AACSB Accredited Online MBA

What does it mean to “live the dream”? It means to achieve your goals, to accomplish everything you have set out to accomplish. It means to have it all and do it all. Living the dream can be a challenge for most of us because we have conflicting goals. For example, my major life goals include raising a family, having a successful career, and earning a master of business administration degree.   Why are those goals conflicting? They are all competing for my time, the scarcest resource I have.  I have a beautiful wife and two young sons. I love to spend time with them, but I have missed many meals and important family activities because of my hectic work schedule. 

Earning an MBA has always been one of my biggest goals, but as I have progressed in my career and my family responsibilities have increased, I began to think that I had missed the window of opportunity. I finally decided that 2009 was the year to get into business school and make my dream a reality. The challenge was to find a business school that met all of my criteria. I wanted to attend a highly ranked university that would provide a top-notch education. I also wanted a program that would give me the flexibility to meet the obligations of my current job and not become a stranger to my family.

A friend of mine at work clued me in to the fact that there are several top universities across the country that offer distance MBA programs. This opened a whole new realm of possibilities for me.  I became obsessed with finding the best online MBA program. I learned that there are several online business colleges, but I was only interested in an AACSB accredited online MBA program. Ultimately one program stood head and shoulders above the rest—the Kelley Direct program from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.

I am now in my first year in the Kelley Direct program, and I'm living the dream.  I'm getting a great education at one of the best business schools in the nation, and I haven't had to put the rest of my life on hold.  I didn’t have to leave my job to attend business school, and I have the flexibility to work on my studies at my convenience so I don’t have to become a stranger to my family.

--Kelly

Not all MBA and MS degrees are equal and online graduate business education is no exception.  You need to do your homework and decide how you want to invest in your future.  If you are considering online degree programs, I have two questions every prospective student should ask when considering an online MBA or MS degree. 

1.   Is the Business School AACSB accredited?  This is the largest difference between all of the online schools offering virtual degrees (University of Phoenix and Devry) and those that are given by established 'bricks and mortar' institutions such as Indiana University and Duke University.  Only about 30% of business schools are AACSB accredited and even fewer of that 30% offer an online MBA or MS degree program.  AACSB accredited schools also require the GMAT.

2.  Who is doing the teaching online?  I get this question from a number of prospective students and I encourage you to ask this question to any online business degree program you are considering.  Who is teaching?  Having courses taught by the same faculty who teach in the business school's residential program is essential to a high-caliber and rigorous degree program and more attractive to top companies and executive recruiters.

Remember, you are investing in your future!  Choose wisely!

Welcome my first Kelley Direct blog post. I thought it would be best to talk about our world-renowned degree and a little bit about our history.

Kelley Direct's distance MBA programs began in 1999 as an innovative way to provide the opportunity to earn a Kelley graduate degree for high-caliber working professionals no matter where they work or live.
As one of the top online MBA programs, Kelley Direct offers the highest quality AACSB accredited online MBA available today. In fact, Kelley Direct is the only top 20 business school that offers an online MBA, online degree in finance, and online degree in global supply chain management.

I will talk about our faculty in more depth in a future post but one of the things that makes the Kelley School of Business so highly ranked in our top flight and award winning faculty. Kelley Direct courses are taught by Kelley faculty; the same faculty that teach in the Full-Time and Evening MBA programs.

We consider ourselves to be leaders in business education online, and over 800 students have already earned a Kelley degree through Kelley Direct. Check out this video if you want to learn more.