
The IE Business School in Madrid, Spain has been ranked the best in the world in the QS Online MBA Ranking 2020.
The QS Online MBA Rankings assess the online MBA offerings of 47 business schools globally.
IE Business School retains its top spot, having achieved the highest score in the rankings for both employability (a perfect score) and faculty and teaching, QS said.
It is made up of three core online periods, one Global Immersion Week (locations include Shanghai, Los Angeles and Mumbai), plus three face-to-face weeks in Madrid.
Teaching includes working in interactive small groups on real-world, industry-based case studies. The programme has an average length of 18 months, the shortest in the rankings, QS said.
The class profile is made up of 86% international students, with an average of 10 years work experience.
Learn.org notes that online MBA programmes work like many other online degree. Students can log on at their convenience to listen to recorded lectures and retrieve assignment details.
Instructors and fellow students can be contacted via e-mail or through online chat rooms or message boards. Assignments and projects are turned in via e-mail.
While many programmes allow students to take exams online, some might require that exams be taken either on-campus or at proctored sites.
Many online MBAs are part-time programs and can take around 3-4 years to complete, depending on the course load. Accelerated 1- and 2-year online MBAs allow students to complete all the required coursework in a shorter timeframe than that of traditional MBAs.
Fees for the 2019-20 academic year at IE Business School are €51,200, which is around R1 million, thanks to the recent weakening of the South African currency.
Similarly, fees for the 24-month programme at second placed Imperial College Business School are £37,500 while students have an average of 10.5 years’ work experience.
Tenth on the list, Otago’s Online MBA is charged per paper over three years.
Live classes are held in the evenings twice a week, and you would be expected to attend all classes. Classes are also recorded for revision purposes, noted QS.
The three-year course is made up of two phases:
- Phase 1: students take 12 core papers over about 2.5 years
- Phase 2: Students undertake a business project or international exchange or a combination of these up to 60 points.
Tuition for the 2020 programme is (per 15-point paper) NZ$2,230 for NZ citizens or NZ$3,623 for international students.
Top 10 online MBAs
# | Institution | Location | Price | Price in rands |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | IE Business School | Madrid, Spain | €51 200 | R1.05 million |
2 | Imperial College Business School | London, UK | £37 500 | R873 000 |
3 | Warwick Business School | Warwick, UK | £33 250 | R774 000 |
4 | AGSM @ UNSW Business School | Sydney, Australia | AUD$59 760 | R715 000 |
5 | MIP Politecnico di Milano Graduate School of Business | Milan, Italy | €32 000 | R656 000 |
6 | Kelley School of Business | Indiana, US | $67 830 | R1.28 million |
7 | Alliance Manchester Business School | Manchester, UK | £30 000 | R699 000 |
8 | Marshall School of Business | Los Angeles, US | $108 975 | R2 million |
9 | Chapman Graduate School of Business – FIU | Miami, US | $42 000 | R793 000 |
10 | University of Otago Business School | Otago, New Zealand | per paper basis | – |
Read: South Africa gets its first accredited online MBA – this is what it costs