UNC Ties for Top Spot in Online MBA Rankings

Posted on Jan. 7, 2015

U.S. News & World Report has ranked Kenan-Flagler Business School’s MBA@UNC program No. 1 in its first ranking of online MBA programs, tying it with programs at Indiana and Temple universities for the top spot.

Kenan-Flagler launched MBA@UNC in July 2011, and today more than 630 students are enrolled. They represent 47 states and 35 countries, including Australia, Azerbaijan, Columbia, India, Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

MBA@UNC is designed to blend the flexibility of an online program with intensively interactive experiences and the rigor and quality of an on-campus program.

Self-paced or asynchronous class sessions cover material taught in a typical lecture. They include original, broadcast-quality video segments, self-paced lectures, interactive case studies and collaborative activities that foster teamwork. Students have access to the content 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“We created MBA@UNC to provide access to a world-class program for people for whom coming to campus isn’t a viable option,” said Douglas Shackelford ’80, dean of Kenan-Flagler and the first associate dean of MBA@UNC. “It is a new model of online education based on UNC’s tradition of excellence, innovation and access.”

“MBA@UNC provides an in-person program offered online, combining maximum flexibility without compromising the quality of the classroom experience,” said Susan Cates ’98 (MBA), executive director of MBA@UNC. “Our students are high-potential working professionals who want to earn a world-class MBA from wherever they are in the world without leaving their jobs or moving.”

During live or synchronous class sessions, a professor and a cohort of 10 to 15 students meet in an online classroom at prearranged dates and times. Live, streaming video allows students and professors to see and hear each other as they analyze and discuss course topics in real time, all of which are recorded so students can revisit them, even after they complete courses. Classes are scheduled to accommodate students in multiple time zones. The technology platform also enables live office hours, student-led study groups, group simulations, negotiation exercises and projects.

At the end of every quarter, students and professors attend face-to-face electives called Global Immersions at different locations around the world. To date, immersions have been held in San Francisco, London, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Chicago, Istanbul, Mumbai, New York, Johannesburg and, every December, Chapel Hill.

To deliver MBA@UNC, Kenan-Flagler collaborates with technology partner 2U Inc., which provides an advanced online learning platform and support for students and faculty. 2U is a provider of cloud-based software-as-a-service solutions for nonprofit colleges and universities to deliver education to students anywhere.

U.S. News ranked programs on five categories: student engagement, admissions selectivity, peer reputation, faculty credentials and student services and technology.

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More online…

• Kenan-Flagler Veteran Chosen as New Dean
  January 2014 news report
• UNC in Group Offering Online For-Credit Undergrad Courses
  November 2012 news report
• Kenan-Flagler to Offer MBA in New Online Format
  November 2010 news report

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