Tepper School FlexMBA Applications Reflect Interest in Online Learning From Across North America

PITTSBURGH, April 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The union of online delivery technologies and the world-class MBA curriculum at the Tepper School of Business is attracting interest from New York and Washington D.C. on the East Coast to Silicon Valley in the West- and many places in between.  FlexMBA, the school's new online MBA offering will debut in the fall of 2013 and will offer the same curriculum, faculty and access to services to online students as they would receive on campus as part of the school's traditional full and part time MBA programs.

"The appeal of FlexMBA is that now professionals in any geographic region can pursue a top-level MBA education without relocating, which may otherwise be prohibited by their current job or family situation," said Kelly R. Wilson, executive director of admissions at the Tepper School. "So far, we have received interest or applications from prospective students in 34 different states and we continue to hold information sessions around the country and online webinars to explain the details of the program.

We have also received inquiries from students in Europe and Asia, however, the inaugural program will have a synchronous online class component based on U.S. time zones and the class will meet at locations in North America.  Any student is eligible who can meet the application requirements, access the online coursework and travel to the regular class meetings."

In stark contrast to the MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) model, the Tepper School's FlexMBA creates small class sections of around 20 students and maximizes interaction between these students and with faculty, alumni and students services including coaches from the school's Accelerate Leadership Center and advisors from the career opportunity center. This interaction is fostered by weekly live online classes with Tepper professors and approximately five "access weekends" each year where all of FlexMBA students gather at a Carnegie Mellon campus for forty-eight hours of intense classwork and professional development programs.

"Face-time and personalization are critical components of business education. We will utilize technology to deliver appropriate components of the curriculum and will engage our access weekends to spur group learning and interaction," said Robert Monroe, associate teaching professor and director of the FlexMBA program. "Our online MBA program is far from being just another MOOC offering.  FlexMBA is designed to deliver the same degree requirements along with the same high-level of student experience as our traditional programs."

Online information sessions and application workshops are open to the public and are scheduled as follows (all times are Eastern Daylight Time):

• Monday, April 8: 4-5 p.m.
• Tuesday, April 16: 12-1 p.m.
• Wednesday, May 8: 4-5 p.m.
• Wednesday, May 15: 12-1 p.m.

The application requirements for the Tepper School FlexMBA are the same as for their full and part time programs. Applications for the FlexMBA program will be accepted through June 3, 2013. Additional program information is available at: www.tepper.cmu.edu/flexmba.

About the Tepper School of Business - Founded in 1949, the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University (www.tepper.cmu.edu) is a pioneer in the field of management science and analytical-decision making. The school's notable contributions to the intellectual community include eight Nobel laureates. The school is among those institutions with the highest rate of academic citations in the fields of finance, operations research, organizational behavior and production/operations. The academic offerings of the Tepper School include undergraduate studies in business and economics, graduate studies in business administration and financial engineering, and doctoral studies.

SOURCE Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon