Online MBA vs Full Time MBA: What’s the Future?

Although Online MBA has been a popular option among working professionals, it has gained more acceptance in the past few years. But will it surpass the demand for Full-Time MBA?

Online MBA vs Regular MBA - The Online MBA has gained a lot of traction over the last few years owning to its flexible nature and suitability for all segments. An Online MBA programme is same as that of a Full-Time MBA course in terms of design and course curriculum. Since it is flexible, it is most preferred by working professionals, women and those who have geographical limitation. The greatest benefit of Online MBA is that one can pursue the course in the college of their choice without relocating and that too at a lesser expense.  

In India, there have been traditionally two methods of teaching – full-time and distance education. Full-time education mode has been the most preferred mode of education for decades for all the right reasons. We have evidence of the fact that there is a huge gap between knowledge and skill development of a student in a full-time mode vs. distance education mode. Online mode, strives to bridge this gap, by providing the environment of a regular classroom to the students in an online set up.

Although Online MBA has been a popular option among working professionals since quite a few years now, it gained much more acceptance among all segments of aspirants in the last four years due to  COVID-19 pandemic. Here we discuss a few aspects of Online MBA vs Regular MBA. 

Reasons for Increase in Online MBA Applications

Increase in Acceptance

Dr Shalini Karia, Chief Academic Officer at NMIMS says, “I somehow feel, earlier when online education was there, people appreciated the ease, comfort, flexibility but the kind of acceptance it has got in the last one and a half years at both the levels – institutions’ side as well as the participants’ side is very interesting. There were some challenges earlier, probably in the minds of organisations as well as participants that may be only when you are on the campus learning happens the best, but now when many people have experienced it, they are realizing that there are newer ways of learning which may lead to experiences similar to on campus learnings”  

“We have seen an increase in applications for Online MBA at our institute,” Dr Shalini added.

Also Read: Online MBA: Advantages and Career Scope

Regular MBAa vs Online MBA: Flexibility and Affordability

Dr Priya Mary Matthew, Director of Academics, Amity Online, shares that her institution has seen a greater demand among the vulnerable segments of society for Online MBA. Talking about the rise in demand for Online MBA she said, “Today’s generation is of digital natives hence the need of flexibility. The demand of choices is possible only in Online MBA. The younger generation wants to get into the workplace faster so while working what is the best option? It is Online MBA. “

“Another reason is affordability especially by the vulnerable segments of the society. Women who are running businesses at home or who have young children to take care of, or who might need the flexibility of time and space prefer the online medium of MBA. There is this niche section of differently abled students who unfortunately cannot access the traditional university infrastructure. And the last segment is of those for whom geographical access to quality education is an issue,” Dr Priya added.

Also Read:

• List of Top IIMs in India
• Top MBA Colleges for Placements

Designed to Match a Regular Course with Mode Benefits

Aspirants ofter wonder is Online MBA equivalent to Regular MBA? Dr Mallikarjuna Gadappa, Director for Online Education, Manipal University, Jaipur, “the way online courses are designed, they are more or less equal to the regular mode education courses…the online courses are designed in a way that they are as close as possible to the regular mode, with additional benefits of flexibility, time, convenience, at a lesser cost.

According to the annual Corporate Recruiters Survey, June 2021 by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), online programmes have been gaining traction in recent years. “50 more online MBA programs accepted GMAT scores in the testing year (TY) 2020 as compared to five years earlier in TY 2016. In addition, 84 percent of online MBA programmes reported an increase in applications.”

Will Online MBA Take Over Full Time MBA?

Given the fact that Online MBA is flexible and affordable as compared to a Full-Time MBA and that it has gained more acceptance too, will the regular MBA (two-year full time residential programme) lose its significance in the coming years? Will Online MBA manage to surpass Full-Time MBA’s popularity and acceptability?

If one looks at all the current scenario, it is quite likely that online will become the preferred mode of education in the future. However, it will not be able to replace the on-campus and practical experiences one gains while studying in a regular  MBA  – in terms of employability.

In the field of business management, Online MBA is still to gain wide acceptability in the job market. As per the GMAC report, “In terms of industries, recruiters from the finance and accounting industry (41 per cent) are more likely to view graduates of online programs as equal to their on-campus peers, compared to their recruiting counterparts in consulting (25 per cent ) or technology (28 per cent).”

“As online programs are clearly a fast-growing area of graduate management education, the sustainability of demand will require a higher level of acceptance by employers, particularly when GMAC’s latest candidate research suggests a similar disparity in terms of perception of online versus in-person programs, “ the report says further.

Also Read:

• Online MBA Courses from IIMs
• Online MBA from top B-schools in India
• Top 5 Online MBA courses in India

Online MBA vs Regular MBA

Watch an engrossing discussion on Regular MBA vs Online MBA by faculty of top B-schools offering Online MBA.

Panelists:

• Dr Shalini Karia, Chief Academic Officer at NMIMS
• Dr Priya Mary Matthew, Director of Academics, Amity Online
• Dr Mallikarjuna Gadappa, Director for Online Education, Manipal University, Jaipur