Many of us must have faced a growth barrier in our careers at some point and this barrier arises in 80% of the cases due to inadequate knowledge in the field. The sad part is it keeps on going like this because most of us do not want to take a career break for upskilling and some of us do not have enough resources to afford expensive courses.
Master of Business Administration or MBA is a postgraduate program whose demand is at its peak. Be it a student or a working professional, everyone needs this degree to achieve their career objectives. A long list of specializations available in this program category caters to the needs of candidates from different academic or professional backgrounds. The need for trained management professionals is not just limited to a person’s growth but is highly demanded at the industry level as well.
To fulfill this demand of the industry, the universities have launched different modes of MBA. These modes include Online MBA, Distance MBA, Regular MBA, and Executive MBA. Before jumping to the conclusion of which one is better, let’s understand these different types of MBA programs!
Online MBA Program Overview
An online MBA as the name suggests is an Online MBA program that is delivered in an online mode. This follows the exact pattern of a regular MBA in terms of internal assessments, professor-led classes, projects, and term-end exams except for the fact that you do not have to visit your classes to complete any of the mentioned tasks.
This program gives you access to the digitized course content, pre-recorded lectures, and referral e-books. The availability of these academic resources at any time from anywhere ensures the development of technical and management skills in learners within 2 years. Another relaxation that will be offered in this online PG program is that most universities do not take any entrance exam for it. This makes it an ideal fit for both fresh graduates and working professionals.
Executive MBA Program Overview
An executive MBA for working professionals or EMBA is a more professional version of the MBA program. It is designed specifically for working professionals and thus covers more application-based topics than theoretical ones. The duration of this program generally ranges between 15-24 months which is quite different from an online or regular MBA.
Coming to the conduction of classes in this program, learners will have to visit the university on weekends to attend conceptual and practical classes. Because of the weekend class schedules, professionals get the flexibility to continue their jobs without taking a gap for upskilling. However, the balance between weekday jobs and weekend studies becomes quite difficult to maintain sometimes.
Another point to be mentioned here is that because of EMBA’s short duration, it covers a limited number of assignments and interactive lessons. Moreover, you need to crack an entrance exam to enroll in an EMBA program at a reputed university.
Online MBA Eligibility Criteria
To enroll in an online MBA, you need to fulfill a few points mentioned below.
- A bachelor’s degree in any stream from a recognized university.
- A minimum of 45-50% marks in the graduation.
- At some universities, you might even need to score well in the entrance exams like CAT, XAT, MAT, GMAT, etc.
In addition to these general points, you might need to fulfill some specific requirements based on your chosen university and online MBA specializations.
Executive MBA Eligibility Criteria
To be a part of the EMBA course, you need to meet the following requirements:
- Graduation in any discipline from a recognized university.
- A minimum of 2-5 years of work experience in the field related to your chosen EMBA specialization.
- A good score on the entrance exam taken for the course.
Key Differences Between an Online MBA and Executive MBA
After getting to know about both online MBA and EMBA, let’s summarize the key points of differences between the two.
- Delivery Mode: In an online MBA, classes are delivered via online portals and forums and in an EMBA, learners need to visit the college at weekends.
- Entrance Exam Requirements: No entrance exam is generally conducted in the case of online MBA but you need to clear one for an EMBA.
- Work Experience Requirements: No prior work experience is needed for an online MBA but for an EMBA, a minimum of 2-3 years of experience will be required.
- Course Duration: An online MBA lasts for 2 years but an EMBA will have a duration between 15-24 months.
- Course Curriculum: The curriculum of an online MBA is quite extensive and equips you with similar conceptual and practical lessons as that of a regular MBA. In an EMBA program, you will gain more of the application-based knowledge that will help you climb up your organizational ladder.
Career Opportunities After an Online MBA or Executive MBA
After understanding the key difference points between an online MBA and an EMBA, you can choose one as per your personalized needs. To add more clarity to your thoughts, it would be good for you to know that the career prospects after an online MBA and EMBA are the same.
After completion of any of these programs, you will have the opportunity to be placed at some reputed MNCs. Some of the job titles that you will have after an online MBA or an EMBA include Business Development Manager, Marketing Head, Brand Manager, Business Analyst, Project Head, Product Manager, Sales Manager, and so on.
Why Should One Choose College Vidya?
The university hunt is a puzzle in itself that is quite tough to resolve. To help you in your online university hunting, College Vidya, an online education portal comes to your rescue. It lists over 100 government-approved online universities, institutions, and even edtechs that offer online courses. Their AI-driven comparison feature makes you compare universities that have been generated based on your answers of course budget, highest qualification, maximum time to be committed, and other factors. Despite being a user-friendly website, if you get stuck at any point, you can easily connect with their academic counselors who provide complete guidance on any online university, course, or specialization. After finalizing your course and university, if you take admission through College Vidya, you will have the benefit of exploring a range of post-admission services that would not be there if you directly connect with the university. These services include not only technical assistance but also placement support, industry networking, Jobs and internship opportunities, and CV Community. All of these facilities transform the entire meaning of online learning which was thought of as an isolated learning format for a long time.
Conclusion
Choosing an online MBA or Executive MBA program is completely one’s own decision. It depends on their financial background, academic qualifications, and the need for this upskilling course in their profession. After getting equipped with all the major differences between these two as mentioned in this article, you can now make a wise decision for your career.