For years, Online MBAs often struggled to command the same prestige as in-person degrees, while students missed out on some of the networking and recruiting opportunities that came with attending a business school in person.
That stigma, however, is fading. The pandemic accelerated the growth of online education just as employers became accustomed to remote and hybrid work, while established business schools expanded their online offerings.
“With the widespread acceptance of hybrid/remote working with employers, there has been a more positive acceptance of online learning,” says Kate Friend, director of CareersPlus & Employer Relations at the business school of the University of Warwick.
Allie Medellin, director of career strategy and professional advancement for the Kelley Direct MBA at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, has witnessed a similar shift.
“As a result, employers are placing less emphasis on whether a degree was earned online or in person and more on the quality, rigor, and reputation of the program,” she says.
School reputation matters more than format
For employers, the important question is no longer whether an MBA was earned online, but where it was earned.
Friend says employers tend to focus on the MBA degree, “especially from a highly ranked business school,” alongside the candidate's demonstrated skills and experience rather than how the program was delivered.
Scott Edinburgh, MBA admissions consultant and the founder of Personal MBA Coach, agrees.
“The reputation of the MBA program matters more than whether the program is online, in person, or hybrid,” he says. “In other words, the school itself generally matters more to recruiters than the format.”
That makes researching recruiting outcomes particularly important. Edinburgh recommends prospective students look at a school's recruiting relationships, past hiring statistics and alumni network, including whether it has strong connections with the industries and employers they hope to enter.
What you can do matters more than how you studied
Successful Online MBA graduates say the format in which they received their degree proved far less important to employers than what they could actually bring to the job.
“I never had an employer ask whether my MBA was completed online or in person,” says Padmarchana Kandi, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Gies College of Business MBA graduate who is now director of strategy and programs at Future World Alliance.
“The conversations were always centered around my leadership experience, business acumen, problem-solving ability, and the impact I had delivered throughout my career.”
Kandi says the reputation of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign also carried credibility with employers. Ultimately, she argues, recruiters are assessing whether candidates can demonstrate the judgment, communication and problem-solving abilities expected from an MBA graduate.
Raymond Makharadze Ortiz, a Boston University Questrom School of Business Online MBA graduate and project manager at Mount Sinai Health System, had an even more positive experience.
“I think my employers saw me taking initiative to higher learning as the priority,” he says. “Some of my supervisors immediately understood the flexibility and luxury of being able to take a MBA online and how that was much more cost effective and beneficial than the traditional onsite route. Overall, it was a positive reception.”
Makharadze Ortiz received a promotion and bonus while completing the MBA and again after graduating. He estimates that he was able to apply around 90 percent of what he learned directly to his job.
Online MBA students are often at a different stage of their careers
Comparing online and full-time MBA students can also be misleading because the two groups often pursue the degree at different stages of their careers.
“One of the biggest distinctions is that online MBA students are simply in a different place in their careers than many traditional, full-time MBA students,” says Medellin.
“The average Kelley Direct student has 8-9 years of experience and is working full-time while earning their MBA,” she says. “As a result, they are typically not looking for internships or entry-level recruiting opportunities. They are focused on advancing into leadership roles, leveraging their degree and past experience to pivot industries or functions, or expanding their knowledge.”
That distinction can matter for students who do want a major career change. Hannah Lessem, who moved from Oracle into a brand and marketing role at Molson Coors while completing her Kelley Direct MBA, says employers never treated her online degree as inferior.
Her bigger obstacle was having no previous brand or consumer packaged goods experience and, because she was working full-time, no MBA internship.
“In hindsight I would have heavily considered applying to internships during my online MBA program,” she says.
Online MBAs can create more global networks
While the stigma surrounding the Online MBA has faded, some differences remain.
"Banks, consulting firms, and many technology companies recruit through on-campus processes that are generally reserved for full-time MBA students," says Mike Mascarenhas, a senior MBA admissions consultant at Menlo Coaching.
However, there is a special upside when it comes to remote learning.
Online programs can bring together professionals who might never have shared a physical classroom.
“Our online MBA graduates are located all over the world from a broad range of industries allowing them to access a global network of alumni that can provide valuable career, events and networking opportunities, which is a clear advantage,” says Friend.
Kelley sees a similar advantage. Medellin says its online students enter a cohort spanning industries, functions and geographies, with relationships strengthened through networking platforms, in-residence experiences and global immersions.
Graduates say those relationships can matter enormously during a job search. Lessem credits networking with helping her make her career switch.
“I fully credit landing my job to networking,” she says. “I was able to leverage my MBA as an excuse to connect with people as ‘an MBA exploring new career opportunities’, and was able to connect with other individuals with MBAs, Kelley or not, by using that as the thread of commonality.”
She spoke with around 75 people in her target industry, function and geography over roughly a year.
There is, however, a practical drawback. Friend points out that Online MBA students are usually busy professionals juggling multiple priorities, which can make it difficult to find time for the extracurricular career and networking opportunities their schools provide.
Mubin S. Khan is a Canadian-Bangladeshi journalist, editor, and researcher based in Montreal. A graduate of Columbia Journalism School, he has more than two decades of experience in journalism, policy research, and higher education, and has written for publications including The Guardian, The Sunday Times, and The Daily Beast.
