When embarking on an MBA, students have many choices to make. Should it be in person or online? Local or abroad? Full-time or part-time?
For full-time Online MBAs, the program is often shorter due to the increased time demands throughout and allows a student to intensively focus on their MBA. Often full-time Online MBA students are less likely to be working a full-time job simultaneously.
“[With] a full-time [MBA] one of the advantages you've got is that… you don't have the work demands on your time, so you are able to throw yourself into studies,” says Rebecca Loades, director of MBA programs at the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin.
A full-time Online MBA can be more fully immersive, and allows a student to fully reposition within their chosen career before they enter or re-enter the job market. For students who are eager to finish the degree quickly and intensively, and don’t have the added obligation to work a full-time job, a full-time Online MBA can be a perfect solution.
Part-time benefits for employees
In contrast, a part-time Online MBA might be a stronger choice for a student who plans to work simultaneously.
“A part-time MBA allows you to balance your professional and personal life with the program, leveraging your current professional momentum with direct application of what you learn to your day-to-day work,” says Maria Osman, director of admissions at IE Business School in Madrid.
That feedback loop of learning and applying over and over again is one of the main benefits of a part-time MBA, allowing for real-time application of what is being learned while working.
“As soon as you're learning something, you can have a go… therefore it really gives you the opportunity that you can use your work effectively as your petri dish for what you're learning,” says Loaddes.
“I have had comments from students in the part-time MBA that their work colleagues have noticed how they are changing pretty much from month one in the program because they're asking a different question or they're looking at something from a slightly different perspective.”
It’s important however to really be honest about the commitment of an MBA degree while working, and maintaining a social or family life as well.
“Being part-time does not make it lighter than a full-time one, the same content stretched over more months while you will be holding down a job and, oftentimes, a family,” stated Mo Moeini, course director for the Warwick Business School’s Global Online MBA program at the University of Warwick.
“The candidates who succeed are typically the ones who had a strong reason for committing to an online MBA.”
A more diverse classroom
For both full-time and part-time Online MBAs, the programs can attract a wide variety of participants from all over the world. Part-time Online MBAs in particular often have a diverse cohort participating, due to its flexibility and accessibility.
At ESMT, its Online MBA cohort once even included a ship captain, who would join live sessions from satellite phone.
“The global online MBA brings you access to people and individuals who would never be able to come here for an in-person experience, and so you've therefore got a kind of a different cohort,” says Loades.
These programs often include a broader range of ages, life stages, work experience, and geographies, and that diversity offers benefits and learning opportunities to the entire cohort.
“It's a much more international, diverse experience because of the diversity of the student body, and so therefore you've got a much broader representation of industries, functions, and cultures that you are learning alongside,” says Loades.
This can also enrich the experience. Full-time MBA students will be able to learn alongside people from all over the world who have also committed to an intense MBA program, while part-time online students can learn from their cohort’s real-life, real-time work experience, as well as their own.
It’s easy to find a program that suits any schedule or geography when the MBA is online, full-time or part-time.
“Online programs enable you to combine an MBA with your professional and personal life from anywhere, adapting to your needs. In a few cases, some candidates may still feel hesitant about this format or have additional questions,” says Osman.
“Once they understand that it is the same program, with the same faculty and academic rigor, offering greater flexibility and global reach, it truly speaks for itself.”
When choosing between a full-time and a part-time MBA, make sure to look beyond the course load and weigh the connections and community that can be built within each program.
“We put a lot of effort in our online program to create community, we have online coffee mornings, we have online social events,” says Loades. “We do a lot to try and make sure that you're studying online, but you still really firmly know that you're a part of our community.”
The actual experience of learning online can be beneficial as well. “Online MBAs are carefully designed as digital experiences so you will be using state-of-the-art pedagogy platforms and tools which is a good experience in itself,” says Moeini.
Ultimately, there is no wrong choice, only a choice that is best for the student.
“I would add that this is an important decision in your life. There is a before and after the program and you really must feel you want to belong there,” says Osman. “It is a decision that has a lot to do with your professional life but, at the end of the day, is a very personal decision.”
Katie Nadworny is a writer based in Istanbul, Turkey. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, National Geographic, BBC, Politico, and many other publications.
