It has been said the best way to learn a foreign language is to immerse yourself in the culture where that language is spoken. Although textbooks and online materials can be useful resources for gaining knowledge and comprehension, there is no substitute for the advantages that experiential living allows for the language student. A similar philosophy has been utilized by some of the best business schools in the country when it comes to properly training students for careers in international business. While some students seeking fully online degrees may not be able to take advantage of some networking opportunities that a face-to-face classroom setting offers, business students desiring to build a career in international business may miss out on certain valuable lessons if not exposed to business at the global level. Below are some of the very best online MBA programs in International Business in the nation that offer coursework and residencies in foreign countries to give their students a richer experience of global business.
The F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College offers international business students a Blended Learning Master’s of Business Administration with a focus in Global Management. This program offers students the best of both worlds with the convenience and flexibility of an online MBA with the networking opportunities and connectedness that an on campus, cohort-based education can provide. While the degree will typically run students through 20 hours of online coursework each week, short residencies taking place over the weekend on campus are featured every seven weeks throughout the program. Priced at $1,853 per credit hour the total tuition rate of this 46-credit hour program is $87,025. Students can complete this degree in as few as 21 months. “By combining nine credits of course work with an experiential component to broaden the understanding of global management, students interested in internationally active firms will achieve depth in a skill area – such as marketing or finance – and acquire a global mindset.” Three credits of this program can be satisfied by the student choosing the Study Abroad elective.
Another highly-accredited online MBA with a specialization in International Business is featured at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs’ College of Business. This 36-credit hour program includes such concentration courses as Managing in Global Markets, International Financial Management, International Marketing & Export Management, Regional Business Environment Europe, and Regional Business Environment Asia. The two courses of Regional Business Environment are short tear study abroad programs designed to give students hands-on training in the concepts and strategies of international markets. This program features three start times each year and allows students to complete all coursework in as few as 18 months. This 36-credit hour program features a total tuition rate of $28,428.
One of the nation’s most prestigious MBA program’s is the online Global Executive Master’s of Business Administration offered at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. This 17-month program is divided between six terms: the first two terms involve residencies at Duke’s campus in Durham, North Carolina, while the next three terms are international study-abroad opportunities in locations like Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. These terms will immerse the student in intensive collaboration opportunities allowing the student to form and sharpen their leadership skills in a different economic culture. Priced at $158,000, this program is bolstered by the business school’s excellent business accreditation through the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
