WS Chronicle

The Wake Forest University School of Business and Kaplan, Inc. today announced a partnership to add a new online MBA program designed to provide flexibility and convenience for working professionals to obtain market-relevant business skills and accelerate their careers. 

The MBA program will be offered fully online with curriculum designed and implemented by Wake Forest’s School of Business faculty and leadership. Kaplan will provide online and technological enablement and analytics to support enrollment and student success. 

This online program will build on the continued success of Wake Forest’s part-time MBA program for working professionals, ranked the No. 1 part-time MBA program in North Carolina and No. 30 nationally by U.S. News & World Report (March 2019). Wake Forest is No. 27 among national universities, and has ranked in the top 30 for over 20 years. 

“By leveraging the latest in digital education tools and techniques, the online learning experiences delivered by our faculty will achieve an industry-leading level of student engagement and learning. This will allow us to uphold our commitment to the highest levels of teaching and faculty-student relationships that continue to be essential elements of our on-campus MBA programs, and are the hallmarks of our School,” said Charles Iacovou, Sisel Distinguished Dean of the Wake Forest School of Business. 

Online students can customize their MBA to match their career plans with optional concentrations that offer highly marketable, in-demand skills in business analytics, finance, and strategy and leadership. Additionally, Wake Forest School of Business faculty will continually enhance and enrich the MBA curriculum, utilizing real-world scenarios to develop market-ready leaders. 

“We’re excited to evolve and expand the opportunity for business professionals to reach their educational goals with the kind of scheduling flexibility designed to help them balance work, life, and school,” said Mark Johnson, assistant dean of MBA programs at Wake Forest. “We partnered with Kaplan because they have the online expertise to help us provide our students with an outstanding learning experience.” 

In Wake Forest’s current two-year, on-campus MBA programs, students can opt between taking classes evenings in Winston-Salem or evenings or Saturdays in Charlotte. The new online program provides the flexibility for students to begin classes at multiple times during the year, with terms starting in September, January, and May, and offer working professionals a chance to study from anywhere at times best suited to their schedules. The first cohort will begin in September 2020. 

Gregory Marino, CEO of Kaplan Higher Education, said, “We’re proud to partner with Wake Forest to provide an online option for its distinguished MBA program that has a record of innovation and achievement. Our teams are excited to engage our best-in-class capabilities to advance the University’s mission and support the delivery of a world-class online educational experience for working professionals.” 

Those interested in Wake Forest’s online MBA program can find details and enrollment information at onlinemba.business.wfu.edu.