Kelley Direct students celebrating an earlier No. 1 ranking in 2022 by the Princeton Review.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – For the fifth consecutive year, the Kelley Direct Online MBA Program is at the top of the Princeton Review’s “Top 50 Online MBA Programs for 2023.”
The Princeton Review ranking, based on student survey and administrator data, follows last week’s news of another No. 1 ranking by U.S. News & World Report for the second consecutive year. It also has been ranked No. 1 twice by Poets & Quants.
Ash Soni
“It’s always great to be recognized for the exceptional programs and experiences we offer our students,” said Ash Soni, interim dean of the Kelley School and The SungKyunKwan Professor. “We were the first top-20 business school to offer an online MBA, and we are still one of the leading schools in this space. That’s a credit to our wonderful professors — who teach in both the online and the Full-Time MBA programs — and to our dedicated staff.”
Will Geoghegan, Kelley Direct Programs chair and clinical associate professor of management and entrepreneurship, said being able to offer the No. 1 online MBA stems from practicing something students are taught – vertical integration.
“As with successful companies, we employ an approach toward delivering a quality educational experience that means every aspect of programming — from career services and instructional design to admissions and the IT help desk — is delivered in house,” Geoghegan said. “This may not sound unique, but in an educational environment increasingly relying on external for-profit partners, it is.
Will Geoghegan
“The student experience is at the core of everything we do. Vertical integration enables us to invest tuition dollars back into the program and our students. We do not outsource, and we are better for it,” he added. “We are nimble and responsive, and we create incredibly unique, valuable experiences for our students. This is why Kelley is consistently ranked No. 1 and why our online graduate programs standout from other top universities.”
Students surveyed by the Princeton Review echoed Geoghegan’s statements. In its profile of Kelley Direct, under the headline, “See what students say,” editors wrote, “Online MBA students agree that IU professors are not ‘anything less than exceptional.’”
One Kelley Direct student was quoted as saying, “There are times when I am actually overwhelmed by how organized my professors are. They are always on top of things, and the quality of teaching is exceptional. They are able to break down concepts using ‘real-world business examples.’”
The Princeton Review today also issued its list of “best on-campus MBA programs,” which included Kelley’s Full-Time MBA Program. Overall, the residential MBA programs weren’t ranked, but Kelley’s was in the top 10 in three categories – third in marketing, sixth for “family friendly” and ninth for “best professors.”