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Is a Part-Time MBA program worth it

Most Americans find that part-time MBA programs are the most popular delivery configuration. Approximately 56% of all MBA students in America are enrolled in part-time programs. The professional MBA (PMBA), evening, and weekend MBA programs are all included under the part-time MBA program umbrella. Because they’re designed for people with full-time jobs, some refer to them as fully-employed MBA (FEMBA) programs. Most students tend to be professional managers and senior managers who want to advance to the highest positions in their companies.

A part-time MBA is very valuable

Many people debate the value of part-time MBA programs. This is perplexing since most schools that offer part-time MBA programs also offer full-time MBA programs. Part-time MBA students also have access to the same alumni network as their full-time counterparts. According to many reports, many employers consider part-time and full-time MBA programs to be the same. They’re equally willing to hire graduates from either program.

This article will explore the merits of online part-time MBA programs.

When would you want to enroll in a part-time MBA program?

You’d want to enroll in a part-time MBA program if you were looking for a flexible program. Part-time MBA programs are more flexible. This is important if you work a job that doesn’t have fixed hours. Full-time MBA programs tend to be more focused.

You would want to enroll in a part-time MBA program if the following situations applied to you:

You have lots of work experience and want to stay in the same career path

If all you want from an MBA program is more knowledge, then a part-time MBA program makes sense. You need to have at least seven years of work experience in this instance to make doing a part-time MBA program worth your time and money. A part-time MBA program would also make sense if you were already in a strong mid to senior-level managerial position.

Enrolling in a part-time MBA program would also make sense to you if you already earned more the average graduate of a full-time MBA program did.

Full-time MBA programs tend to offer their students extensive support in terms of job placement and discovering their ideal career paths. Recruiters who come to campus tend to mainly interview only on-campus students. The recruiters’ presentations are focused on full-time MBA students. Indeed, you may receive less career support if you enroll in a part-time MBA program.

Doing a part-time MBA program would make the most sense if you were between 24-35 years old and you wanted to get a degree that would greatly enhance your present career qualifications. There are some exceptions though. Half of the students at Indiana University enroll because they want to switch to the entrepreneurship career track. Many of those students also want to completely change their careers.

Indiana University offers a highly ranked online MBA program. Its faculty and staff are aware of the career aspirations of half of the student body. They (faculty and staff) have recognized this.

Part-time MBA Programs are Perfect for those Candidates who want Better Chances of Admission – the Applicant Pool is Less Competitive

Part-time MBA programs are less competitive. Therefore, they accept more of the people who apply to them. This means that people have a better chance of being admitted to the most elite business schools that have powerful and influential alumni networks if they apply to the part-time and not the full-time MBA programs.

Also Read – Where In The World Do You Get ‘A Value For Money’ MBA?

The student body at part-time MBA programs tends to be more homogenous. There are also generally fewer students applying to these programs. They tend to be more regional in geographic focus. Their academic focus tends to be only on those industries in the geographic region.

The quality of students tends to depend on the geographic location of the part-time MBA program. Bigger schools tend to have an easier time attracting more qualified and experienced candidates. This is a key strategy that they use to attract more qualified applicants. This is to recruit students from around the world.

The chances of being accepted to a part-time MBA program

Is it easier to be accepted into a part-time or EMBA program? An analysis of Michigan’s Ross offers insights into this. The part-time acceptance rate is nearly 50 points higher—26.3 percent vs. 74.4 percent…the acceptance rate for Ross’s EMBA program is 72.6%.

Berkeley’s Haas Full-time MBA program has traditionally ranked as being one of the most exclusive and selective full-time MBA programs in the world. Its acceptance rate was just 12% in 2018. The acceptance rate for the part-time MBA program is 47.4%.

People who apply to Georgetown’s McDonough, Washington’s Olin School, and USC’s Marshall part-time MBA programs have a 75% chance of being accepted into the programs.

Full-time MBA programs have an average GMAT score that is 83 points higher than do part-time MBA programs. US News & World Report ranked the 50 elite MBA programs worldwide. With a 706 average score, full-time MBAs scored 83 points higher than the 623 average scored by the part-time cohort. Full-time and EMBA programs had similar differentials. However, two universities (Emory and Vanderbilt) had differentials that were greater than 100 points.

Most of the highly ranked Executive MBA programs don’t require a GMAT score for admittance. The majority of online MBA programs are following this trend. These online programs are willing to substitute many years of work experience for a high GMAT score.

When an employer pays for the MBA

According to a 2014 GMAC study only 30 percent of employers willing to sponsor people who want to do a part-time MBA in any way, shape, or form. Another GMAC study done in 2016 revealed that only 41% of employers are willing to pay for their employees to do an MBA degree. Surprisingly, the numbers are about the same for EMBA programs. The Executive MBA Council did a research study in 2016. Its findings were that only 23% of EMBA students receive full sponsorship. About 36% are partially reimbursed for tuition. There are some exceptions though. For example, at Northwestern University 66% of the most recent EMBA class received either full or partial sponsorship. Students are greatly incentivized to get an MBA degree when their employer pays for part or all of it.

MBA Candidates with financial challenges

The second most expensive thing for most people aside from buying a home is financing higher education. In 2014 New York University’s Stern Business School was the first full-time MBA program to crash through the $200,000 total cost barrier. This type of high tuition is considered to be the norm seven years later. Private universities and even some public universities regularly charge this high of tuition. However, this is only some of the costs that MBA students pay to finance their higher education.

