Rice University To Roll Out Texas’ First Hybrid MBA Program

Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business will launch a new hybrid MBA program this summer, requiring students to be on campus just one weekend per month. Photo courtesy Jones Graduate School of Business

More and more business schools are joining the ranks of the online. Rice University, whose full-time MBA is ranked No. 29 in the United States by Poets&Quants, was already in the club, with an online MBA ranked 12th in the U.S. by U.S. News.

But Rice is going further, embracing students’ need for greater flexibility with a new Hybrid MBA program for working professionals, which it will launch this summer. The new Jones Graduate School of Business program will “utilize benefits of both on-campus and online learning experiences,” the school says in a news release.

The Hybrid MBA at the Houston school will be the first of its kind in Texas, requiring students to attend on-campus lessons just one weekend per month.

COST OF NEW PROGRAM: $67,500 PER YEAR

The new Hybrid MBA “preserves the benefits of the in-person educational experience while leveraging the flexibility offered by online learning through live Zoom sessions and asynchronous course content,” the school says in its announcement. It will also feature the same faculty as other Rice Jones business programs.

Students will attend class in-person at the school’s Houston campus once a month, and receive their online education during the weeks between. Tuition, which is $67,500 per year, includes residency at a hotel close to Rice during on-campus weekends and immersion weeks.

“After researching demand for MBA programs, we found that prospective students want an in-person experience but not one that meets every week,” says Peter Rodriguez, dean of the Jones School. “Our Hybrid MBA makes it easier for working professionals in Houston and regionally to earn a Rice MBA with the on-campus experience they want.”

PROGRAM WILL FEATURE MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO MINGLE 

Rice Jones has been named the top graduate entrepreneurship program by Princeton Review for the last four years, including this year. Its full-time MBA is ranked 29th by P&Q, 27th by U.S. News, and 24th by The Economist. Rice’s executive MBA is ranked by 31st by U.S. News in 2023.

Rice’s new 22-month, 54-credit program “will provide students with all of the advantages of the Rice curriculum, community, campus and faculty,” the school says. It will launch in July 2023 with a one-week immersion on campus, followed by monthly on-campus meetings “which will align with other Rice MBA programs to provide opportunities for hybrid students to interact with those in other programs as well as take Professional Weekend MBA electives.”

There will also be one immersion week at the end of the first year, and the program concludes with a one-week Global Field Experience in May 2025 before students return to campus for graduation. The new program will not affect Rice’s other MBAs: Full-Time, Professional, Online and Executive MBA.