The Prolific Growth of MBA Education - An Interview with John Fernandes of AACSB International
Is the AACSB noticing more business schools offering an online MBA degree?
Overall, business education is growing, and online MBA’s are a part of this growth. This year we counted over 13,000 institutions granting business degrees across the globe, which is a number that has tripled since 1988. This growth is partly due to the general competitiveness within our industry, but also transitioning economies— China is modernizing, and both India and Brazil are also quickly developing vast economies. For companies anywhere in the world, taking business to the next level, or competing globally, requires people with a higher level of business acumen.
Currently just 620 of the institutions that grant business degrees are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. With less than 5 percent of the global business school market monitored by an internationally accepted accreditation system, it is a “buyers’ beware” market for students, employers, and parents. For those considering pursuing a graduate business degree, having this small percentage of business programs across the world formally evaluated for quality causes us concern.
What are some concerns with the online degree market?
Many of the for-profit degree providers have enormous online business degree programs. We worry these programs sell a more mass-produced form of education, devalue the critical role of the professor, and offer little or no effective professional development for their faculty.
Part of our job is to ensure prospective MBA’s who do their research know the quality of education provided by an AACSB-accredited school is better. Unfortunately, those who do not do their due diligence will be disappointed with the return on investment from schools more interested in profit than graduate success. The online for-profit industry is not focused on creating great business leaders, and students who are interested in quality must carefully examine the market of online opportunities, including AACSB schools.
What does AACSB do to combat these for-profit schools?
These schools have a right to operate as a business, but by focusing on profit instead of high-quality education, they spend heavily on marketing. Whereas AACSB-accredited schools spend their money on faculty and students, not on direct marketing. Through our accreditation efforts, we provide our schools with tools designed to help them differentiate themselves from their for-profit competitors or other lower quality education providers.
Is there a cultural backlash against teaching business online versus face-to-face?
Initially, there was a big, background resistance to this trend—but that trend has slowly been changing. Many professors [and some students] believe you can’t replicate the MBA learning environment electronically, and these degrees will be inferior to those gained by face-to-face learners. But, I see deans at reputable business schools now finding their online degree students are achieving as well as their face- to- face students. Also, new studies by AACSB schools that operate both programs are now indicating that their online programs are making strides in the quality of education provided.