The No. 1 Online MBA Program In The U.S. Turns 25 This Year

Incoming MBA students are introduced to the Kelley Direct program during Kelley on Campus. Photo by Noble Guyon, IU Kelley School of Business

From Bloomington, Indiana: The Kelley Direct Online MBA Program shares with students a simple yet powerful mission statement: “Learn from the best, with the best.” Far from being an aspirational statement, it is a plan and a purpose based on a quarter century of success.

The nation’s No. 1 online MBA program, part of the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, is marking its 25th anniversary in 2024, at a time when other schools are just launching similar degrees.

Kelley Direct is the original online MBA program from a top-tier business school. The program is uniquely designed in how it serves the needs of working professionals.

“Back in 1999, when the world was largely connected through dial-up internet, we shook up the MBA marketplace by becoming the first top-ranked business school to offer an online MBA,” said Ash Soni, dean of the Kelley School and the Sungkyunkwan Professor. “Critical to our success has been our dedication to always look for ways to innovate the ‘what’s next’ in online education.”

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Wharton MBA student dies suddenly of a brain hemorrhage

Wharton MBA student Anjali Venkatesh Rajagopal passed away on Jan. 23 (Photo from obituary of Anjali Venkatesh Rajagopal)

From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Wharton MBA student Anjali Venkatesh Rajagopal died on Jan. 23.

Vice Provost for University Life Karu Kozuma and Wharton Dean Erika James notified the Wharton community of Rajagopal’s death in an email sent on Jan. 24 on behalf of Interim President Larry Jameson and Provost John Jackson. Rajagopal was a member of the Wharton MBA Class of 2024.

According to an obituary, Rajagopal passed away suddenly from a brain hemorrhage.

Before she arrived at Penn, Rajagopal — a native of Chennai, India — earned her bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of San Diego and a master’s degree in corporate communications from New York University. At Wharton, she studied management and received the Silverstein MBA Fellowship Fund.

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ETS, owner of the GRE, acquires PSI, expanding focus on workforce skills sector

From Princeton, New Jersey: In a deal that closed January 25, 2024, ETS acquired PSI. This partnership brings together the long-standing expertise of ETS, the world’s largest private educational measurement organization, with PSI’s global leadership in test development and delivery across workforce certification and licensure. As employers and governments around the world face the critical need to upskill their people for the future of work, ETS and PSI are joining forces to create a robust end-to-end suite of products and services leveraging unparalleled measurement science and proven expertise in workforce skills testing and development.

The creation of this unique proposition represents an unprecedented disruption in the assessment space. These two organizations are poised to drive the progress of educational and workforce skills assessment by harnessing cutting-edge technology and unmatched research and development capabilities. Together, ETS and PSI stand ready to reshape and enhance the evaluation of human capabilities on a global scale.

“This is an important milestone for ETS as we forge ahead into the workforce development space to become the trusted source to measure, certify and license skills and demonstrate progress,” said Amit Sevak, CEO of ETS. “I am proud to welcome Janet Garcia and the entire PSI team to ETS as we work together to power human progress using the most advanced measurement science and technology.”