For Lauren Crawley, getting an MBA simply made sense for her career.
The recent graduate from the online MBA program at the Indiana University–Bloomington Kelley School of Business says before enrolling, she understood that many higher-level consulting jobs required the degree.
“You look at postings, and they say, ‘MBA preferred,’ ‘MBA required,’ and realized I was already at that point where I really needed to go back to school,” says the 30-year-old North Carolina resident.
Now a senior consultant at the firm Kalypso, Crawley says she also initially considered on-campus MBA programs. But the ability to continue earning an income while pursuing an MBA online from a reputable business school appealed to her.
Whether to spend the money on a highly ranked online MBA isn’t always immediately clear to prospective students.
Among the top 20 schools in U.S. News’ 2017 Best Online MBA Programs rankings, the average total part-time, out-of-state tuition for the 2016-2017 school year was $53,477, according to data submitted to U.S. News in an annual survey. On average, nearly 44 percent of those who graduated from these programs during the 2015 -2016 school year had debt — an average of $37,172. But they also had an average salary increase of 26.4 percent post-MBA, though only seven top-20 schools reported those data.
To decide whether a top online MBA is worth the investment, experts recommend following these steps.
1. Determine whether you need an MBA: “What I advise students to do is think about how this degree is going to impact their short-term and their long-term career aspirations,” says William Rieth, director of graduate enrollment at the Temple University Fox School of Business, whose online program ranked No. 1 this year.
[Discover the average online MBA student through U.S. News data.]
Students shouldn’t take that route just for the salary increase or because they are undecided on their career. An MBA may be the right choice for those seeking managerial roles and hoping to learn applicable business skills for their current job.
2. Consider the pros and cons of online offerings: Online MBA programs offer students like Crawley, the Kelley alumna, the flexibility to keep their jobs — and their income — as they complete their education far away from campus. But there are also drawbacks.
“Do they want to have the socialization that accompanies the residential program?” says Sandra Chrystal, vice dean for online learning at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business, whose online MBA ranks in a tie at No. 12. While online MBA programs generally incorporate some virtual and face-to-face networking into the curriculum, experts say, prospective students may value stronger in-person relationships.
Those balancing an online education with a full-time job need self-discipline and strong time management. It may also take longer to earn the degree online compared with full-time options.
[Determine how long it takes to earn an online master’s degree.]
“The sheer intensity of your life during the time period that you are in the online program is something that many people think they grasp before they join, but I don’t think they fully grasp until they’ve been with us for one or two terms,” says Judy Frels, assistant dean for online programs at the University of Maryland Smith School of Business, where the online MBA ranks No. 9.
3. Weigh the importance of a top-ranked program’s reputation: Frels says more and more, many “brand-name employers” want to hire MBA grads from “brand-name schools” — especially for higher-up positions such as CEOs. Reputable universities may also have more robust career services and more experienced faculty, experts say.
But they may also come with a higher price tag. The average 2016-2017 out-of-state tuition among all ranked online MBA programs that submitted these data to U.S. News was $30,576 — significantly lower than the $53,477 average for just the top 20. Prospective students should weigh whether a school’s high ranking is worth the price.
“The job I got out of school, I could have never gotten without going to Kelley,” says Crawley of the No. 3-ranked online MBA program.
4. Calculate the return on investment, if desired: Determining an approximate return on investment, such as by calculating expected salary-to-debt ratio, can help prospective students understand whether a top online MBA is worth it. That may also involve checking whether their employer will help pay for tuition.
[Learn how to convince an employer to pay for your online degree.]
Elyssa Kirkham, a writer for Student Loan Hero — an online platform for managing student debt — recommends contacting a program’s financial aid office for job placement rates and average starting salaries for recent grads.
From there, prospective students can add tuition and other student costs — such as for interest on student loans, or travel for the on-campus residencies that many top programs have — and divide that number by their expected annual increase in earnings. Because many online students maintain their jobs, they often don’t need to factor in earnings lost from not working. The answer is an estimated number of years it will take to earn back the investment.
Still, Chrystal acknowledges that not every outcome can be measured numerically. Prospective students should look beyond the data.
“I can tell you, ‘We’ve got 66,000 alumni that are willing to help you.’ But I don’t know how you’d say, ‘That’s worth X dollars,'” she says. “But it’s really an important part of being successful in business.”
Trying to fund your online education? Get tips and more in the U.S. News Paying for Online Education center.
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4 Steps to Determine if a Top Online MBA Is Worth It originally appeared on usnews.com
