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Distance MBA Profile Publish Date 05/27/12

Athabasca University

  • Program Basics

      • Centre for Innovative Management
      • Online Executive MBA
      • #301, 22 Sir Winston Churchill Ave
      • AB
      • St. Albert, T8N 1B4
      • Canada
      • Status Public
      • Distance MBAs graduating since distance program's founding 2,643
      • Average number of months to complete the distance MBA program 28
      • Maximum months permitted to complete the distance MBA program 60
      • Do individual online courses have a time limit for completion? Yes
      • Does the school offer a separate on-campus, full-time MBA program? No
      • Are there specific locations from which students must attend the distance MBA program? No
      • Is the distance MBA program open to students from other states? Yes
      • Is the distance MBA program open to students from other countries? Yes
      • Students living more than 45 miles from school 84 %
      • Distance MBA students have full student privileges to use the following
        • School library
        • Student rates for tickets

  • School Basics

    • Graduate business school enrollment

      • Total: 848
      • Executive MBA: 817
      • PhD Program: 31
      • Undergraduate business school enrollment 7,059

  • PROGRAM COSTS

    • Total direct costs (tuition and required fees) of the entire program

      • Residents $45,076.00
      • Non-Resident $45,476.00

  • ADMISSIONS

    • Application fee for distance MBA program

      • Residents $200.00
      • Non-Resident $200.00
      • Applications (admitted and denied) to the newest distance MBA class 299
      • Applicants who were accepted to the most recent distance class 90 %
      • Admitted applicants who enrolled in the newest distance MBA class 84 %
      • Are applicant interviews required for the distance MBA program? By invitation only
      • Does the program offer rolling admissions? Yes

  • CLASS PROFILE

    • Students are from the following regions

      • North America 100 %

    • What percentage of U.S. citizens in the newest entering class are from the following regions?

      • Midwest 50 %
      • Southwest 50 %

    • U.S. students in the newest entering class are from the following groups

      • Chose not to report 100 %

    • Postgraduate work experience (months)

      • Mean 228
      • Median 231
      • One year or less 0 %

    • Middle 80% range

      • From 216
      • To 240

    • Base salary of entering distance MBA students

      • Mean: $93,500.00
      • Median: $92,000.00
      • Middle 80% range: From: $50,000.00
      • Middle 80% range: To: $164,000.00

    • Age of new entrants to distance MBA program:

      • Mean 40
      • Median 39

    • Entering distance MBA students who work in the following industries

      • Government (Federal, State, Local, Military) 12 %
      • Consulting 3 %
      • Financial Services 11 %
      • Manufacturing 9 %
      • Non-Profit 2 %
      • Petroleum/Energy 10 %
      • Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology/Health care Products 16 %
      • Technology 5 %
      • Other 32 %

  • FINANCIAL AID

      • Distance MBAs apply for financial aid through Central financial aid office at the university
      • Distance MBAs who applied for financial aid for the current academic year 20 %
      • Distance MBAs receiving financial aid through school 20 %

    • Percentage of distance MBA students applying for financial aid for the upcoming academic year who received

      • Institutional Scholarships 100 %

    • Financial aid for new entrants for the current academic year

      • Mean $3,300.00
      • Median $3,300.00

    • Middle 80% range of financial aid packages

      • From $3,000.00
      • To $3,600.00
      • On what basis are scholarships awarded? A combination of need and merit
      • Full-tuition scholarships for current academic year 0
      • How does an applicant apply for scholarship consideration? unique scholarship application
      • Average scholarship awarded to distance MBA students $3,300.00
      • Does the school offer a guaranteed loan regardless of nationality to Distance MBA students? No

  • GMAT

      • Are applicants required to take the GMAT? No
      • If not, how are applicants' quantitative abilities checked before enrollment? Detailed chronological resume, references (2 x business and 1 x academic), essay, university undergraduate degree transcripts,
      • Is the TOEFL required for non-English speakers? No

  • CONTACT INFORMATION

  • FACULTY

      • Faculty employed by the B-school: 39

    • Full-time faculty:

      • Tenured: 23
      • Non-Tenured: 16

    • Women on Faculty:

      • Tenured: 11
      • Non-Tenured: 2

    • International Faculty:

      • Tenured: 1

    • Faculty with PhDs:

      • Tenured: 23

    • Distance program faculty who:

      • Have tenure: 72 %
      • Have at least 5 years corporate experience: 46 %

  • STUDENT LIFE

      • The distance MBA program is delivered by:
        • Internet/Web-based delivery
        • Online forums
        • E-mail
        • Textbooks
      • Are faculty members required to travel to off-campus sites to meet with distance MBA students? No

    • Estimated number of hours a student will spend working in the class and outside the classroom:

      • Hours per week in class: 18
      • Hours per week outside of class: 7
      • Does the program offer 24-hour technical support? No
      • Classes meet:
        • Via the Internet (unscheduled)
      • Final exams are administered: Exam are delivered over the internet. Upon receipt of the Phase One comprehensive exam, students have 6 days to complete it.
      • Average number of students in a distance MBA core class: 10
      • Average number of students in a distance MBA elective class: 20
      • Elective courses available to distance MBA students: 26

    • Electives that have been recently added to the distance program:

      • Doing Business in Brazil
      • Corporate Governance & Accountability
      • Advanced Strategic Management: Theory & Practice
      • Int. Business:Understanding & Managing Legal Risks
      • Doing Business in Germany
      • Year of last major change or significant overhaul to the core MBA curriculum: 2008
      • Concentrations and specializations offered to distance MBA students:
        • Other
        • Entrepreneurship
        • International Business
        • Leadership
        • Operations Management
        • Strategy
      • Does the school offer an accelerated distance MBA program? No
      • Leading areas of study for distance MBA students are:
        • Other
        • International Business
        • Leadership
        • Strategy
        • Operations Management
      • Requirements for graduation:
        • Students must have earned a pre-determined GPA/Letter grade average
      • Other Requirements for graduation: Students must complete an "applied project", an academic research paper completed in five months.
      • If distance MBA students are required to spend time on campus, please explain: All students must complete a one-week in-residence elective. These are held in various cities across Canada and some internationally.
      • Number of credits or credit hours required to complete distance MBA program: 48
      • If applicable, are distance MBA students invited to campus for graduation? Yes
      • Does the distance program diploma distinguish whether the student earned the degree on-campus or off? No

  • TECHNOLOGY

      • Technology improvements in the last three academic years: IM and IM awareness, Notes Traveller, web-enabled courses, access to study guides on the web, assignment dropbos on the web, tablet-compatible courseware (via the web enabled template), Notes 8.5.2 client software (upgraded features for students), iModules and the AU MBA/Alumni community, online applications, mobile sevices

  • CAREER SERVICES

      • Do distance MBA students have access to a career development office? Yes
      • When in the degree process are they able to use the service? At any time
      • Do distance MBAs have access to an alumni database? Yes
      • Are distance MBAs included in resume drops for prescreening by recruiters? No
      • Career services Web site URL: http://alumni.mba.athabascau.ca

Getting In

B-School Life

Finding a Job

Paying the Bills