Opportunity costs are included in the total costs. An opportunity cost is an economic concept that explains the costs of foregoing one thing to pursue another. $400,000 is the real cost of doing an MBA degree when opportunity costs are factored in. Students incur this cost since they forego earning a good salary for at least two years. The real cost also factors in living expenses, tuition, etcetera.

Students who attend business schools and, especially the elite business schools, leave jobs  already paying more than $85,000 a year.

MBA students graduating in 2016 racked up$262 million in debt just at the top 10 schools. At the top 14 MBA programs in general, average student debt was more than $100,000. In 2011 only two of the top MBA programs had an average student of more than $100,000. The range of average student debt at the top MBA programs was wide. For example, it was $130,446 at UPenn. The lowest amount of student debt was at Carnegie Mellon at $101,667.

Part-time students seem to have less student debt in general.

Part-time MBA students work so they get relief in the form of some salary. They also often receive financial support in the form of scholarships. However, the overall debt load is a touch-and-go situation.

US News ranked business schools and four out of the top five of these that gave student loan information part-timers were in less debt than their counterparts who attended full-time MBA programs. The highest differential was at Ross at $43,000 ($59,014 v.s. $102,605.) Hass had the lowest differential at $42,000 ($83,288 v.s. $87,546.) Three out of the top five ranked business schools also had far fewer part-time students in debt.

Part-time students face debt because many of them don’t get scholarships or fellowships from the MBA program. However, part-timers spread the cost over the units of classes that they take because they only take one to two classes a semester. This means that they pay less tuition. This helps them manage their overall education costs much better.

MBA candidates with Financial, Family, or Community Commitments

Most people are married, have kids, and have mortgages. They don’t have the option of quitting their full-time jobs and moving to enroll in a full-time MBA program. Part-time MBA programs appeal to them because they are less demanding and more flexible. Students can spend more time on their other commitments.

MBA Candidates who want to apply concepts taught right away

People who attend part-time MBA programs can apply concepts they’ve learned immediately.

Networking:  Full-Time MBA v.s. Part-Time MBA

People who want to attend an MBA program mainly to network are better off attending a full-time program. Schmitt believes that there are more networking opportunities with full-time MBA programs because they have more students per class. For example, the average full-time MBA program has 228 students in each class. Part-time and EMBA programs only have an average of 147 and 71 students per class respectively.

Full-time MBA programs tend to have more powerful alumni networks because there are more students in the program in general.

There is one drawback though. It’s in tuition cost. Most full-time and EMBA students pay the full tuition. They can be vocal when ‘push comes to shove!’ This is very true at Washington’s Foster, USC’s Marshall, Georgia Tech’s Scheller, Rice’s Jones, and Maryland’s Smith MBA programs. The part-time student body is far more numerous than the full-time and EMBA student bodies combined.

Students tend to be seasoned professionals in most part-time MBA programs. This is especially true in part-time EMBA programs. They tend to havediverse and impressive backgrounds from a wide variety of industries. Many of the students are already in mid-level or senior managerial positions. They can bring in more insight and examples of the way that business works in the real world. They can also start more relevant and interesting conversation in class. Indeed, part-time MBA programs give students the opportunity to learn from their faculty and classmates simultaneously.

Meeting Potential Business Partners or Investors

Students in part-time MBA programs tend to network less. They also tend to be introduced to far fewer contacts. But they do have the opportunity to network with business partners and investors. This gives them access to more powerful and influential connections and contacts.

Part-timers tend to have access to more personal capital. They’ll meet others who have access to lots of personal capital and want to start their own businesses.

When is an Online Part-Time MBA Program Practical?

Candidates who have the following in common should enroll in an online part-time MBA program.

More flexible

Online MBA programs are more than flexible. They offer students tremendous flexibility advantages. Many institutions have recently invested in the technologies that allow them to provide online classes that are superior in many ways to their in-class counterparts. However, there are no time or distance constraints with remote online classes.

Students who have to work full-time now have many more options and opportunities in terms of personalized education and paced learning. Motivated and gifted people, especially, can thrive in these classes because they tend to be accelerated.

Extra Financial Challenges

Students save money when they attend online part-time MBA programs. This is true even when the tuition is the same as a physical part-time MBA program or even a full-time MBA program. Online MBA programs tend to save students money because they don’t have to spend extra money on relocation, childcare, and transportation costs.

Interested in developing Virtual Communication Skills

The future of business is in online education and collaboration with virtual teams. This means that virtual communication skills are quickly becoming more important. Northeastern University already offers its students many opportunities to develop virtual communication skills with multimedia tools and interactive classrooms. Students can also dramatically improve their memories, and use online forums to participate in enhanced class sessions.

Motivation to Build a Professional Network

Online MBA students can study from anywhere in the world. This means their classmates can potentially come from anywhere in the world.

Preferences for Concentrated Networking Opportunities and Travel

Some students love residency and immersion trips because of the many concentrated networking opportunities that they offer. Online MBA programs offer this in abundance. The majority of the elite and ranked online MBA programs have mandatory trip programs. These allow students to interact via screen. They meet in person either off campus or at a preselected campus.

Conclusion:  A Part-Time MBA Program is very valuable

Yes, the right student will definitely benefit from a part-time MBA program

Part-time MBA programs make online advanced business education available to those who could otherwise not attend because of either the high cost of tuition, financial, family, or community commitments. Many part-time and EMBA programs offer their students quality education, outstanding and influential alumni networks, and association with powerful university brands. These students may have to otherwise attend an MBA program at a lower-tier school and miss out on these opportunities and advantages otherwise.

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