Tag: MBAs

As the COVID-19 crisis unfolded, Colorado universities that offer MBA programs adapted. They sent webcams to professors’ homes, moved orientation and networking events online, and made office hours available on Zoom. The efforts helped schools adjust for the pandemic and may also help them attract and keep students as MBA applications had been declining nationwide.

Fortunately, MBA programs typically offer online classes for busy adult learners. According to the business school alliance AACSB International, from the 2009-10 to 2018-19 school years, there was a 150% increase in the number of AACSB-accredited business schools that reported offering at least one MBA program fully online. Many more programs offer hybrid formats.

“We had already been delivering hybrid courses, with half the content delivered via technology and half in person,” says Sharon Matusik, dean and professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder. “We already had faculty expertise and also some infrastructure, and we were able to draw on that.”

The approach has been data informed, Matusik says. The school surveyed students and conducted workshops on how to effectively leverage technology to engage with students. For example, by using web conferencing, a school can host high-profile guest speakers almost any time, not just when they are in town. Fall 2020 enrollment in Leeds’ Evening MBA program is down slightly, but up compared with the previous five years. The school plans to launch an Executive MBA program for 2021.

According to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), in 2019 total applications for graduate business school programs were down 3.1% year-over-year, and 52% of programs reported application declines versus the previous year.

Many Colorado institutions are not seeing these decreases. Colorado State University Pueblo is offering a mix of synchronous (live-streamed) and asynchronous (pre-recorded) classes in eight-week cohorts with various start dates throughout the year. “What we know about adult learners is that when you make that decision to go back to school, you want to be able to start pretty soon,” says Donna Souder Hodge, Ph.D., chief strategy officer and COVID-19 coordinator at CSU Pueblo. “What we wanted to provide for students is flexibility.”

Adult learners are thinking long term about their future, Souder Hodge says, so they want to upskill. “We planned for a 10% drop in headcount, and we saw it only dropped by 3%,” Souder Hodge says, adding that it helps that the school did not raise tuition.

Low cost tuition also helps Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction compete. “Where people are making decisions is, can I earn an MBA but at a lower cost?” says Kyle Stone, MBA program coordinator and an associate professor. The MBA program moved to fully online and is attractive to working adults looking for a promotion, or to improve their strategic and leadership skills. Also, recent college graduates are applying for graduate school because they did not get jobs.

For some, virtual classes are nothing new. “Our program has always been online and we haven’t had to make a lot of adjustments,” says Liz Thomas-Hensley, Ph.D., director of the MBA program at Adams State University in Alamosa. It helps that there are synchronous and asynchronous components, so students do not always have to be at their laptops at a specified time. Also, Thomas-Hensley says, students seem to enjoy the live sessions via Zoom. ASU saw a 12% increase in enrollment from Fall 2019 to Fall 2020.

Other meetings and events have also moved online. Metropolitan State University of Denver hosted a virtual orientation session for MBA students at the start of the Fall semester. There are also informal Zoom meetings for students to discuss topics such as time management. “Since we had started with this technology in 2019, it’s really paying dividends right now,” says Chittibabu Govindarajulu, PhD., associate dean at the College of Business at MSU. The MBA faculty was all on board, he says, and MSU sent them webcams, lightboards (glass boards for writing notes), and other equipment.

Enrollment is up 20% compared to Fall 2019, and Govindarajulu credits MSU’s reasonably priced tuition, flexibility of the evening program, and use of technology. “Our enrollment would have been higher, but because people are losing jobs, some had to defer,” he says.

One of the more interesting offerings is Western Colorado University’s Outdoor Industry MBA. The two-year program includes an MBA core as well as specialized tracks for either the product side or the service side of the outdoor industry. Now in its third year, the program has grown each year, with 57 students currently in the program.

“It fits very well with the culture of this place,” says director Scott Borden, Ph.D., who notes that outdoor recreation is Gunnison’s No. 1 economic driver, and the campus is home to the ICE Lab (an acronym for Innovation Creativity in Entrepreneurship), an incubator for outdoor-industry companies.

