Fortune’s third iteration of ranking the best online MBA programs saw a familiar name rise to the top: Indiana University-Bloomington. That online program, the largest among the 100 schools ranked this year, has been a top contender in the past two years. And the 2023 ranking saw the University of Florida and Carnegie Mellon University round out the top three spots.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic inspired a surge within the online education space, online MBA program offerings have evolved and expanded. However, it seems the growing interest in these programs has moderated—pointing to some larger trends that also affected how schools were ranked this year.
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Overall, enrollment in online MBA programs fell 12.5% between the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years, according to the data collected from schools featured in Fortune’s 2023 list—and graduate business school applications dipped 3.4% between 2021 and 2022, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council.
“Yielding candidates was the biggest challenge this year. Not only were we competing with peer schools, we were also competing with employers to retain their talent,” an unnamed school professional reported in the 2022 GMAC Application Trends Survey.
While enrollment decreased overall among the 100 business schools on Fortune’s list, this wasn’t true across the board. Rather, some programs experienced significant increases in enrollment—in a few cases, in excess of 50% growth—during the past two to three academic years in their online MBA attendance leading to substantial jumps in our ranking. Meanwhile, other schools experienced pronounced double-digit declines in enrollment, causing them to fall in rank.
Enrollment growth is not necessarily weighed more than other factors in Fortune’s ranking. But in an environment where enrollment is down overall for these types of programs, if a school experienced drastic growth, it demonstrates some level of competition in the online MBA space.
Variations in applications to online MBA programs
Similarly, the number of applications a program received this academic year is also indicative of the demand for this program—especially in the context of online MBA programs, because prospective students’ options are not as limited by geography.
The 2022 GMAC report states that 76% of online MBA programs received fewer applications this year than last. Therefore, some schools that received a high number of applicants relative to other schools climbed in the ranking. Additionally, significant change in graduation and retention rates was another reason for placement fluctuation.
To learn more about this year’s best online MBA ranking, see our methodology.
Check out all of Fortune’s rankings of degree programs, and learn more about specific career paths.
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