The Top US Online MBA Programs 2018

The online MBA program at Indiana University (Kelley Direct Programs) has been ranked the best in the United States in the QS Distance Online MBA Rankings 2018.

Released today, the QS Distance Online MBA Rankings assess the online MBA offerings of 50 business schools worldwide (we rank more global online MBA courses than any other leading ranking organization). You can find out more about the methodology used to produce the rankings here.

Out of 50 ranked schools, over half of them (29 schools) are based in the United States, who are proving themselves to be world leaders in online MBA tuition.

The top 10 in the U.S. can be seen below:

The highest-ranked institution in the US is the online MBA program at Indiana University (Kelley Direct Programs). One of the oldest online MBA programs on the market, Kelley’s degree was established in 1999. This goes some way to explaining their perfect score in the ‘establishment in online market’ indicator, which takes into account the establishment year of the program.

Kelley’s online MBA prides itself on the flexible nature of the program, allowing students to complete it in two years or up to four years (with 18 courses and 51 credit hours). The tuition is established per module. Kelley charges US$1,330 per course, with an additional US$100 recommended for course materials. Therefore, students can expect to pay around US$72,930 in total.

Ash Soni, executive associate dean of academic programs, and the SungKyunKwan professor of operations and decision technologies at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business emphasizes what programs need to provide to keep up in the competitive MBA market:

“Online MBA programs are changing rapidly, with students increasingly looking for many of the same opportunities enjoyed by residential MBA students. Meeting student expectations requires more interaction with peers and faculty, meaningful international experiences, and enhanced career and professional development.”

The University of Florida (Warrington) is ranked second in the US.  Much like Kelley, the online MBA program at Warrington was established in 1999, leading to another high score for ‘establishment in online market’.

Students at Warrington have the option of pursuing either a 100 percent online MBA, or one of two hybrid options, with on-campus visits included as part of the program. The degree at Warrington takes between 16 and 27 months to complete, and the residencies are carried out at their Gainesville campus. Ranked fifth in the global rankings, tuition for this program will set you back US$59,807.20.

George Washington University’s online MBA program is ranked third in the US and achieved the highest score both nationally and globally for ‘student quality’. This indicator takes into account the make-up of a cohort: their average years of work experience, the applicants/place ratio, the class average GMAT score, and the percentage of students with a first degree.

Susan E. Copp, George Washington School of Business senior instructional designer, says that their ranking position “demonstrates the commitment of our faculty and staff to ensure that our online MBA students are fully involved in the courses and engaged with their professors and peers in a challenging curriculum that extends beyond the traditional classroom.”

Candidates can begin the program in the Fall, Spring, or Summer semesters (August, January, or May), and can expect to undertake around four modules per semester, totalling 55.5 credit hours overall. Tuition is charged by credit, with each credit costing US$1,765 (so you can expect to pay around US$97,957.50 overall).

You can view the full list of schools in the US rankings below: