Top Online MBAs in the US: Kelley School & University of Florida

The University of Florida (UF) has nearly 400 students enrolled in its online MBA and the business school is accredited by AACSB — both of which contribute to its standing in the rankings. As does the school’s commitment to teaching quality, for which it scored more highly this year compared to last.

“We haven’t hired more faculty, but we have invested in three ‘instructional designers’, who help faculty develop their online courses to stay relevant,” said Gresley. “We have great faculty already and instead of hiring more, we have invested in making those faculty better.”

Established in 1999, the UF course at Hough was one of the first to be fully accredited. The program can be completed in 27 months or 16 months and tuition is US$58,000 dollars and US$48,000, respectively, said Gresley.

When comparing UF’s online MBA with that of the Kelley School of Business, one key difference is the flexibility. On the Kelley Direct online MBA program, students can complete the program in a minimum of two years and a maximum of five years. The average is three and half years. The Kelley School program also costs slightly more in fees, at US$67,000.

For the Kelley School of Business, the rise to the top three of QS’s 2017 rankings is a vindication of its efforts to raise the quality of its teaching in the online format, with the business school making great gains in this department year-over-year.

Ramesh Venkataraman, chair of the Kelley Direct online MBA program, puts this down to the fact that the business school does not recruit separately for online staff. “We continue to invest in top quality faculty across the school,” he said.

“There are a lot of business schools that don’t require the GMAT score or GRE score for admission into their online MBAs, but we have chosen not to go down that path,” he adds. “We waiver very few of our entry requirements.”

The Kelley School also scored well in the program or ‘Class Experience’ category, which suggests that its online MBA program is facilitating interaction between students and faculty — a key goal among online MBA programs.

Venkataraman said the school has focused on delivering one live lecture to its online MBA students each week, and there is also the opportunity for them to meet in-person on campus twice during the program. “We believe it gives us a competitive advantage,” he added.