• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Despite having a $165 million net worth, Scarlett Johansson says work-life balance doesn’t exist—and the first step to success is admitting that

2

The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises

3

Current price of oil as of May 15, 2026

1

Despite having a $165 million net worth, Scarlett Johansson says work-life balance doesn’t exist—and the first step to success is admitting that

2

The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises

3

Current price of oil as of May 15, 2026
LeadershipBusiness School Special Report

Getting an MBA while you’re on the road: How to pull it off

By
August 28, 2015, 10:53 AM ET
Dubai airport: perfect spot for a study break?
Airport lounge, Dubai, UAE.Photo by Richard Allenby-Pratt—Getty Images/arabianEye

Dear Annie: I’m interested in hearing what you and your readers think about my chances of getting an MBA without leaving my current job. It’s complicated because I travel so much, usually three or four days a week, all over the U.S. and Canada. My boss has been asking me lately if I’ve given any thought to grad school. He (and almost everyone else in senior management at my company) has an MBA, so it would probably help my career prospects here to get one too.

I know lots of B-schools offer online MBA programs, so I could take courses without having to be in one place, and my company has a generous tuition-reimbursement program, so the expense is not really an issue. But I don’t know how practical it is to plan on earning a degree while constantly traveling. Any thoughts? — Rhode Island Road Warrior

Dear R.I.R.W.: You’re right that studying on the fly will present some challenges, but it can be done. Lara Martini, who is Microsoft’s director of commercial markets strategy for Latin America, finished her MBA last fall despite traveling more than half the time. (In fact, when I spoke to her, she was at the airport in Miami, headed for Bogota.) “Travel is really the main reason most of my fellow students and I were enrolled in online programs,” she says. “People have become accustomed to working remotely, so this is really an extension of that.”

 

Martini has spent the last 18 years traveling for business—including, in previous jobs, stints in Europe and the Middle East. Earning an MBA took her about two-and-a-half years of course work and independent study, mostly in airports and hotel rooms. A willingness to be flexible helped. Martini sometimes had to delay return flights home, for example, to attend online classes in airport terminals where WiFi connections were better (and cheaper) than Internet access in the air.

“When you’re traveling is actually not a bad time to study, because so much of it is spent waiting around,” she says. “And earning an MBA while still doing your job is a much easier decision than taking two years ‘off,’ and giving up two years’ salary, which gets harder the further along you are in your career. If you look at it that way, the ROI for an online degree is much higher than for the traditional in-person kind.”

The ROI on MBAs overall, by the way, has risen recently. Median salaries for new MBA grads will surpass $100,000 for the first time this year. If you decide not to stay with your current employer, the degree may make you more marketable as well. About 84% of employers plan to hire more MBAs this year, up from 74% in 2014, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Those trends help explain why online MBA programs are increasingly popular. There are now 162 of them, almost doubling from 84 in 2007, according to the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Almost half (43%) of them reported seeing more applicants in 2014 (the latest figures available) than the year before.

If you do decide to pursue a degree in your current job, Martini has three tips for you:

Choose the right B-school. Rankings from U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review rate online MBA programs by criteria that include faculty qualifications and admissions selectivity. (Martini’s alma mater, the Kenan-Flagler School at the University of North Carolina, which calls itself MBA@UNC, is top rated on both lists.) Something else you need to look for, since you’ll be on the road is “a school that makes it easy to get in touch around the clock and on weekends,” says Martini. “You will need to be able to reach someone, about changing the due date on an assignment, for instance, at odd hours when you might be far away in a different time zone. So don’t neglect to ask about that.”

Be ready to plan ahead—but not too far ahead. When signing up for classes, Martini suggests, “think about when you’re going to be able to set aside blocks of time for studying, whether that’s very early in the morning or late at night. But, once you’ve started classes, make plans in one- or-two-week intervals.” You probably don’t know your travel schedule any farther ahead than that, “especially if you have many unpredictable trips at irregular hours,” Martini explains. “So it really isn’t practical to plan, for instance, a whole semester at once. Take it week by week.”

[fortune-brightcove videoid=4406425369001]

 

Don’t skip any chances to meet classmates in person. Just like traditional in-person MBA programs, the online kind offers “invaluable chances to make connections,” says Martini. “I’ve helped fellow students find jobs, and they’ve helped me out in various ways. Business school really is a fantastic opportunity to network.” Almost every online B-school expects you to show up in person now and then. (MBA@UNC, for example, holds quarterly gatherings called “immersions,” and the school requires that students attend at least two before graduating.) “It’s not always easy to fit these into your travel schedule,” notes Martini. “But do go to as many face-to-face sessions as you possibly can, beyond whatever the required number is. You’ll find that getting there is definitely worth the effort.”

Good luck.

Talkback: If you’ve completed any online degree, how did it compare to a traditional in-person program? Leave a comment below.

Have a career question for Anne Fisher? Email askannie@fortune.com.


Latest in Leadership

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Leadership

tarot
AICulture
We talked to 12 tarot card readers who are using AI. They split in 2 camps, with big implications for the technology
By Ziv Epstein, Farnaz Jahanbakhsh, Vana Goblot and The ConversationMay 16, 2026
1 hour ago
mustafa suleyman
AIMicrosoft
Microsoft AI chief gives it 18 months—for all white-collar work to be automated by AI
By Jake AngeloMay 16, 2026
4 hours ago
Kevin O'Leary wears a suit and gestures
Future of Workwork-life balance
‘You’re not a hero, you’re a liability’: Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary warns Gen Z founders to stop glorifying hustle culture
By Jacqueline MunisMay 16, 2026
4 hours ago
tom
SuccessEntrepreneurs
Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio got a 15x return on a tech company most Americans have never heard of. He thinks his own industry is broken
By Nick LichtenbergMay 16, 2026
5 hours ago
bhaskar
Economydisruption
The prophet of the ‘Wired Belt’ says capitalism is finally eating itself
By Bhaskar ChakravortiMay 16, 2026
6 hours ago
Kurt Alexander, president of Omni Hotels & Resorts
SuccessCareers
Gen Z wants AI-proof jobs. The president of a 50-property hotel chain says hospitality is hiding in plain sight
By Preston ForeMay 16, 2026
6 hours ago

Most Popular

Despite having a $165 million net worth, Scarlett Johansson says work-life balance doesn’t exist—and the first step to success is admitting that
Success
Despite having a $165 million net worth, Scarlett Johansson says work-life balance doesn’t exist—and the first step to success is admitting that
By Preston ForeMay 13, 2026
3 days ago
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
Politics
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
By Jake AngeloMay 12, 2026
4 days ago
Current price of oil as of May 15, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of May 15, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 15, 2026
1 day ago
Nearly 50,000 Lake Tahoe residents have to find a new power source after their energy source looks to redirect lines to data centers
Travel & Leisure
Nearly 50,000 Lake Tahoe residents have to find a new power source after their energy source looks to redirect lines to data centers
By Catherina GioinoMay 12, 2026
4 days ago
The airplane fuel shortage is a myth propagated by airlines who want to cancel unprofitable flights, says private jet CEO
Energy
The airplane fuel shortage is a myth propagated by airlines who want to cancel unprofitable flights, says private jet CEO
By Jim EdwardsMay 14, 2026
2 days ago
Debbie Gibson, Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath want you to adopt a beagle rescued from an experimental lab in Wisconsin
North America
Debbie Gibson, Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath want you to adopt a beagle rescued from an experimental lab in Wisconsin
By Scott Bauer and The Associated PressMay 13, 2026
3 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.