What You Should Know About This Degree
We’re confident that our Top 50 Online Master’s in Business Administration degrees are the right fit for many people. That said, if you want to rely on your school to organize the bulk of your networking, they won’t be the right fit for you. Some of them might offer networking events if you make the trek out to campus, but none of them have mandatory on-campus events for online students. Instead, you’ll want to track down your own networking opportunities to make connections.
You should also be aware that almost all of our programs require a background in business — whether professional or educational. If you don’t have a Bachelor’s degree in business, it’s likely they’ll ask you to take some foundational courses to catch up before you can begin the program itself. How programs handle prerequisites varies by school, so you’ll need to check in with your admissions or degree advisor to see how many credit hours you’ll need to take.
What’s Next?
Check out our list of the best online MBAs and take a closer look into what specializations, concentrations, and electives they offer. Depending on your preferences, you might like the straightforward route some programs offer with direct concentrations, or you might prefer building your own online MBA degree with a number of free electives.
Keep in mind that if you already know the industry you’d like to work in — no matter how niche — there’s probably an online MBA program tailored to help you in that field. In our research, we found the expected concentrations — accounting, marketing, etc. — but also some more particular ones, like cybersecurity, sports management, and aviation.
Finally, you’ll need to keep an eye on state authorizations. Like every online degree, if you apply to a university that’s out-of-state, you’ll need to make sure that your home state has an agreement to accept online degrees from your university’s state. Each school should have a “state authorization” page, but since authorizations can vary by program, check in with an admissions counselor to make sure your state will recognize your online MBA degree as valid.