5 Ways Online MBAs Use What They Learned At Work

Use it or lose it.

That’s the foundation of education. Just consult the Learning Pyramid: people remember 10% of what they read – but 90% of what they use.

Practice makes perfect, you could say.

That’s one of the big advantages to earning an online MBA. As undergrads, students listen to lectures, write papers, and take tests on concepts. After finals, the details would get fuzzy. In business school, online students have real jobs with real responsibilities and real problems. They don’t just read and discuss. They’re paired with peers who’ve faced the issues they’re tackling. They explore what matters and what doesn’t. More than that, they’re exposed to practices that worked – and the how’s and why’s behind their classmates’ successes. That’s know-how they can put right to use – and gain an immediate return from their tuition and sacrifice.

GAINING CREDIBILITY AND CONFIDENCE

Just ask Joseph Thierry Fanfan, who completed the online MBA program at the University of Florida’s Warrington College in just one year. A marketing manager, Thierry Fanfan found that his coursework gave him “credibility” among senior leaders – particularly in emerging issues like AI.

“Because the University of Florida is a leader in the artificial intelligence space, I got to somewhat position myself as an expert on topics that were not common knowledge just yet,” he explains. “I got to provide insights to my managers and leadership on various topics, such as audience segmentation and industry expansion, which were concepts that were derived directly from some of the courses I was taking in real-time.”

Academically, the undergraduate experience teaches students how to research, assess, and solve problems. Even more, the rigor is designed to instill toughness, for students to push themselves to absorb what’s unfamiliar and complicated when they’re feeling out of sorts. As graduate students, online MBA programs imprint something equally valuable, writes Eve Burkhart, a Boeing mechanical systems engineer who earned her MBA this spring from the University of Washington’s Foster School.

“My online education has significantly boosted my confidence as a leader when making tough decisions,” Burkhart observes. “By learning and applying frameworks and tools in real-world case studies, I developed a clearer understanding of how to approach problems logically and strategically, including knowing what questions to ask and when to trust my gut. This has significantly reduced the number of times I second-guess myself, enabling me to act with greater clarity and conviction.”

5 STUDENTS WITH 5 STORIES

That’s the funny part about pursuing an online MBA while working. Students bring a context – and so much of what they study comes with an applicable purpose. And their job provides a platform for them to test drive these new ideas in real time. As much as an online MBA teaches students how to think, it also motivates them to act. How specifically does business school do this? As part of selecting its 2025 Best & Brightest Online MBAs, Poets&Quants asked nominees to share how their online education helped them in their current job. Here is how five graduates leveraged business school to enhance their employers’ performance and advance their own careers.

“One of the reasons I decided to pursue an MBA as someone who had focused on Anthropology as an undergraduate is because I didn’t understand the business side of things. People, I get. Business, not so much. I’ve learned that a lot of the seemingly-sure business decisions were made by people with a little bit of knowledge and a lot of luck, either individually or in their circumstances. Knowing that has made me much more confident in sharing my observations and findings.”
Desiree Nattell, Boston University (Questrom)

“Beyond the technical skills, I’ve developed a more well-rounded, strategic mindset. I’ve applied concepts from leadership, analytics, and operations directly to my day-to-day responsibilities. I also learned to lead not just top-down, but laterally and upward, developing the interpersonal skills needed to influence and collaborate across teams. Most importantly, I’ve learned to balance data-driven decision-making with emotional intelligence, which has strengthened my ability to manage teams and drive outcomes holistically.”
Melissa Calise, Bryant University

“My education at the Tepper School has made me a more creative and strategic thinker at work. The program pushed me to approach problems from multiple angles, ask better questions, and challenge assumptions—skills that have directly strengthened how I lead and collaborate. I also learned ways to analyze data and use new digital tools to drive innovation, which is especially valuable in today’s business environment. And through leadership coaching, I learned how to be brave and confident in my own skills, while learning to communicate under a variety of circumstances.”
Hannah Messinger, Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)

“My online education has helped me in many ways. It clarified my values and the leadership style I want to embody, making me a more thoughtful and effective leader. I gained valuable insights into change management and developed greater confidence in finance and economics, especially through the module that deepened our understanding of annual reports. I also discovered an AI-enabled tool during one of the modules, which I’m now implementing at my company, and it has the potential to transform how we work.”
Ekaterina Panteleeva, Durham University

“The Iowa Online MBA program gave me the tools to lead more strategically, to communicate more effectively, and to leverage ideas and approaches that are novel in the public education sector. In my role, I navigate finance, technology, data, and policy in a high-stakes, highly visible environment. My coursework contributed to improvements in technical skills related to financial modeling and project management, along with providing exposure to frameworks for addressing organizational change, improving cross-functional alignment, and making data-informed decisions. I have explicitly applied lessons from throughout my program within my work, and these skills and resources have made me more effective as I work to serve our organization and community.”
Adam Kurth, University of Iowa (Kurth)

DON’T MISS: BEST & BRIGHTEST ONLINE MBAS: CLASS OF 2025

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