As for the impact of COVID-19, Borden says, “The only effect it’s had is that we didn’t have an immersion this year for our new students. Instead we did a virtual immersion. Otherwise everything is online anyway. It has affected students’ lives personally, so we’ve maybe taken on more of a mentorship role with our students, working with them and their life issues that come up with COVID. What it has done is driven quite a bit of interest. Typically when an economy is bad, folks go back to graduate school. And that’s what we’ve seen.”

One element of higher education remains universal: Students want technology, and they want choices. The University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business is using a hyflex format of both face-to-face and live virtual learning. “In our COVID-19 environment, allowing students a choice in how to participate is both compassionate and necessary,” says Patrick Perrella, associate dean, MBA programs. “Although the Professional MBA and Executive MBA programs at Daniels are designed to be face-to-face with abundant opportunity for real-time debate and discussion, we have discovered that a virtual, in this case Zoom, environment brings unique opportunity.”

Among the opportunities: Introverts have a voice through online chat functions, and students can record the sessions and review them later. “While we remain committed to face-to-face interaction with safety measures in place, we’ve realized that online/in-person is not an either/or, but a ‘both,’” Perrella says. Enrollment is up at all four MBA programs at Daniels.

At the University of Colorado Denver Business School, the one-year MBA program made adjustments. The orientation activities were held synchronously over Zoom, including a team-building activity in which students attempted to summit Mt. Everest through a virtual simulation. One-year MBA classes were previously in-person, but now Wednesday evening classes meet synchronously over Zoom, and Friday classes are in-person in a large classroom where students can social distance. Local students are attracted to the one-year program, says Scott Dawson, Ph.D., dean of the business school. “Different market segments need different kinds of experiences.” He adds that graduate school enrollment is up 36%.

Others are revamping their executive education. Colorado State University paused its Executive MBA program in 2019, and recently launched 15 two-day (eight hour) non-credit courses on topics such as Marketing and Data Analytics, Talent Management, and Disruptive Technology. “It helps leaders to stay current, broaden their knowledge or top off their skills,” says Susan Schell, director of the Senior Leadership and Organizational Development Programs.

The courses are for business leaders and aspiring leaders and are offered live virtually. “We have the No. 1-ranked online MBA program in the state,” says Schell, citing U.S. News & World Report. “Why are we not now reaching this other audience?”

MBAs around the state

Adams State University
Program offered: MBA
Online, in-person, or hybrid?: Online
Website: mba.adams.edu
Contact info: Dr. Liz Hensley 719-587-7477
Tuition: $435 per credit hour (36 credit hour program)

University of Colorado Boulder
Leeds School of Business
Program offered: MBA for Working Professionals
Online, in-person, or hybrid: hybrid
In-person classes: evening
Website: colorado.edu/business/graduate-programs
Contact info: [email protected]
Tuition: $57,516 (total for two years)

University of Colorado Boulder
Leeds School of Business
Program offered: Full-time MBA
Online, in-person, or hybrid: In-person
In-person classes: day
Website: colorado.edu/business/graduate-programs
Contact info: [email protected]
Tuition: $55,862 (total for two years with fees; resident)

University of Colorado Boulder
Leeds School of Business
Program offered: Executive MBA
Online, in-person, or hybrid: Hybrid
In-person classes: multi-day residencies each trimester
Website: leeds.ly/emba
Contact info: [email protected]
Tuition: $82,000 (21 months)

University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Program offered: MBA
Online, in-person, or hybrid? Online, remote asynchronous, or remote synchronous format. Also options for hybrid and hyflex classes.
In-person classes: evenings
Website: https://business.uccs.edu/programs/masters
Contact info: (719) 255-3408, [email protected]
Tuition: three credit hours per course. Colorado residents: one course $2,495, two courses $4,602, three courses $6,711. Non-residents: one course $4,199, two courses $8,010, three courses $11,823. Non-resident fully online: one course $2,653, two courses $5,305, three courses $10,610.

University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Program offered: Coming Fall 2021, Executive Doctor of Business Administration (EDBA) in Cybersecurity Management
Online, in-person, or hybrid? online with limited residency cohorts.
Website: https://business.uccs.edu/programs/executive-doctor-business-administration
Contact info: (719)255-3408, [email protected]
Tuition: three credit hours per course. Colorado residents: one course $3,179, two courses $5,970, three courses $8,763. Non-residents: one course $4,310, two courses $8,232, three courses $12,156.

