SUNY Oswego’s online MBA program ranks in the top 25 nationally in Princeton Review’s first-ever comprehensive survey of colleges and universities offering such programs.
The School of Business’ online master’s in business administration program at Oswego came in at No. 22 in the educational services company’s recent ranking, based on surveys last year of business school administrators and nearly 2,000 students enrolled in programs at 80 business schools.
Oswego joined a list that includes larger online-MBA programs at the business schools of University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Indiana University-Bloomington, as well as comparable-size programs at University of Memphis and North Carolina State University.
Oswego was the only SUNY school in the top 25, with Hofstra University, Rochester Institute of Technology and Syracuse University the only other New York state-based schools listed.
“Each of our top 25 schools offers a first-rate MBA online as well as on campus,” said Robert Franek, senior vice president-publisher of the Princeton Review. “Like highly successful businesses, these highly respected b-schools are serving their customers with innovative options. For working professionals unable to move to a ‘brick and mortar’ campus for an MBA, these schools offer an opportunity to learn from some of the world’s best b-school professors and earn the degree from anywhere in the world.”
The AACSB-accredited SUNY Oswego School of Business offers an online MBA program that competes not only on course-scheduling flexibility, but on curriculum customization, rigorous and top-quality classes, experiential-learning opportunities, small class sizes, a faculty that includes current and former professionals in business and industry, and affordability. It also was one of the pioneering programs in the system-wide Open SUNY educational initiative.
‘Very welcoming’
The Princeton Review’s survey found that Oswego’s flexibility appeals to midcareer students: The student body in the online MBA program averages 36 years of age with 12 years of professional experience. Online-only students—Oswego’s MBA programs also are available as a hybrid of in-person and online, on the main campus in Oswego or at the SUNY Oswego Metro Center in Syracuse—take an average of 24 months to achieve the MBA degree.
“SUNY Oswego is very welcoming to online students and make us feel as though we are still part of campus life,” said one student in the survey. “We are not made to feel left out because we are not on the main campus.”
The college taps its extensive network of alumni in the business world for an annual alumni networking symposium and encourages all students to involve themselves in the Alumni Sharing Knowledge program.
The survey of administrators conducted by the Princeton Review—which has no relationship with Princeton University—covered admissions selectivity, graduation and retention rates, faculty training and credentials, technological infrastructure, student indebtedness, and career outcomes among other items, according to the service. Students were asked about fellow students, faculty and administration, as well as curriculum, career services and overall satisfaction, among others.
In its profile of Oswego’s online MBA program, the Princeton Review reported students in the survey commented that their peers are “very enthusiastic about the classwork” as well as “intelligent, hardworking, punctual, diverse, studious, positive” and “collected and thorough.”
Faculty are “available when I have questions, and are willing to help out” and “provide valuable insight for all topics covered in their courses.” One student felt that the faculty’s “diversity and experience ... is the greatest strength of the program.”
Administrators are “friendly and helpful” and “flexible with me and I felt that they genuinely wanted me to get into the program and succeed,” students commented.
SUNY Oswego’s online MBA program offers concentrations in healthcare administration, marketing and leadership/management. While Oswego has offered an all-online program since 2011, the Princeton Review survey covered business schools that offer at least 75 percent of their program of study online.
For more information on SUNY Oswego’s MBA options, visit oswego.edu/mba or call Irene Scruton, director of MBA programs, 315-312-2911.