U.S. News’ Quirky New Online MBA Ranking

Surprisingly, even in this “honor roll” group, many of the schools were stingy in reporting data. Six of the 14 refused to disclose the acceptance rate for their programs. The University of Houston at Clear Lake failed to report its acceptance rate, enrollment, average age of its students, or what percentage of them it retained after the first year and what percentage graduated within three years. Yet it was cited by U.S. News among its “honor roll” programs. Similarly, highly admired George Washington University in Washington, D.C., failed to provide an acceptance rate, or GMAT and GPA scores to U.S. News. Its online MBA program is also not accredited by the AACSB.

The “honor roll” school with the best graduation rate? Quinnipiac reported that 81% of its students graduated in 2011 after two or three years in the program. The highest GMAT score? Indiana University reported that its students have an average GMAT of 622. The lowest acceptance rate? Marist College reported a 39% rate of acceptance into its online MBA program.

U.S. News said it sent surveys to 960 “regionally accredited institutions” that granted online master’s degrees in business in 2010. To be eligible for the ranking, a school had to deliver at least 80% of its course content via the Internet. Of the 616 responding institutions, 177 reported offering online master’s degree programs. U.S. News said it excluded from the ranking 13 unidentified schools that were offering an online program in 2011 for the first time. Among its findings, U.S. News said that online MBA students graduated with debt burdens that averaged $23,337.

The magazine conceded that the surveys yielded what U.S. News called “data that appeared unreliable for various reasons.” That is why the magazine decided against an overall ranking. “Rather than producing an overall ranking based on incomplete and sometimes inconsistently reported information, U.S. News decided this year to instead produce four distinct master’s in business degree rankings comprised only from select questions that significant percentages of schools answered,” the magazine said. U.S. News, however, failed to clearly explain what questions on the survey were used to create the four categories of rankings.

The magazine acknowledged that only 41 of the 163 online MBA programs listed by U.S. News said they even tracked their students after graduation. “This unfortunately suggests that any near-term efforts to improve response rates on post-graduate outcomes will be hindered…,” wrote Eric Brooks of U.S. News in responding to criticism of the effort.

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY IS NUMBER ONE IN ADMISSIONS SELECTIVITY

U.S. News said Washington State University was its No. 1 online MBA program on the basis of admissions selectivity. U.S. News did not clearly state what criteria it applied in this or any other category but in accompanying tables to its story the magazine listed a raw score for each program along with four attributes. In this case, U.S. News apparently considered whether a school required the GMAT or GRE test, what the average GMAT score and average undergraduate GPA was for admitted students, along with the acceptance rate. Washington State was first on the basis of its GMAT requirement, an average GMAT score and GPA of 530 and 3.47, respectively, and an acceptance rate of 30%.

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY IS NO. 1 IN FACULTY CREDENTIALS AND TRAINING

Arkansas State University at Jonesboro was named the best online MBA program in the category of faculty credentials and training, ostensibly because it scored well in having a high percentage of instructional faculty with Ph.D. or terminal degrees and 100% of its faculty had at least two years of online teaching experience. U.S. News also said the school required online instruction training to teach and that the school paid for that instructor training—presumably all attributes to assign a rank to each program. Arkansas State told U.S. News it had a 60% graduation rate in 2010 for students in the program two to three years.

UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON IS NO. 1 IN STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND ACCREDITATION

The University of Scranton in Pennsylvania was ranked first in U.S. News’ category of student engagement and accreditation, apparently on the basis of four attributes listed in a table: it’s 24-hour expected “instructor response” to students, its four hours of instructor office hours per week, its accreditation by the AACSB, and its maximum class size of 20 students.

GARDNER-WEBB UNIVERSITY IS NO. 1 IN STUDENT SERVICES AND TECHNOLOGY

And finally, Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C., was declared the winner in student services and technology, apparently on the basis that it has a “dedicated business school career center,” “live tutoring,” a “smartphone app,” and “live streaming video.” Those four attributes are listed in a table ranking the programs on student services and technology. Gardner-Webb failed to provide either retention or graduation rates to U.S. News and lacks AACSB accreditation.

There’s no doubt that more credible schools are offering online MBA programs and that in some cases they are attracting quality applicants. At Arizona State, for instance, the Carey School of Business said that NFL Pro Bowl kicker Billy Cundiff completed its program, even while attending NFL training camp. Lieutenant Colonel Scott Coulson, who was awarded the Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and a Combat Action Badge for his service and actions while leading combat missions in Iraq, also participated in the program while serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan.

“Online MBA programs have been growing tremendously in popularity,” says Carey Dean Robert Mittelstaedt in a statement that publicized the school’s listing on U.S. News’ “honor roll.” “We offer the same internationally recognized faculty members who teach in our highly ranked on-campus MBA programs.”

“The W. P. Carey School was one of the first highly respected business schools to create an online MBA program, and it has grown from 100 to more than 450 students,” adds Professor Stacey Whitecotton in a statement. “Students serving in the military, starting their own businesses and traveling extensively for their jobs are among those who have graduated from the program, thanks to the flexibility.”

DON’T MISS: SHOULD YOU GET AN ONLINE MBA DEGREE? or BRINGING PRESTIGE AND STATUS TO THE ONLINE MBA

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