Rice University Jones Graduate School of Business

One of the more relatively new Online MBA entrants, Rice University entered its first online cohort of roughly 40 students in July of 2018 and graduated its first class last May. The latest entering cohort numbered a record 106 students, and Rice has expanded to seven from four its career focus areas to include corporate strategy, corporate finance, investment management, marketing, entrepreneurship, energy, and healthcare.

Rice entered the market in a partnership with 2U, which has similar pacts with the Online MBA options at UNC at Chapel Hill and the University of Syracuse, among others. It’s not a cheap program. In fact, with a total cost of $109,930, it’s one of only a half dozen online MBAs with a six-figure price tag, with the University of Michigan ($145,000 for non-residents and $135,000 for Michigan residents), Carnegie Mellon ($141,300), UNC at Chapel Hill ($125,589), the University of Southern California ($111,663), and George Washington University ($103,635).

Rice made a big leap forward by soaring more than 100 places in U.S. News & World Report‘s 2021 ranking of Online MBA programs to place in the top tenth with a rank of ninth. That’s a long way from its 2020 rank of 123. It will go a long way to earning this online offering more attention in the marketplace.

Rice, of course, offers a strong university brand, and its partnership with 2U insures a high-quality digital learning experience. Class sizes are small with the average being just 13 students and the maximum at 20 (though this is a new program so these numbers are likely to increase in the near future). Between weekly live classes via the Internet, you’ll complete assignments at a time that works best for you. Out of the required 52…

One of the more relatively new Online MBA entrants, Rice University entered its first online cohort of roughly 40 students in July of 2018 and graduated its first class last May. The latest entering cohort numbered a record 106 students, and Rice has expanded to seven from four its career focus areas to include corporate strategy, corporate finance, investment management, marketing, entrepreneurship, energy, and healthcare.

Rice entered the market in a partnership with 2U, which has similar pacts with the Online MBA options at UNC at Chapel Hill and the University of Syracuse, among others. It’s not a cheap program. In fact, with a total cost of $109,930, it’s one of only a half dozen online MBAs with a six-figure price tag, with the University of Michigan ($145,000 for non-residents and $135,000 for Michigan residents), Carnegie Mellon ($141,300), UNC at Chapel Hill ($125,589), the University of Southern California ($111,663), and George Washington University ($103,635).

Rice made a big leap forward by soaring more than 100 places in U.S. News & World Report‘s 2021 ranking of Online MBA programs to place in the top tenth with a rank of ninth. That’s a long way from its 2020 rank of 123. It will go a long way to earning this online offering more attention in the marketplace.

Rice, of course, offers a strong university brand, and its partnership with 2U insures a high-quality digital learning experience. Class sizes are small with the average being just 13 students and the maximum at 20 (though this is a new program so these numbers are likely to increase in the near future). Between weekly live classes via the Internet, you’ll complete assignments at a time that works best for you. Out of the required 52 credits to graduate, only 12 credit hours are devoted to elective studies. Coursework is designed specifically for an online audience, featuring interactive modules, videos, readings, discussion forums, and quizzes. Every student is assigned a “dedicated student success adviser” to nudge them when needed. That may be one reason why the program’s one-year retention rate is 100%, better than any other U.S. News top 10 programs.

There are also in-person learning experiences—hosted on campus in Houston—and global learning immersions—from business hubs around the globe—that allow you to take your education across both physical and cultural borders. These are relatively quick affairs. The Rice Core Residential, for example, is a four-day intensive learning experience where students get a taste of the culture of Rice and connect in person with peers, professors, and alumni. The program also offers career coaches for students, and for our more senior-level students, there are executive coaches available. Most students can complete the program in as little as two years, though they can also stretch the coursework out over as long as five years.

The program is divided into four 11-week-long terms per year (January, April, July, and October). Students generally start the program by taking three classes within a term, for a total of six credit hours. The live class sessions meet once a week for 90 minutes at 6:30 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. CST on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays. In Rice’s program, most students set aside 15 to 20 hours of study time per week.

“The main thing that makes our program special here at Rice, our secret sauce, is we are a very small tight-knit community,” says Joanna Fortuna, admissions manager, in a recent Poets&Quants webinar. “So the number one thing they would say is the amount of individualized attention and the amount of actual connection that they got with their professors, with the dean, with the admissions staff, and the support team. One of the biggest worries of online students is, ‘Am I going to miss out on that piece?’ We are a very high touch, intimate community and we work hard to keep that.”

Rice cements those connections with a lot of guidance. “Students actually get someone who works hand in hand with them from onboarding and orientation all the way to graduation,” adds Fortuna. “So we have a built-in system to ensure our students are successful. They also have a dedicated online MBA support career services team because the needs of an online student are different from a student who is on campus.”

The latest acceptance rate for the program is 69%. The average GPA was 3.2, with an average GMAT class score of 615, and full-time work experience averaging 100 months. But admissions is generous with standardized test waivers: Only 30% of the enrolled students took either the GMAT or GRE. Waivers are routinely given to those with 7+ years of full-time work experience, an advanced degree in a STEM-related field, a quantitative professional certificate, or an MCAT or LSAT score.