Princeton Review releases list of Top 25 Online MBA Programs

James Madison University has one of the Top 25 Online MBA Programs, according to The Princeton Review.

JMU’s program ranked No. 11 in the ranking released Tuesday, which Princeton Review says is its first annual ranking of business schools offering the best online MBA programs.

The following schools MBA programs ranked in the Top Five: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (No. 1); Indiana University-Bloomington (No. 2); IE University (Madrid); Arizona State University (Tempe, Ariz.) and Temple University (Philadelphia).

The Princeton Review chose the schools based on its surveys in 2014 of 80 business schools offering online MBAs (at which 75 percent or more of their program was online), plus surveys of nearly 2,000 students enrolled in the programs. Data from surveys of graduates of the online MBA programs also were used.

The survey focused on five core areas: academics, selectivity, faculty, technical platforms and career outcomes.

According to the Princeton Review, graduates of JMU’s MBA program “absolutely” feel that it “is a good investment for advancing both their immediate and their continuing career, and expect a sizeable 25 percent jump in their salary after graduation.” The mean base salary of the program’s most recent graduates was $71,000.  

Natick, Mass.-based The Princeton Review is a major test preparation, tutoring and college admission services company. Every year, the company publishes rankings of colleges in dozens of categories on its site and its books.