Tag: mba

Many Online MBA programs now include a variety of periodic residential modules. This blended format helps students forge valuable connections with students and professors, but without having to sacrifice personal and professional commitments.

The “bricks and clicks” format has been adopted by many of the world’s leading Online MBA programs.  At some institutions, core courses are competed on campus, while in other cases, online students have the option to take electives on campus and deepen their knowledge in diverse fields such as finance, real estate, or entrepreneurship.

Students often study alongside candidates from other degree programs including the full-time MBA and Executive MBA courses. There could also be executive speaker sessions too, and a variety of social events.

These experiences are sometimes rolled into the tuition fees, but other programs charge students extra for them. They are generally available on a first-come, first-serve basis, with limited availability for places.

Typically, residential experiences are offered at the beginning of the Online MBA so that students can build up a rapport, or at the end as part of a capstone course where they put the theory into practice. Sometimes, they are offered in multiple global locations as well as the school’s main campus. […]

Students on the Online MBA program at MIP, which is focused on digital transformation, visit the innovation centers of the business school in Milan. They also go on company visits to leading technology companies such as Amazon and Microsoft. There’s also a bootcamp on digital transformation, while students can also go on international exchanges to visit the campuses of other business schools across the world.

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The pandemic has convinced a clutch of locked-down institutions to launch Online MBA programs, especially in Europe. The trend looks set to continue

While many academic institutions across Asia are resuming face-to-face teaching, those in Europe are having to introduce tighter restrictions because of rising coronavirus cases and fresh national lockdowns.

The pandemic has convinced a clutch of locked-down European institutions to launch Online MBA programs in the past 12 months. The trend looks set to continue, as the Otto Beisheim School of Management recently announced plans for an Online MBA, with classes starting in August this year.

In Germany, where the school is based, infection numbers are rising from a third wave of coronavirus.

For Rebecca Winkelmann, director of the school’s new Online MBA, the pandemic crystallized the choice to go viral, which was made before Covid-19 struck.

She brought forward the launch of the program from 2022. “The main reason was the shift to digital teaching for all degree programs right at the beginning of the global crisis,” Winkelmann says. “We strongly felt we had everything in place to launch the program much quicker than initially planned.” […]

The trend looks set to continue, as the research group Carrington Crisp’s Tomorrow’s MBA Study from late 2020 showed that 78 percent of applicants are more likely to pursue a degree that gives them greater flexibility. “It’s likely that market acceptance of online learning has grown significantly over the past 12 months,” says Barniville. ESMT, for example, announced a new Online MBA in March this year, with sessions starting in September.

The forerunner to ESMT’s course is the Online MBA offered by MIP Politecnico di Milano in Italy, which launched back in 2014. The school’s dean, Federico Frattini, thinks the pandemic has changed perceptions among applicants and companies, and opened their minds to the possibilities of remote teaching.

“Something has changed,” he says. “The pandemic forced people to get used to online meetings. Thus, candidates are now more aware of the potential of digital education. The same applies to recruiters, who now perceive online learning to be as good as on-campus programs.”

On the other hand, some potential applicants are experiencing “Zoom fatigue”, which has only strengthened their belief in the value of campus teaching. “Those who already preferred on-campus programs are now even more” entrenched in that belief, says Frattini. […]

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For some, localization undermines the cosmopolitan experience of business school

A growing number of working professionals are fleeing the economic downturn and enrolling in business schools to upgrade their credentials. However, unlike in past recessions, many of those flocking to MBA programs this year are staying closer to home in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The trend of localization is problematic for business schools because it undermines the cosmopolitan experience, one of the hallmarks of a top MBA degree. In a globalized world, executives will travel across the world to study together with a diverse cohort of high fliers to gain a global perspective.

However, that diversity is now under threat, at least in the short-term. Last year, two thirds of MBA programs around the world reported a rise in domestic demand, but only half noted an increase in overseas applications, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council.

“The Covid-19 restrictions induced some candidates to choose programs closer to their home,” says Andrea Masini, associate dean for MBA programs at HEC Paris. He reports a 36 percent increase in applications from France in 2020. This led to a “significant” uptick in the number of European students compared to 2019.

He puts this down to a number of international candidates deferring their entrance due to travel constraints. This undermined strong overseas demand, with HEC noting that applications from Africa and Latin America were up by 47 percent and 43 percent, respectively. The challenge now will be to convince these students to take up their place next year. […]

At MIP, the Graduate School of Business of Politecnico di Milano, the dean Federico Frattini says there are enough Italian students to substitute for the school’s overseas exposure. He reports a slight decrease in international applications, but insists that the drop was offset by a 13 percent rise in domestic demand due to coronavirus uncertainty.

“In the last few years, we focused mainly on international candidates. Now, we are back to Italian students. But we hope the situation will be temporary,” says Frattini, noting that students may be keen to return to in-person study when the crisis, which has underscored the need for human connection, abates. […]

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Budget cuts caused by coronavirus are (sometimes) making corporate sponsorship scarcer, and scholarships can be hard to find. Here’s some tips on how you can pay for your Online MBA. Although the payoff can be huge, studying for an MBA, even an online program, is a long-term investment that requires significant sums of money, time and effort.

