Here in October we have recently seen some universities who are announcing new MBA programs or more in-depth MBA programs that may help students in such ways as being able to focus in specific areas or earn their MBA in a shorter amount of time. Yet, some major colleges and universities are also pushing online MBA programs as distance education courses may help students study not only the coursework to pursue their master’s degree in this area, but arguments in favor of these online MBA classes usually center around the fact that students from across the country, when a major university program is being used, will be accessible in these online classrooms and may offer a wider range of opinions and more points of view from individuals across the nation and not simply in a localized area.
However, arguments are also in place that some of these programs may not prepare students for the real world when it comes to helping them transition into a business atmosphere where, some believe, practice and theory may not necessarily converge. Obviously, this is not simply a problem that some students see when it comes to MBA programs, but as many students are looking to either be trained in business or go further in the hopes that they can either better compete or find new career opportunities in this changing job market, critics of these programs have often pointed out that the success of a business owner or anyone in business is not necessarily hinged upon their completion of one of these programs.
This argument may simply be phrased in the old idea that experience can trump education in some cases, as studying business, finance, or other industries may help some students better understand the history, current practices, or even ideology behind certain areas, but it does not necessarily help the students transition into skills that will be vital for their survival in a career. Yet, as these online University MBA programs make these degree courses more accessible, questions arise as to whether students will benefit from pursuing not only a degree in this particular type of program, but many still question whether a college education is even helpful at all at the present time, as some students who have graduated only have a sizable amount of student loan debt to show for their efforts.
However, officials point out that if a student is in a position where they want to pursue an MBA, specifically an online MBA program from a traditional college or from an online university, a great deal of research needs to go into this decision as countless factors could determine whether a particular program will be useful for a student’s ultimate goals or whether a university is offering a reputable MBA program. Obviously, taking an online program from a major university, which again has become popular, may help students when it comes to the reputability of a program, but some of for-profit colleges could potentially be more costly, which is evidenced by higher levels of student loan problems after graduation that had been reported as of late, so looking at costs and what a course offers for that cost will be one of the main focuses of student must have when making their decision.
Yet, students may also want to look at how the alumni of certain online MBA programs from Internet universities or traditional colleges are doing, what they may have to say about a college’s particular MBA program, and how it prepared them for the real world, as getting feedback from those who have actually completed these programs will be incredibly helpful when it comes to allowing students to make a more informed decision on whether this particular type of online program is best for them.
