooted in the minds of many employers about the value of an online degree. This can be attributed to past ideas that people who study by distance learning sit alone in a room with just their books, never communicating with another human being. This, of course, is a completely outdated learning method. Online schools are now using the most advanced technology to educate students. Classes take place in a virtual space, where professors can teach directly to students, and students, through webcams, can ask them questions.
Most online MBA programs provide lectures, complete with video and Power Point slides, in the form of downloadable content which they can then transfer to any computer or mobile device. This also enables them to listen to it whenever and how many times they’d like.
What matters most to many employers is work experience. When someone walks into a recruiters office with a degree from an accredited school AND years of experience, it becomes difficult to turn him down. Remember the reason most people want to get their MBAs online? That’s right, because they wanted to keep working while studying so they could further their career. The fact that they had a career or business to begin with means they have valuable work experience.
With time, as the popularity of distance-learning grows, the online prejudice that many employers once held on to stubbornly will fade away, and one day, will be non-existent altogether. Who knows? Maybe in the future, all our classes will be broadcast into our living room.
Remember, a hiring manager will always look favorably at someone who can manage their own time, are self-disciplined and have work experience under their belt. Hey wait a minute, that sounds like an online MBA graduate to me.
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