Where are the real online MBA programs?

Find truly online MBA programs. Learn to identify fully digital courses, check accreditation, and explore options from Coursera, edX, and top universities. Avoid traditional distance learning.

Where can you find genuine online MBA programs?

An MBA (Master of Business Administration) degree typically requires prior professional experience. Therefore, MBA candidates often wonder if the advanced management program can be completed alongside their job. Ideally, it would be entirely online, with digital knowledge transfer and online interaction, and without mandatory attendance at weekend seminars.

You should never rely solely on the term "online." Some providers now call their old distance learning courses "online studies." Therefore, check carefully: Do you want to study with video lessons, or are text scripts acceptable? Do you get 100% digital delivery, or are there mandatory seminars?

Also, check the academic title conferred by the program. Is it really the desired MBA degree that you want to impress employers with? Is the program accredited (especially with international providers)?

Complete online MBAs in the style of successful MOOCs (massive open online courses) are currently still in their nascent stages. Here, digital video lessons, online interaction via discussion forums, live webinars, and digital business cases and exams play a role.

A lot is happening with the leading online course platforms:

Coursera, the world's most important provider of online courses, offers an online MBA program. The online program, called iMBA, confers a degree from the University of Illinois. The program includes specializations, i.e., course series on various topics. In addition, there is online interaction related to the program.

Close on Coursera's heels internationally is edX, which became known as an online platform for courses from Harvard and MIT. Here too, a dedicated online MBA program was recently developed and is now open for enrollment.