Getting an online MBA allows those who want to study advanced fields of business the chance to earn their degrees without studying on a campus, but many of those prospective students will want to know if the university or college requires an on-campus residency. This is a type of program designed to help students meet with their professors and other students. Those students will want to consider a few different things before signing up for an online program.
What is a Residency?
One question that may students have is what an on-campus residency is and what it entails. A residency requires that students spend a specific amount of time on the campus. They will take classes taught by the same professors who teach their online classes, but they’ll also have the chance to meet with some of the students in their online classes. Many schools offer a residency that features longer classes. Instead of spending 60 minutes in a class a few days a week, they might spend three hours or more in a single class.
Are There Any Benefits of a Residency?
Students enroll in online college programs because they do not want to take time out of their schedules to attend classes on the campus. That is why many of these students ignore programs with a residency component. That component does have some benefits though. It allows students to interact with teachers who have professional business experience. They can ask questions that they might not get a chance to ask online and meet with teachers who might help them find jobs. Students also have the chance to put faces to the names of their peers. They can talk about some of the issues they have with studying online too.
Do All Programs Require One?
The type of online MBA program offered by each school varies across campuses. Most allow students to pick a concentration in an area like finance or marketing. Those programs can also decide whether to include a residency component too. Some schools have a residency component but give students the option of not completing one. Students who have busier schedules can do more online and offline work instead of attending one of these sessions. Other programs will require that students complete one because it gives them more experience and allows them to network with other students as well as MBA graduates.
How Does a Residency Work?
According to U.S. News & World Report, the average salary for MBA graduates varies between industries but can reach more than $120,000 a year. Many graduates of programs with a residency component have the chance to make more money because they gain more experience through those sessions. These sessions can last for as little as a weekend. Some schools require that students spend several weekends on their campus before graduating. Other programs ask that students attend an information session on the campus in the summer before classes start and then spend a few weekends on the campus later.
MBA programs help students earn a Master of Business Administration in around two years and allows them to focus their studies around a specific concentration. Many online MBA require that students complete at least one on-campus residency before graduating to gain more experience, but some programs allow students to do all required work online instead.
