Poets&Quants (P&Q) has ranked the University of Delaware’s Online MBA program 34th in its Best Online MBA Programs of 2021 rankings, out of a record number of online programs ranked by P&Q.

The P&Q Best Online MBA Programs of 2021 rankings were determined by three equally weighted criteria — admissions standards, students’ academic experience and career outcomes — using data from program administrators and surveys of recent alumni. According to the P&Q website, “In a global market, with more than 350 online MBA options, the 47 schools on the list are the best of the bunch, roughly the top 15% of all the virtual MBA programs in the world.”

UD’s Online MBA program, which is delivered by the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, achieved high scores for academic experience and admissions. 

“These rankings speak to the quality of our programs,” said Lerner College Dean Bruce Weber. “Our alumni from the class of 2020 responded to the survey questions positively and I am pleased that their experience with UD and Lerner was enriching and valuable — this is what we do well and what prospective students care about.”

During the fall of 2020, Lerner’s Online MBA enrollment grew to more than 450 students from across the nation. All five departments in the Lerner College contribute core and elective courses to the Online MBA program, which features intensive 7-week terms, access to personal career coaching and five concentrations including finance, business analytics and healthcare.

“Even though our student experience scores are a strong endorsement, we’re looking at what we can do to make their learning and career outcomes even better,” said Jack Baroudi, senior associate dean of academic programs. “The good news is that it gives us information that we can use to really think about our programs from our alumni’s point of view.” 

P&Q is a website focused specifically on business schools, and it offers a yearly ranking of various business school programs. Unlike other organizations that rank business schools, P&Q focuses on three core issues for their rankings: “the quality of the raw talent coming through the door, what a school does with that talent over four years and finally, how the marketplace responds to the graduates coming off campus.” The soundness of this ranking is part of why UD’s Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (IRE) has included P&Q in its list of UD Primary Rankings.

“Student success is our number one priority at the Lerner College,” said Baroudi. “We are constantly evaluating our course offerings and program resources, expanding them to better fit our students’ needs and adding flexibility to help them choose their own professional development pathway.”