Stanford’s Graduate School of Business recently announced that it would start the autumn quarter online, as Santa Clara County is on California’s COVID watch list. School administrators say they will revisit their decision the week of September 21st. If the county is off the watch list for three consecutive days, indoor classes will be considered.
The announcement is the latest from an elite MBA program planning on a wholly virtual curriculum, rather than a hybrid model. Earlier in the month, University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business also announced that they would start the semester with all-virtual coursework.
MBA programs have been under scrutiny as administrators work through pandemic-related restrictions. With some MBA price tags as high as $200,000, including living expenses, many students are questioning if the virtual experience, without the in-person networking opportunities, is worth the price.
Prior to this month’s announcement, a group of Wharton MBA students petitioned the school for a discount due to their diminished experience. The group’s petition, signed by 532 second-year students or just under 70 percent of the class, included results from a survey of second-year Wharton students. The survey responses from 572 students showed frustration and disappointment in the school’s response to the pandemic and a desire for more communication and collaboration in decision-making processes. Over three-fourths of respondents, 78 percent, were “not excited for the upcoming semester,” and 94 percent said that they felt the value of their MBA experience had been diminished by at least 40 percent. Just 14 percent of respondents felt that the school had incorporated student feedback into its decision-making process for the Fall 2020 semester. The school has responded that it will not discount the tuition this year.
Similarly, 270 MBA students at NYU’s Stern School of Business sent a letter to the administration, asking the school to decrease tuition rather than move forward with a planned 3.5 percent tuition increase. A Stern spokeswoman responded that the tuition will not be amended, but that it has increased MBA scholarships this year and is working to maximize its student experience. The school plans to provide a hybrid learning model.
Even Harvard Business School is feeling the effects. The school, which plans to provide students with a blended model including small-group work and in-person course elements as well as virtual learning, announced this summer that its matriculating class will be about 20 percent smaller than typical due to the number of accepted students who chose to defer their start date.