How Online MBA Programs Compare On Retention & Graduation Rates

online mba retention and graduation rates

ONLINE MBA RETENTION AND GRADUATION: WHAT’S WORKED FOR SUCCESSFUL SCHOOLS 

Assistant deans from Foster and Saunders say their programs are structured differently. With its lock-step curriculum, Foster clearly tells prospective applicants that its online MBA is not a flexible program. While that may deter applicants, it also sets expectations for those who enroll. At the very least, students know what they are getting into and whether they consider a program without much flexibility manageable.

The director of Foster’s hybrid MBA, Jodey Farwell, says the team aspect of the program is a critical part of the experience. About 55% or 60% of the work is team-based and without a group of teammates, she “doesn’t know if a lot of them would make it.”

“When I ask alumni, that is what they tell me: ‘I wouldn’t have made it through the program without my team,’” Farwell says.

Foster is strategic about placing students in learning groups that emphasize diversity. The sxchool’s staff thoroughly sifts through student backgrounds, selecting them by such variables as the amount and type of full-time work experience that each brings into the program along with their ages and desired career outcomes.  Farwell adds that Foster has a “peer-mentor program” in which a second-year student is assigned to each team to provide advice on anything from class content to the overall student experience.

How important is it to graduate within three years? Most students obviously don’t want their program to drag on for years. It can be all-consuming, expensive and increase the odds of dropping out before completion. For a business school like RIT Saunders, time to graduate assumes major importance.  Jeffrey Davis, director of the Saunders’ EMBA, tells P&Q that from day-one students are grouped in four-person teams. They will remain in their team for the entirety of their MBA experience. Some 30% of their grades are based on team work but Davis says probably more time and effort than that is spent on collaboration with one’s classmates.

ONLINE MBA RETENTION AND GRADUATION RATES: WHY ONE SCHOOL WAS SO LOW

Jeffrey Davis is the director of the Executive MBA at RIT Saunders

Similar to Foster, Saunders’ faculty tries to pair students with varied backgrounds. Usually, teams are comprised of one student with a background in engineering, one coming from healthcare, another from tech, with perhaps a fourth with a previous background in business. Davis, who went through the program himself a few years ago, says factors of bonding and the teams’ closeness are crucial elements to the success of a 100% grad rate.

“It makes it tougher for people who want to leave because they are developing close relationships that help them,” he says.

But RIT Saunders hasn’t always managed to retain students. It reported a fairly low retention score, at least for a ninth-ranked program, at 86%. The year prior only 66% of its first-year students returned. The much lower rate reflects what Davis describes as a “one-year blip,” chalked up to changes in admissions that allowed for a more liberal acceptance rate and a different interview process. "The cohort really struggled that year," he admits. Previous data confirms Davis’ notion: in prior years’  the B-School scored retention rates at a perfect 100% or in the 90s.

Williams, scoring the lowest retention rate for a Top 100 program, says a few things didn’t work. Bush said faculty and staff heard from students who left that their lives were no longer conducive to getting a degree. “There’s just so much in demand in terms of their time and energy, whether it's kids, a lot of people are getting married, parents are sick, working is demanding jobs…there’s been so much else, and something has to give,” explains Bush.

The B-School offers an abundance of flexibility in providing a wide time limit of six years for online MBA students to finish their degrees. Students might start and stop their degree, and the fluidity is great, Bush says, but it really affects the numbers. Williams also reported 58% of students graduate before or at the three-year mark.

CHANGES IN THE WORKS AT SOME ONLINE MBA PROGRAMS

Williams' Assistant Dean Jennifer Bush says the B-school is having issues with enrollment now as regional competition heats up

Moving forward, Williams is looking to balance its curriculum to achieve the goals of students. Bush adds: “We are listening to what our students want, what employers want.” School surveys show that students want more experiential learning but often there's a trade-off. “That’s a lot of work for everyone, not just students but faculty, so we are trying to balance that in a way that maximizes the opportunities and benefits for everyone,” she says.

Foster’s perfect retention record might just slip. Farwell says she wouldn’t be surprised if in the next few years many B-schools report lower retention numbers. She is increasingly seeing the students at Foster struggle with mental health issues, like coping with excessive stress. “You would've thought to some degree it would be worse during COVID, but it's worse now. I am having to talk to students about where they are mental health-wise and to some degree, we can only do so much until a professional has to take over,” Farwell tells P&Q.

She says many of Foster's students – employed by Amazon or Microsoft, for example – have been laid off, which adds more burdens. The school sent the largest number of grads to the tech industry in 2022, reporting that 48% of its graduates went landed jobs in tech, a mark around two percentage points higher than in 2021. “And then you add that to whatever other stresses they have going and the remedial effects of the last couple of years,” Farwell says.

Miller says what she sees at Poole emphasizes Farwell's points. She says the university is widely hearing from students about mental health issues, but it's not just affecting students. “The faculty are hearing that all of these students are struggling and some of it is really heavy,” Miller says.

Nichole Miller serves as an assistant sean for Poole's graduate programs.

The B-school is spending time and resources not just on student mental health, but also the faculty’s well-being. Poole implemented a mental health day last February. No class occurred and no assignments the following Friday were due, Miller says, just to give everybody some breathing room and a needed break.

“Mental health is not just students, its everybody and I think that is something we are going to see for quite some time … You think about two years that was all virtual …” Miller says.

DON'T MISS: Indiana & UNC Top U.S. News Ranking Of Best Online MBA Programs, What It Now Costs To Get An Online MBAOMBA Ranking 2023: Average GMAT, GRE & GPAs For the Top Online MBA Programs.

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