With coronavirus roiling the world economy, record numbers of people are applying to business schools to improve their credentials. But many of these students, while by no means poor in most cases, will face a harder time funding their studies during a sharp global recession.

“Funding seems to be a pressing concern for candidates. Indeed, we are receiving more requests about loans than in the past,” says Greta Maiocchi, chief customer management officer at MIP Politecnico di Milano, the Italian business school.

Is employer funding for Online MBA programs drying up?

Traditionally, employers have been more willing to pay for their staff to complete a part-time program, such as an Online MBA, over a full-time degree. That’s because online students continue to work, applying their insights on the job in real-time.

However, employer funding is now drying up because of coronavirus. In a recession, companies will cut costs to shore up their bottom line, though not all organizations.

“Some companies have increased their investment in education despite the pandemic, while others — which used to pay for their employees to do a part-time program — are now slowing down,” says Maiocchi.

Matt Wakeman, director of student financial services at Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University in the US, notices a reduction in the level of corporate sponsorship for students working in the oil and gas sector, which is reeling from the collapse in the price of oil.

It hasn’t been all doom and gloom, though. “Several companies with prominent education programs haven’t scaled back at all; some have actually expanded their benefits,” says Wakeman. “Even during difficult economic times, they understand how beneficial it can be to attracting and retaining employees.”

Online MBA funding: loans and other options

Wakeman says his office has seen an increase in the number of students with questions about funding their education.

He is getting more queries about loans, but for opportunistic reasons. “With federal interest rates at historic lows, even students who are fortunate enough to be in a position to pay for their education out of pocket are considering taking out federal loans,” he says.

Last March, America’s Department of Education set student loan interest rates to zero until the end of September 2021. However, such loans are unavailable to overseas students, who make up a minority of students on most Online MBA programs, which tend to attract people who want to study closer to home.

Even bank loans can be difficult to obtain for international students, usually requiring a domestic citizen to co-sign the loan. For this reason, some business schools have struck partnerships with alternative lenders that provide loans with favorable terms for its students.

MIP, for example, works with Prodigy Finance, a peer-to-peer lender which does not require a co-signer, nor collateral. MIP also works with Germany’s Deutsche Bildung, which offers loans with income-linked repayments over a number of years after graduation.

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Despite the potential for technology to tear down the geographical barriers to graduate business education, the proportion of overseas students on many Online MBA programs is slim. The exception is in Europe and especially in the UK market, which dominates rankings of Online MBAs and boasts highly diverse student intakes.

In the US, by far the most students live locally to the campus or elsewhere in the country, but they value the flexibility an Online MBA provides: most students continue to earn while they learn on a part-time basis.

Levels of diversity are much higher on Online MBA programs on the European continent, with schools in the UK in particular enrolling the vast majority of their students from overseas. This is the promise of online education, which in theory allows anyone to tune into classes from anywhere in the world.

The reality is that many business schools struggle to do this, because they lack brand recognition overseas with online education still very much in its infancy in some corners of the world. There are exceptions though, and below we’ve ranked the top 10 Online MBAs for international diversity. This diversity can significantly enhance the learning experience of all the students in a program. […]

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North America dominates rankings of the world’s leading full-time MBAs, but Europe has a strong reputation when it comes to digital degrees. The continent is home to a myriad of highly ranked Online MBA programs in several countries from the UK to the Netherlands.

Many of the top digital degrees in Europe are clustered in the UK, which is home to many reputable business schools such as Imperial College in London and Edinburgh Business School in Scotland. But the options for online students span the entire European continent, from Madrid to Milan and Berlin.

A common theme on these courses is innovation, with Online MBAs seen as good preparation for an increasingly digital workplace. Studying online, students can apply what they learn directly into the workplace without delay.

But many of these Online MBAs combine online and offline elements on campus, giving students a chance to sample some of the major European business climates and rich cultures. This helps to form bonds among classes and that translates into a powerful global alumni network. […]

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Once seen as second-rate, online education is gaining favor as the corporate world shifts to remote working

Coronavirus has forced MIP, like many schools, to invest in career resources to support students who face the difficult task of finding a job during a global economic slump and a pandemic. At most institutions, Online MBA students have access to all the same resources as their counterparts who are studying on campus. This includes individual career coaching, webinars, job postings, networking events and company information sessions.

MIP has added to this roster of support. The Italian school recently hosted a two-day virtual careers fair to connect companies with students. It also created an online portal where companies, students and alumni could access advice, articles and live webinars to help them overcome their current corporate challenges.

Agasisti says: “The support students receive online had, and will continue to be, just as extensive as it would be in person – and, paradoxically, even more.”

He points out that Online MBA students also have distinct advantages, including the chance to have more flexibility in their personal and professional life and the freedom to be unconfined to geographical locations.

“In our hectic world, technology has enhanced our human capability to learn and to engage with each other, and being able to learn online is a privilege that can reap excellent benefits if incorporated into your life effectively,” he says.

At the same time, attending an Online MBA does not mean that you can’t immerse yourself in the community of the school, he concludes. “Online learning is a rich, international experience, and it permits people to break down cultural barriers and to connect from all corners of the world.”

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