Flexibility is the name of the game with online Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs, and that’s no surprise. Much of the education sector is changing its ways, having realised that strict, full-time and even part-time, on-campus study programs are increasingly difficult for students to cope with, particularly those working in full-time jobs and with family commitments.
What is flexibility in online courses?
Fortunately, the term ‘flexibility’ covers a lot of ground with online courses. It refers to where the study is done – in the office before or after work, in a hotel room during a business trip, in a quiet space at home or at a local library, for example.
It also refers to when the learning happens, whether early in the morning, late at night, on weekends or during a lunch break.
Finally, and importantly, flexibility also relates to the amount of time an MBA student might decide to take to complete the powerful degree.
Differences between traditional, accelerated and executive MBA programs
Coursework in a traditional MBA, completed full-time and face-to-face within a specific business school, tends to take 12 to 24 months to complete. Of course, such a program requires physical attendance on campus at specific times.
Accelerated MBA programs can be completed in slightly shorter periods.
Executive MBA programs, targeted to students who are usually in senior-level jobs and have less time to dedicate to study, tend to be taken as part-time and are often on weekends over two to three years. Once again, the face-to-face versions require students to be physically present on campus at certain times.
And so, the online MBA program offers enormous flexibility compared to other methods of achieving the envied accreditation.
Flexibility in online MBA duration
We compare leading Australian universities that provide online MBAs to examine the flexibility of their programs.
The flexibility of duration
Universities that offer full-time online MBA programs claim that students can complete their course in one to two years. Meanwhile, students who enrol in part-time online MBAs offered by some universities can graduate in two years.
This is the case if an MBA student chooses to take the master’s degree program without a break and one unit at a time.
The number of units
All universities break their MBA up into 12 units, with one or more units taken over the course of six to 16 weeks at a time.
The coursework for individual units usually cannot be spread over time. In other words, if you begin a specific unit at a particular time, you are expected to finish that unit at the end of the allocated period.
Breaks can be taken between units
However, enormous flexibility comes with the fact that breaks can be taken between units. If the demands of your work, or life, mean that completing another unit over the next period will be difficult or impossible, it’s fine to delay the next unit and take that period off. Learning can very much be completed at one’s own pace.
Keep in mind that some universities may have upper limits to this flexibility. For example, Victoria University allows MBA students to take no more than six months of break between two units.
Permitted time to complete with breaks
Different universities allow different maximum amount of years to complete their MBA program with breaks, from three to 10 years.
Australian Online MBAs Compared
| University |
Time to complete without a break |
Permitted time to complete with breaks |
Time to complete a unit | Number of units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Cross University |
2 years part-time |
Up to 6 years |
7 weeks | 12 |
| Victoria University | 2 years part-time | Up to 5 years |
7 weeks |
12 |
| Australian Institute of Business | 2 years part-time | Up to 10 years | 8 weeks | 12 |
| Deakin University | 1.5 years full-time | Up to 3 years | 12 weeks | 12 |
| University of Southern Queensland | 1.5 years full-time | Up to 4 years | 8 weeks | 12 |
| Charles Sturt University | 1.5 years full-time | Up to 3 years | 11 weeks | 12 |
| Australian Catholic University | 1-2 years full-time | Up to 5 years | 10 weeks | 12 |
| Torrens University | 1.5 years full-time | Up to 5 years | 12 weeks | 12 |
| Edith Cowan University | 2 years part-time | Up to 6 years | 7 weeks | 12 |
| Griffith University | 1-1.5 years full-time | Up to 5 years | 6 weeks | 12 |
| Murdoch University | 1 year full-time | N/A | 12-14 weeks | 12 |
| CQ University | 1.5 years full-time | Up to 3 years | 16 weeks | 12 |
| University of New South Wales | 2-4 years part-time | Up to 6 years | 12 weeks | 12 |
| University of Sunshine Coast | 1.5 years full-time | Up to 5 years | 16 weeks | 12 |
| Flinders University | 1 year full-time | Up to 10 years | 10 weeks | 12 |
| La Trobe University | 1.5 years full-time | Up to 4 years | 7 weeks | 12 |
| Monash University | 2 years part-time | Up to 5 years | 6 weeks | 12 |
| Kaplan Business School | 2 years full-time | Up to 4 years | 13 weeks | 12 |
| University of Technology Sydney | 2 years part-time | Up to 3 years | 7 weeks | 12 |
| University of Newcastle | 1.5 years full-time | Up to 5 years | 12 weeks | 12 |
If a student who, for whatever reason, has to pull out of the online MBA degree after four units, or eight units, they will typically still receive a qualification.
