Where Top CEOs Got Their MBAs

Questrom School of Business at Boston University

Why BU’s New Online MBA Is Groundbreaking

Boston University’s Questrom School of Business recently announced a brand-new online MBA that’s priced at $24,000.

That’s an incredibly low price for an MBA, let alone from a brand-name b-school like Questrom. But what else about BU’s online degree is groundbreaking?

Joshua Kim, Director of Digital Learning Initiatives at the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning (DCAL), recently discussed a few reasons behind why BU’s online MBA is a big deal.

STATUS VS. PRICE

For one, Kim says, BU’s online MBA challenges traditional notions of status and price when it comes to the MBA.

“Today, status and price are tightly correlated in the postsecondary market. This is especially true in professional education. Student prices are not set at costs, but at perceived value,” Kim writes. “BU should be given credit for challenging this status quo. I suspect that the Questrom $24K MBA will end up improving BU’s place in the global MBA rankings.”

Kim notes that Questrom is already a brand-name b-school. However, by offering an online MBA at a fraction of the cost of a traditional MBA ($76,000 with room and board), BU is creating what he calls “brand segmentation.”

“The bundled residential MBA retains the high-priced services, such as intensive advising and career placement – along with experiential learning opportunities, that differentiate for quality,” Kim writes. “The unbundled online MBA focuses on skills, competencies, and credentialing. They are related but different offerings.”

QUALITY

Another reason why BU’s new online MBA is groundbreaking, according to Kim, is that it’s essentially a catalyst for improving the quality of its traditional MBA.

“Expensive education, whether it be residential or online, can no longer be only about content, skills, competencies, and credentialing,” Kim writes. “If a school is going to charge a high price for a degree, then that degree needs to be worth the price. The push from programs such as this new $24K online MBA will do wonders to drive improvements in program quality.”

Kim notes that the traditional model of lecture-based teaching and learning will be “quickly and universally replaced by a set of more active and experiential learning strategies.”

RISK TO REGIONAL MBAS

BU’s online MBA will allow students from around the globe to earn an MBA. This is a great opportunity for students. For regional MBAs, the story is quite different, Kim adds.

“As an industry, I don’t think that we are adequately grappling with what the emergence of low-cost degrees from highly regarded institutions will mean for the broader higher ed ecosystem,” he writes. “I think that the $24K program is great for BU. But what about all the schools that depend on their master’s program to cover the costs of educating undergraduates?”

Sources: Inside Higher Ed, Boston University, Poets & Quants

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