University of Colorado Denver
CU Denver Business School
Program offered: One Year MBA
Online, in-person, or hybrid? Wednesday evening classes meet synchronously over zoom, Friday classes in-person.
In-person classes: day
Website: https://business.ucdenver.edu/mba/one-year-mba
Contact info: [email protected]
Tuition: $42,500 (regardless of state or country of residence)

Colorado State University
College of Business
Program offered: MBA
Online, in-person, or hybrid? In person
In-person classes: evening
Website: csubiz.com/mbaevening
Contact info: [email protected]
Tuition: $43,237 in-state tuition

Colorado State University
College of Business
Program offered: Online MBA
Online, in-person, or hybrid? Online
Classes: on-demand viewing
Website: csubiz.com/choosemba
Contact info: [email protected]
Tuition: $42,615 in-state tuition

Colorado State University Pueblo
Hasan School of Business
Program offered: MBA
Online, in-person, or hybrid? Online and in-person options
In-person classes: evening for working professionals
Website: https://www.csupueblo.edu/online/programs/master-of-business-administration/index.html
Contact info: Gene Lucero, MBA director 719-549-2155 [email protected]
Tuition: Online $558 per credit hour, $20,088 for entire MBA

University of Denver
Daniels College of Business
Program offered: Executive MBA
Online, in-person or hybrid: Hyflex: classes delivered in-person, with the option for real-time online participation.
Website: https://daniels.du.edu/executive-mba/
Contact information: Lisa Grassfield, [email protected]
Tuition: $99,588

University of Denver
Daniels College of Business
Program offered: Part-time Professional MBA
Online, in-person or hybrid: Hybrid and Hyflex (in person or Zoom option). Two evening class sessions per week: Monday classes online, Wednesday in-person with an online option.
Website: https://daniels.du.edu/professional-mba/
Contact Information: Samantha Nesper, [email protected]
Tuition: $82,980

University of Denver
Daniels College of Business
Program offered: MBA@Denver
Online, in-person, or hybrid: Online (with some in-person components)
Classes: Online synchronous at night
Website: onlinemba.du.edu
Contact info: Kenny Metcalfe, [email protected]
Tuition: $82,980

University of Denver
Daniels College of Business
Program offered: Denver MBA
Online, in-person, or hybrid: Hyflex (in person or Zoom option)
In-person classes: day
Website: https://daniels.du.edu/denver-mba/
Contact info: Samantha Nesper, [email protected]
Tuition: $96,000

Colorado Mesa University
Program offered: MBA
Online, in-person, or hybrid? Fully online, plus optional on-campus meetings and events
Website https://www.coloradomesa.edu/business/mba/index.html
Contact info: Annie Shoberg, MBA Liaison, [email protected]
Tuition: $532.10/tuition + fee per credit hour, 36 credit, $19,155.60 total.

Metropolitan State University of Denver
College of Business
Program offered: MBA
Online, in-person, or hybrid: Core courses are mostly offered face-to-face, but now online synchronous learning. Concentrations courses are a mix of online and face-to-face, but online synchronous now.
In-person classes: evening
Website – https://www.msudenver.edu/mba/
Contact info – https://www.msudenver.edu/mba/contactus/
Tuition – About $21,000 (both tuition + fees)

University of Northern Colorado
Monfort College of Business
Program offered: MBA
Online, in-person, or hybrid: online
Website: https://degree.unco.edu/programs/mba-general.aspx
Contact info: 844-750-8885
Tuition: $21,492

Norwich University
Program offered: MBA
Online, in-person, or hybrid: online
Website: Online.norwich.edu
Contact info: 877-348-8153; [email protected]
Tuition: $31,488 total tuition and fees

Regis University
Program offered: MBA
Online, in-person, or hybrid? All modes
In-person classes: evening
Website: Regis.edu or regis.edu/academics/majors-and-programs/graduate/business-administration-mba
Contact info: 303.458.4900 or toll free 800.944.7667; [email protected]

Western Colorado University
Program offered: Outdoor Industry MBA
Online, in-person, or hybrid? Mostly online with three immersion experiences
Classes: evening online
Website: https://western.edu/program/outdoor-industry-mba/
Contact info: 970-943-2119 [email protected]
Tuition: $41,774 total for two-year program