Getting an online MBA sounds attractive in the abstract.
Statistically speaking, executives with a Masters in Business Administration earn more money over their lifetimes than executives without this graduate degree.
But is that really enough information on which you should base a decision to invest a considerable amount of your time and your money over a one to two year period? Outside of the executives at the very highest management levels, sales representatives are often the biggest earners in any corporation.
A person already doing well on a professional sales track would want to think twice about disrupting his or her sales career path for a MBA in marketing or other related field.
That being said the job market for entry and middle level managers has become extremely competitive over the last few years, and perhaps a MBA is becoming a job requirement for executive positions in the most desirable corporations.
A little time spent with the people in your human resources department may help paint a proper picture about corporate expectations in your industry.
Once you have done your homework and have made the determination that a MBA would positively impact your career aspirations you have to decide between a full time residential program or an online MBA program.
So far as the institution granting the degree is concerned there is no difference between a residential MBA and an online MBA.
Future employers would also have no way to know that you earned your MBA online unless you told them.
Residential MBA programs generally cost significantly more than online MBA programs but have the advantage of face-to-face communications with professors, visiting lecturers, and fellow students.
Many say that the real advantage of attending a residential program, especially at a highly ranked institution, is not the academic information, but the relationships and connections that you could forge from a common experience.
Online MBA programs often use the same teaching staff and follow the same curriculum as the offering institutions' residential programs.
The learning opportunity is identical or nearly so as just about every institution offering distance learning employs technology that encourages and facilitates personal communications.
The missing element in distance learning is the relationship building opportunity.
The trade-off benefit with an online MBA is cost, which can be significant even with financial assistance.
Perhaps more importantly, you can get an online MBA and still keep working at your job and living at home.
You could make an impulse decision, and spend as much money buying a new car, but the long term effect on your life will be very different.