When Corey Kilcourse began the program at William & Mary, he knew it would cost him money, time, and general wear and tear on his work-life balance. What he didn’t know was that it would also be an exercise in the mental gymnastics of time management, workflow, and logistics. 

Kilcourse, who now works at Voya Financial, says pursuing the degree online “allowed me to keep my job, deal with the stress and strain, keep my income, and improve myself all at the same time.” 

He travels a lot for work, which also factored into Kilcourse’s decision. “If I did this at 26, maybe I’d have left my job, but my analysis was this: I had a good career and didn’t want to leave it. I also started the program with two kids, and by the time I’d finished, we had three. Going online allowed me to have the least impact on my family unit.”

There is plenty to consider in pursuing an advanced degree as an adult. For most, cost is front and center in choosing a program, and “cost,” as Kilcourse attests, can mean money, time, and opportunity. 

Steven Savino, assistant dean for graduate programs at Lehigh University’s College of Business, urges prospective students to consider all of those aspects when pursuing an MBA. “As a working professional, you can cram in only so much,” he says. The expenses and investments involved in the process are significant and land in different proportions for every student.

Overall, the true cost of an online MBA includes:

• Out-of-pocket costs
• Time
• Opportunity

Out-of-pocket costs: advertised versus real

The most obvious cost is the financial investment. While Kilcourse self-funded his MBA, not everyone can afford it, or even needs to, especially if an employer will do that for you. The price point for any given online MBA can vary depending on a school’s brand power and offerings. 

Enroll in the program at the University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler), and you’ll be down more than $125,500. The online MBA at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University costs about $66,200. At UMass–Amherst (Isenberg), the program costs closer to $35,000.

While online MBAs do have less indirect costs, like travel and near-campus housing, less anticipated fees always pop up with education programs. 

The prices on each schools’ websites may just be estimated program costs—which can change year-to-year—and depend on the number of credits and course pathway. If you choose one particular course, concentration, or specialization, there could be added costs. Other fees and mandatory course requirements, like textbooks, can also quickly add up. 

But, before you even get to this step, many schools have application fees as well as program deposits that must be submitted. At Indiana University (Kelley), the application fee is $75. The University of Southern California (Marshall) requires $155 to apply. Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) charges $200.

“An MBA program is an investment that can put you in a higher compensation bracket.  But these programs aren’t cheap and it’s a good idea to apply basic money management skills to help fund the MBA,” says Clemens Kownatzki, associate dean of full-time & part-time programs at the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School.

Tuition assistance opportunities

It’s a good idea to check in with your employer to see what relationships or policies might be in place to offset or possibly eliminate financial costs associated with your program. Some companies work directly with specific schools, while others reimburse up to a certain amount, if not the entire cost, of tuition. Nearly half of employers—48%—offer tuition assistance for undergraduate or graduate education programs, according to a survey by SHRM. 

“If you can commit to staying with your employer for a few years after your MBA, they might be more inclined to fund a larger portion, perhaps even pay for the program altogether,” Kownatzski adds.

Meanwhile, military employees can count on tuition reimbursement under various government programs or the post-9/11 GI Bill (which for 2023–24 covered all tuition and fees for public school and up to $27,120 at private or foreign schools). 

U.S. tax code caps tuition reimbursement at $5,250 per year, and depending on where you go, that could pay for one or two courses a semester. Any amount above that $5,250 would be considered income and, therefore, taxable.

The time you’ll spend

While the MBA curriculum is generally designed to be completed in two years, a lot of schools allow up to five years, depending on the pace of coursework. Lehigh’s Steven Savino says its program is like so many others: technically hybrid, but offered 100% online and includes students who never set foot on its Pennsylvania campus. Some students live closer to campus and come to the classroom when their schedule allows, and then attend class remotely for the remainder of the term. That setup isn’t uncommon at all; so the term “online” can be used broadly.

“You go at your own pace, in what sequence you like,” Savino says. “Our students are working. They have a life outside the classroom. We have been doing it for years like this in a hybrid setting. In any given class, there is one student who one week is in the class and another in a hotel room, and then another student who completes the whole program living and working in San Francisco.” 

Kilcourse says he spent one extended weekend at William & Mary during the two-year course of his MBA work. The remainder was spent juggling assignments, class, family life, and his career from home in the Connecticut burbs, in airports, on planes, in hotel rooms, on Metro-North commuter trains into and out of Manhattan, and in his Midtown office. 

“I definitely learned a lot in the program, and it further helped me with time management,” says Kilcourse. “It is no joke. Having to look at your life and figure out where you’ll get these hours to study and get the work done—I continue to utilize those skills.”

Opportunity: What you’ll miss, what you’ll gain

Some aspects of an online MBA might not become clear until you’re mid-program.

“You think, ‘Oh, it’s going to be great. I can do the work whenever I want,’” says Kilcourse, noting the assumption that asynchronous classes would make life easier, more flexible. In some ways it did: Instead of driving to and from class or being fixed to a twice-weekly, three-hour class period, he could pitch in on kids’ bedtimes and then later in the evening shift into student mode, or utilize hotel or airport hours while traveling to bang out assignments. 

Still, that required forethought. In a seven-week course, Kilcourse says, he’d regularly look at his schedule two weeks in advance and see what work he could do ahead of work travel or client dinners. 

On one occasion, Kilcourse recalls he was traveling to the Middle East for work and was able to coordinate with his professor to complete an exam before he left so his workweek abroad could be singularly focused on his job. Other times, Kilcourse would skip the glass of wine at client dinners so he could finish schoolwork or post to class discussions late at night in his hotel room. Coordinating group work online with students in different time zones with disparate work and family demands also proved challenging. 

Finally, if you’re looking to use your MBA to change industries or shift your career trajectory, networking is certainly something to consider. If not, and an MBA is more about filling in some holes in your education or checking a box should you plan down the line to change companies, that may be less of a concern. 

There’s a different level of effort in connecting with peers after class if everyone’s walking out of the same room, headed to the same bar or coffee shop to catch up, than if you’re all working from your laptops in different states and circumstances across a Wi-Fi connection. Consider what schools offer in terms of bolstering your network. 

For Kilcourse, the hoops were worth the jump. “I learned a lot about myself,” he says. “If you can do this with two kids, keep your job, and all of the other things you bellyache about…you’ve got to figure it out. You go into it thinking, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to do this.’ But then you do. I would do it again.”

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Frequently asked questions

How valuable is an online MBA?

An online MBA can be a very valuable education experience since it offers the best of both worlds: individuals can learn and study while also still working. Plus, online MBAs are generally less expensive, allow for added flexibility, and have less rigorous application requirements.

Is online MBA legit?

Yes, an online MBA is largely treated the exact same as a traditional, full-time program. However, it is all about what you put in and get out of the experience. If you stay engaged during the coursework and take extra time to meet your peers and professors virtually, an online MBA can have tremendous rewards.

Do employers recognize online MBA?

Yes, employers do recognize online MBAs. In fact, most employers do not entirely care about the format of the degree as long as graduates are able to express what they’ve learned and how it has helped them become a better business leader.

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Check out all of Fortune’s rankings of degree programs, and learn more about specific career paths.