How Covid-19 is affecting MBA programs

COVID-19 forced MBA programs worldwide to go digital, impacting admissions, finances, and student numbers. Learn how business schools adapted and the future of online MBA education.

How Covid-19 affects MBA study programs

In the current Corona phase, students also have a variety of questions and often the most diverse answers.

However, most business schools have one thing in common: they have suspended face-to-face teaching for their MBA programs and are offering digital learning instead. This change has taken place worldwide and serves to contain the Corona pandemic and to meet international travel restrictions. This innovation also has an impact on selection interviews, research colloquia, admission days, company presentations and also on the financial situation of business schools. The crisis could mean the end for some business schools in the already competitive market - especially in the USA - according to a survey by the consulting firm Eduvantis.

Openings are only partial as a precaution

In Germany, MBA and Master providers reacted relatively in unison and only temporarily closed their doors. In the meantime, many schools, such as Mannheim Business School and WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management, have switched to digital learning formats and online interviews until further notice. ESMT Berlin temporarily suspended on-campus teaching, and HHL Leipzig School of Management also stopped its face-to-face teaching until further notice. The Frankfurt School of Finance & Management offers examination-relevant courses for degree programs only online until the end of May 2020, but gradually reopened its Learning Center at the end of April. "Chairs are being removed so that a minimum distance can be maintained. Security personnel will also check this," the website states.

At many business schools, the online status still needs to be improved

On-site teaching will currently only be possible to a limited extent, at best in small groups and in compliance with strict infection control measures. Schools will most likely have to make a massive effort to expand their online content in the long term. "This is a real wake-up call," John Katzman, founder and CEO of the online education platform Noodle Partners, told the online magazine Poets & Quants (P&Q) regarding the developments caused by the Corona crisis. In the past, many business schools showed a deficit in the introduction of online courses, and this was particularly due to the lack of experience with sophisticated online education - both in terms of technology and pedagogy.

At the moment, the offering is based more on Zoom sessions than on high-quality MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), in which various forms of online knowledge transfer are combined with virtual learning groups. There is therefore a great need for innovations in the digital program structure, such as the planning of virtual events or online welcome weekends for admitted students. However, one advantage of the switch to online learning is already apparent: schools can much more easily involve various guest speakers from all over the world digitally.