W. P. Carey School ranks among top online MBA programs

This week, U.S. News & World Report issued its first-ever rankings for top online education programs. The online MBA program from the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University is among the 14 named to the publication’s inaugural “Honor Roll” for online graduate business programs.

“Online MBA programs have been growing tremendously in popularity,” says Robert Mittelstaedt, dean of the W. P. Carey School of Business. “With the W. P. Carey School, you get more than a decade of experience in online MBA programs and flexibility without having to sacrifice the high quality of a real, traditional university. We offer the same internationally recognized faculty members who teach in our highly ranked on-campus MBA programs.”

The school’s full-time and evening MBA programs were already ranked Top 30 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. In the new online MBA rankings, the W. P. Carey School scores in all four subcategories: student services/technology, faculty credentials/training, student engagement/accreditation, and admissions selectivity.

The W. P. Carey School is the only Arizona-based school to make the “Honor Roll” of 14 graduate business programs. The “Honor Roll” recognizes programs that ranked in the top third of at least three of the four subcategories. The school did especially well in admissions selectivity (No. 11), which speaks to the quality of the students in the program.

“The W. P. Carey School was one of the first highly respected business schools to create an online MBA program, and it has grown from 100 to more than 450 students,” says Stacey Whitecotton, associate dean for W. P. Carey MBA programs. “Students serving in the military, starting their own businesses and traveling extensively for their jobs are among those who have graduated from the program, thanks to the flexibility.”

NFL Pro Bowl kicker Billy Cundiff completed the program, even while attending NFL training camp. Lieutenant Colonel Scott Coulson, who was awarded the Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and a Combat Action Badge for his service and actions while leading combat missions in Iraq, also participated in the program while serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. Several professionals who wanted to start their own businesses, such as law firms and medical practices, have also used the program to add business knowledge to their other fields of expertise.

The W. P. Carey School of Business online MBA program is a two-year program in which students work in small, personalized teams with peers from other industries. The format allows students to visit the ASU campus just once and then complete the rest of the program entirely via the Internet, focusing on one course at a time. It’s also one of the few online MBA programs in which students can earn their degrees with an area of emphasis, such as finance, international business, marketing or supply chain management. Participants have a dedicated financial aid specialist and a career center to help them with job searches.

The W. P. Carey School also recently began offering another online graduate degree. The 16-month online Master of Science in Information Management (MSIM) program is aimed at helping working professionals to get ahead in the very desirable field of information technology. The W. P. Carey School also offers online certificates in supply chain management, an area in which the school is consistently ranked Top 10 in the nation.

For more information about W. P. Carey School of Business programs, visit wpcarey.asu.edu.