Best Affordable Online MBA Programs

Just Google “best affordable online MBA programs and you’ll get a useless list of clickbait schemes and bottom dwellers in business education.

They’re websites that have fooled Google’s algorithms into thinking that they are legit.

Far from it. More often than not, they’re paid listings of programs surfing for students. Every time a prospective student clicks on a program, the owner of that website gets a kickback. No informed journalists are creating these lists. There’s no quality check on them. There’s no analysis behind them.

TWO AFFORDABLE ONLINE MBA PROGRAMS STAND OUT FOR $ 25K

That’s the difference between the Poets&Quants list and every other one on the web. We know business education. We live and breathe it every day. The articles on our website are written by journalists who cover business education the way The New York Times covers politics.

So what are the best and most affordable online MBA programs on the market?

If you’re looking for a bargain MBA, your search should start at the two most disruptively priced programs from well-established and highly admired universities. Reputation matters and so does a business school’s commitment to an online program. That commitment is demonstrated by the tenure-track faculty who teach the program and the care with which each course in the curriculum has been designed and brought to the students.

AFFORDABLE ONLINE MBAS AT HIGHLY ADMIRED UNIVERSITIES TAUGHT BY TENURE-TRACK FACULTY

Any search for an affordable online MBA should start (and possibly end) with the iMBA at the University of Illinois’ Gies College of Business or the online MBA at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. The total cost of the Gies MBA is just $24,984, while the price tag of the Questrom MBA is $25,000. Both these universities and their business schools are among the best in the world. Gies’ commitment to online education is without peer. The school closed down its full-time residential, part-time, and Executive MBAs to more fully concentrate on online education. Questrom, meantime, took out a blank sheet of paper to design a thoroughly modern and innovative MBA program from scratch.

As the former dean of Gies, Jeffrey Brown, puts it, “We’re selling a Tesla for the price of a Hyundai.”  That might be a stretch but there is no denying that these programs deliver a lot of value for relatively little tuition dollars.

Neither of these programs is ranked by Poets&Quants or U.S. News, the only legitimate rankings of online MBA programs (we include a list of the most affordable ranked programs on the next page). But don’t let that bother you. The biggest difference between these highly affordable options and their more expensive rivals at peer schools is the lack of in-person sessions. Both these programs are 100% online, with no required residential or immersion gatherings. They do have live Internet classes, but there are few opportunities ever to meet your classmates in person. Gies does offer an annual gathering on campus of iMBA students, and it is worth attending. But it is not mandatory.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE GIES & QUESTION PROGRAMS ARE SUBSTANTIAL

These are standout programs among the nearly 400 options in the online MBA market (see how they differ below). Gies offers the chance to baby-step the program, by taking individual courses or three-course packages in specializations and then applying those credits toward your degree requirements. It also has an extensive array of elective courses. Every course in the Questrom program is required with no choices.

Questrom did not merely convert its existing residential MBA into an online option. The school’s faculty reimagined what a modern MBA should be in the current environment. Instead of studying business in silos, with separate courses in accounting, finance, and marketing, BU’s professors have taken an integrated approach, weaving together business concepts in a half dozen semester-long modules. The first of them delved into the topic of creating value for business and society. Each module builds on the one before it, and each one ends with an action-learning capstone experience. Everything is core. There are no electives.

That is the biggest difference with Gies: Questrom has created an MBA program of essentials with no choices. “We are fundamentally rethinking the MBA,” says Questrom Dean Susan Fournier. “We have always aspired to be more integrated and now we can be because of the technology. We are getting faculty out of their silos and that is the biggest part of the culture change. All seven of the disciplines have something to contribute here. Contrast that with the broader tendencies of the MBAs where the mantra is ‘Let’s get these core courses out of the way and move on.’ We are going in the opposite direction of that. Actually, we are going to give you 45 credits of what we think you absolutely need to know.”

Despite the bare-bones price, Gies has put its most senior faculty into the online courses, having them hold weekly live Internet classes and office hours, with occasional city meetups between students and faculty, and added a portfolio of elective courses with five focus areas, including a data analytics track. All for a price at which rival programs are generally stripped down digital textbooks with no live classes, trips, or electives.

HOW THE ONLINE MBA PROGRAMS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS & BOSTON UNIVERSITY COMPARE

Online MBA Details	University of Illinois	Boston University
Total Cost	$24,984	$25,000
Program Length	24-to-60 months	21-to-72 months
GMAT/GRE Requirement	None	None
Total Credits	72	45
Program Start	January, March, October	January, August
Total Courses	18 4-to 8-week courses	15 in six interdisciplinary modules
Core Courses	15	15 in modules
Electives	6	None
Elective Offerings	18+	None
Majors/Concentrations	Five focus areas, including business analytics and digital marketing	None
Live Internet Classes	Weekly	Weekly
Office Hours With Profs	Weekly	Weekly
Weekly Time Commitment	10 to 15 hours	15 to 20 hours
Optional Domestic & International Immersions	Yes, for an additional fee	No
Optional On-Campus Session	Yes, annually	No
Career Support	Job Postings & Basic Info Online	Career Curriculum, Job Postings & Basic Info Online
Coaching	None	None
International Students	21%	22%
Female Students	33%	35%
Platform Vendor	Coursera	EdX