Degrees in business are widely sought, and it should come as no surprise, given the high salaries that often come with a business degree. In 2022, the median salary among graduates from the top 40 business schools ranged from $120,000 a year at the top to $84,000 at the bottom. It is no secret that a business degree can launch a potentially lucrative new career.
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Online Business Colleges Offer a Variety of Degrees
Yet there are many schools to choose from, and it can be hard to tell which school is the right one for you. The first thing to decide is just what kind of business degree you plan to seek from online schools for business. Degree specialties can include such focuses as:
- Business management
- Business administration
- Finance
- Accounting
- Marketing
Degrees in all of these fields are considered business degrees, and those degrees can be sought at various online business programs. To get the most out of an online business degree, you should first decide what your expectations are by determining the program of study that best suits you.
Accreditation of Online Business Schools
The first thing you can do when determining if an online business school is worth attending is to find out whether the school has been accredited by an appropriate agency. Accreditation agencies evaluate the merits of online schools for business and award accreditation based on whether it lives up to established standards. You should be wary of attending any school that is not accredited by at least one agency.
Accrediting bodies include the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, or AACSB. Standards by which the AACSB evaluates various business schools include:
- A school’s mission statement and capacity to follow through with it
- Economical use of available resources
- Rigor of the curriculum
- Research conducted at the school
Contributions to peer-reviewed journals generated by those attending or running the school
Standards among accrediting bodies vary.
Financial Aid
Another consideration to make when thinking of attending an online business school is how you will pay for it – typically one of the first things an applicant thinks of.
You have several options, when attending an online business school, for financial aid, including:
- Veteran’s benefits
- Corporate sponsorships
- Private scholarships
- Student loans
Veteran’s benefits are available to you only if you have served in the U.S. armed forces, so your eligibility for them should be clear enough.
Corporate sponsorships may be offered by human resources departments at existing companies. This kind of support is typically limited to those attending online business schools who work for companies likely to have the resources to offer this support.
Private scholarships are sometimes offered by the online business programs themselves, to their students, on the basis of merit. Prospective students can also apply for student loans from the federal government.