Bobbi Dock, a laboratory manager at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota and student in the executive MBA program at Saint Mary’s University, says the online tools really enhance the program. “I like it as a supplement to my in-class experience,” she says. “Accessing Blackboard allows my education to continue far beyond the classroom with the opportunity for discussion threads, educational videos, corresponding with instructors and other classmates, and providing access to all course material, assignments, and practice quizzes.”

University of Phoenix students use rEsource software to access e-books, which can include only the chapters that are relevant to a particular class, and are easily updated as new information becomes available. Many education publishers now release e-books formatted to work with online learning software.

User-friendly online tools make learning possible for more people—supplementing and enhancing the more familiar educational models. “Most people ultimately want real classroom experience,” says St. Thomas’s Brennan. “It’s more a matter of how much and when and on what kind of projects.”



Executive MBA Council Offers Overview

The number of employers providing reimbursement for MBA tuition has gone down, says Maury Kalnitz, managing director of The Executive MBA Council, which is based in Orange, California. The council has more than 200 member institutions worldwide that offer more than 300 programs.

Full employer reimbursement has dropped from 40 percent in 2003 to 35 percent in 2005. “Many students want to feel flexibility once they’ve completed the program,” Kalnitz says. Students don’t want to feel tied down to a company upon completing their degree, but companies benefit from the education employees receive in the program, he adds.

Students are paying for their MBAs by taking out student loans, private loans, and paying out of pocket, according to the Council’s 2005 program survey. And tuition prices continue to climb even as the number of executive MBA programs increases. “Tuition is a function of a lot of things, not to mention the cost of doing business,” Kalnitz says.

Globalization is clearly influencing executive education as demonstrated by the explosion of MBA programs in Eastern Europe and China. Some schools add value by creating joint programs or emphasizing an international focus. Kalnitz also notes an increase in modular programs consisting of online coursework and blocks of face-to-face contact.

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