在线MBA项目日趋成熟

    如果你对在线MBA学位感兴趣，你会发现如今有一些高质量的在线MBA项目可供申请，而且雇主们也比以前要更能接受网络教育学历。事实上，许多非营利大学也已经开始进军在线教育，并从曾经开拓在线教育市场的营利性教育机构手中夺取市场份额。尽管目前麦肯锡（McKinsey & Co.）和高盛（Goldman Sachs）等大公司还没有招聘持有在线MBA学位的学员，但是这一天可能也不远了。

获得公信力

    “越来越多的人开始接受将网络学位作为在校全日制学位的合理替代品，”咨询公司巴特农集团（Parthenon Group）教育业务合伙人哈文•拉德说。“许多公司的人力资源部门并不在意这两者的区别。”他的合伙人罗伯特•莱特尔补充说：“专业服务型公司开始放心聘用网校毕业生只是一个时间问题。”

    总体来说，在线教育的公信力正与日俱增。哈佛大学（Harvard）、斯坦福大学和麻省理工学院（MIT）等名校推出大规模开放网络课程（Massive Open Online Courses，简称：MOOCs）的决定肯定也增进了在线教育的公信力。不过，在线MBA教育肯定还是会引起一定争议。许多教育工作者还是不认可网络学位的含金量，他们感叹在线教育所存在的同窗氛围缺失以及学员之间社交有限等问题。杜克大学福库商学院（Duke's Fuqua School of Business）开设了一个全球EMBA项目，其中40%的课程在网上完成，但是福库商学院EMBA项目的主管约翰•加拉格尔坚决否认这个项目是“网络MBA学位”。他说：“我们的品牌不容轻慢，我们不会使用‘网络教学’这样的字眼，也不会将之称为远程学习项目。”

    但是，随着世界顶级名校逐步增开网络在线课堂，在线学位项目的生源质量也越来越高。“网络教学时代终于来临了，”印第安纳大学凯莱商学院凯莱直通（Kelley Direct）在线MBA项目的主任菲尔•鲍威尔说，“10年前不愿意选择在线MBA的学生现在改变主意了。对学位名声和教学质量最为敏感的学生最终开始接受网络学历了。”

    凯南-弗拉格勒商学院在线MBA教育项目——MBA@UNC的执行主管苏珊•凯茨说，她刚刚录取的一位在线MBA项目学员来自一所常青藤大学，她在医学院名列第一名，同时也是整个本科年级的第四名。“她刚刚完成了驻院实习，她认为MBA能够更快的帮助她实现理想，”凯茨补充说。“以她的简历背景，除了名校的MBA学位她都不予考虑。”

    近年来，与日益缩减的传统全日制MBA课程不同，网络MBA市场却在蓬勃发展。自从1999年印第安纳大学推出MBA在线教育以来，该校招收的在线MBA学员数量首次超过了传统全日制MBA项目学生。这所学校过去12个月共招收了245名网络学员，其中秋季班学员135名，新开春季班学员110名，同比增长了20%。而去年该校传统全日制MBA秋季班仅录取了180名学生。

    If you're interested in an online MBA degree these days, you'll find several quality programs and much wider acceptance of online study from employers than ever before. In fact, so many not-for-profit universities have entered the market that they are now taking significant market share away from the for-profit players who pioneered online education years ago. And while McKinsey & Co. and Goldman Sachs (GS) aren't yet recruiting graduates of online MBA programs, that day may not be that far off.

Gaining credibility

    "The acceptance … of online degrees as a legitimate replacement for on-campus degrees is going up," says Haven Ladd, a partner with The Parthenon Group's education practice. "Most HR [human resources] departments really don't care about the differences." Adds his partner, Robert Lytle, "It's only a matter of time before professional service firms get comfortable hiring online graduates."

    Online education in general is gaining credibility. The decision by the likes of Harvard, Stanford, and MIT to offer MOOC (massive open online courses) has certainly helped. But online MBA programs can still rouse controversy, of course. Many educators continue to pooh-pooh the quality of an Internet degree. They bemoan the lack of community and the limited networking of online education. Duke University's Fuqua School, which offers a global executive MBA where 40% of the work is done via Internet, refuses to even acknowledge that it is selling an "online MBA degree." Insists John Gallagher, director of executive MBA programs at Fuqua, "The last thing we want to do is dilute the brand, and so we would never use the word 'online' or call it a distance learning program."

    Yet as schools with global brands and reputations continue to move into the online market, the quality of the students who are opting to earn degrees on the web is increasing as well. "It's finally come of age," believes Phil Powell, the faculty chair of Indiana University's Kelley Direct online MBA program. "Students who wouldn't have done it 10 years ago are willing to do it now. Students who are most sensitive to pedigree and quality have finally embraced the idea."

    Susan Cates, executive director of Kenan-Flagler's MBA@UNC, says she just admitted into the online MBA program an applicant who had been fourth in her undergraduate class at an Ivy League university and first in her medical school class. "She just finished up her residency and thinks an MBA will help her go where she wants to go faster," adds Cates. "With her background, she is not going to do an MBA degree anywhere except a top-tier school."

    Unlike traditional full-time MBA programs, which have been shrinking at many schools in recent years, the online MBA market is booming. Last year, for the first time since 1999, when Indiana launched its online version of the MBA, the school enrolled a larger number of online MBA students than full-time, on-campus students. Indiana enrolled 245 students in the past 12 months, 135 in its fall cohort and 110 in this spring's newest cohort, up 20% from a year ago. That exceeds the 180 students who entered the school's traditional MBA program in the fall.