Most business schools offer a Graduate Certificate of Business Administration for the completion of four specific subjects, and a Graduate Diploma of Business Administration for the completion of eight. If they complete just four more subjects. the student can earn the most valued degree in the business world, which is an MBA.
What can make the duration of an online MBA shorter?
Can a student complete an online MBA in a shorter amount of time? Absolutely.
Taking more than one unit at a time
Business schools don’t typically recommend taking more than one unit at a time online because most students are also working. There is only so much coursework load a student can fit into their life.
However, that student may be taking a career break to study. Or perhaps they are between jobs, taking advantage of an employment downturn to skill themselves up and increase their job opportunities with quality employers, or boosting their knowledge in certain specialisation areas such as entrepreneurship, human resources, financial management, business analytics or international business.
Whatever the reason, it is possible to study more than one unit at a time to reduce the length of an online MBA program.
Seeking credit for specific units
Another way to reduce the duration of the master’s degree is to seek credit for specific units. Such credit may come as a result of the past study, particularly bachelor’s degrees related to finance and business administration. Credit for particular units of coursework might also come from the online student's work experience.
If you’re keen on reducing the length of your chosen online MBA program, be sure to speak with course advisors to find out about studying numerous units at once and course credits.
Is the recommended MBA duration somehow better?
When making decisions around course duration, it is important to appreciate the benefits that come from taking an online MBA in the order it is intended.
There’s the fact that the majority of students will complete their degree in the recommended time and order. This means one core group of students will work together on group projects throughout the program, developing personal bonds and powerful professional networks along the way.
Business vs. graduate schools
Some business schools may design their coursework with units that build knowledge in a specific order, meaning units taken out of order, or long times between units may be detrimental to results. However, many graduate schools are designing stand-alone units, meaning this may not be such an issue.
Finally, there’s the fact that in an increasingly fast-changing technological, business and research environment, stretching out any business degree over five to ten years may not create optimal results. Consider how the world changed between the first and tenth iPhones, and you’ll see that the latest knowledge carries currency.
Ten-year MBA options
Ten-year MBA options do exist. Some institutions, such as the Australian Institute of Business, allow a decade for completion of its online MBA course. The program length of the course – with its eight core units, a capstone unit and three electives, including specialisations in entrepreneurial management, finance, logistics and supply chain management, marketing management and human resource management – is promoted as two to ten years.
What can make an MBA take longer?
Just as there are several ways to shorten the duration of an MBA, sometimes there may be issues that lengthen the degree program too.
Completion of an undergraduate degree, a subject unit or a short course
A university may require the completion of an undergraduate degree, a subject unit or a short course in a particular subject, such as statistics, to enrol in an MBA unit, such as Business Analytics. This is not common but is worth checking with the university to help avoid surprises.
While subject units of most MBA courses are designed to be of similar lengths, some electives may be longer than others at certain universities.
Capstone units
Also worth noting is that sometimes a ‘capstone’ unit taken at the end of an online MBA program can be up to twice the duration of a typical unit. This doesn’t extend the duration of the course, as a capstone typically counts as two units, but the longer unit does have to be taken at once.
Study an MBA that fits your time
Clearly, an online MBA is designed to be as flexible as possible. This flexibility very much includes the duration of the degree.
As you go through various MBA programs from diverse universities in Australia, choose the right provider for your online learning experience. The MBA's course load should fit comfortably into your life. That flexibility is likely a vital ingredient in the recipe for your MBA success.