Why are online MBAs not cheaper than traditional ones?

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As you certainly screened the market, you have seen a wide range of online MBA programs. Some of them are delivered in the often-believed only possible “download-print-out and study on your own” format. These kind of programs seldom involve interaction with both classmates and professors and you might get together just only for the exam period. This category of online programs falls under the Internet scheme – less intermediaries, less interaction with people and therefore cheaper.

When IE started to research and develop its own online methodology in 2001 the only premise was “How can we transform the physical classroom with the continuous and enriching interaction between students and professors into a virtual classroom maintaining the case study method maintaining the same or even higher level of quality?”
And with what we came up with, was an online platform with forums and private rooms (plus many other features) where students can discuss exactly the same cases as in the face to face programs. Team discussions are made in 2-3 days without any intervention from the professors and class discussions are done in another 2-3 days. So, a normal session in an online program last about one week instead of 90 minutes in a face-to-face program. Therefore, the dedication of the professor is higher than in traditional programs, being this a critical cost driver in online programs. The faculty we use for our online programs is the same as in the face-to-face programs, so they are teaching both methodologies. Additionally, class sizes are also reduced to about 30 students per class. So, the exposure of students to the professor is more relevant at the same time providing students in that way a higher interaction opportunity with an increased learning outcome.

To sum up, top quality online education follows the same price standards as the traditional methodology since there is no concession of quality. You can be sure of the same selection criteria and standards during the admissions process, you can expect the same student profile, you will have the same faculty as in the face-to-face program and, of course, we use the same cases for the class discussion.

July 25, 2008 By Dirk Hopfl Go for IE

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