The Martin J. Whitman School of Management’s online master’s degree program was ranked among the top online programs on a Princeton Review list.

MBA@Syracuse, Whitman’s online business master’s degree program, was ranked No. 23 of 25 in the Princeton Review’s list of top online master’s of business administration programs for 2018.

The ranking was based on a survey of more than 4,700 online MBA students at more than 75 business schools. The criteria focused on five areas: academics, career outcomes, faculty, selectivity and technical platforms. MBA@Syracuse beat programs at Northeastern University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

MBA@Syracuse gives students online access to Whitman’s MBA program. The college’s faculty teach online classes through a live and online platform. Graduates of MBA@Syracuse earn the same Whitman degree as on-campus students.

“We really focus on the quality of teaching,” said Don Harter, associate dean for master’s programs at Whitman. “We’ve selected the best on-campus faculty to teach in the online program.”

Students complete their coursework online and sit in live online classrooms. Similar to video group calls, students see their professor and all their classmates in a class of about 20.

MBA@Syracuse requires students to attend three in-person residencies. The residencies are events structured similar to business conferences and feature speakers and interactive panels.

The Princeton Review offered in-depth profiles of the top MBA programs. In MBA@Syracuse’s profile, The Princeton Review cited a student who said, “These (residencies) are the best part of the program. You are required to take three but most students take more.”

MBA@Syracuse was ranked in 2015 and 2017 in the top 10 online MBA programs by The Financial Times.

“The Financial Times talked to alum from three years ago, whereas the Princeton Review did a survey with current students,” said Amy McHale, assistant dean for master’s programs at Whitman. “So the Princeton Review ranking is great because this is a much more current student-focused ranking.”

Whitman relaunched its online MBA program in January 2015 in partnership with 2U Inc., a software company that provides a digital platform for online degree programs. 2U also partners with the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the School of Information Studies. SU’s College of Law also proposed an online partnership with the company that was met with skepticism from some who were concerned about the school’s reputation in a field steeped in tradition.

“We’re always happy to be included in top-ranking surveys. It helps to attract additional prospective students when they hear that our program is a highly-ranked program,” McHale said. “I think each year, semester by semester, we try to make it a better program and — in particular — a better student experience.”

Published on November 14, 2017 at 10:42 pm