????如果你對在線MBA學位感興趣，你會發現如今有一些高質量的在線MBA項目可供申請，而且雇主們也比以前要更能接受網絡教育學歷。事實上，許多非營利大學也已經開始進軍在線教育，并從曾經開拓在線教育市場的營利性教育機構手中奪取市場份額。盡管目前麥肯錫（McKinsey & Co.）和高盛（Goldman Sachs）等大公司還沒有招聘持有在線MBA學位的學員，但是這一天可能也不遠了。

獲得公信力

????“越來越多的人開始接受將網絡學位作為在校全日制學位的合理替代品，”咨詢公司巴特農集團（Parthenon Group）教育業務合伙人哈文?拉德說。“許多公司的人力資源部門并不在意這兩者的區別。”他的合伙人羅伯特?萊特爾補充說：“專業服務型公司開始放心聘用網校畢業生只是一個時間問題。”

????總體來說，在線教育的公信力正與日俱增。哈佛大學（Harvard）、斯坦福大學和麻省理工學院（MIT）等名校推出大規模開放網絡課程（Massive Open Online Courses，簡稱：MOOCs）的決定肯定也增進了在線教育的公信力。不過，在線MBA教育肯定還是會引起一定爭議。許多教育工作者還是不認可網絡學位的含金量，他們感嘆在線教育所存在的同窗氛圍缺失以及學員之間社交有限等問題。杜克大學福庫商學院（Duke's Fuqua School of Business）開設了一個全球EMBA項目，其中40%的課程在網上完成，但是福庫商學院EMBA項目的主管約翰?加拉格爾堅決否認這個項目是“網絡MBA學位”。他說：“我們的品牌不容輕慢，我們不會使用‘網絡教學’這樣的字眼，也不會將之稱為遠程學習項目。”

????但是，隨著世界頂級名校逐步增開網絡在線課堂，在線學位項目的生源質量也越來越高。“網絡教學時代終于來臨了，”印第安納大學凱萊商學院凱萊直通（Kelley Direct）在線MBA項目的主任菲爾?鮑威爾說，“10年前不愿意選擇在線MBA的學生現在改變主意了。對學位名聲和教學質量最為敏感的學生最終開始接受網絡學歷了。”

????凱南-弗拉格勒商學院在線MBA教育項目——MBA@UNC的執行主管蘇珊?凱茨說，她剛剛錄取的一位在線MBA項目學員來自一所常青藤大學，她在醫學院名列第一名，同時也是整個本科年級的第四名。“她剛剛完成了駐院實習，她認為MBA能夠更快的幫助她實現理想，”凱茨補充說。“以她的簡歷背景，除了名校的MBA學位她都不予考慮。”

????近年來，與日益縮減的傳統全日制MBA課程不同，網絡MBA市場卻在蓬勃發展。自從1999年印第安納大學推出MBA在線教育以來，該校招收的在線MBA學員數量首次超過了傳統全日制MBA項目學生。這所學校過去12個月共招收了245名網絡學員，其中秋季班學員135名，新開春季班學員110名，同比增長了20%。而去年該校傳統全日制MBA秋季班僅錄取了180名學生。

????If you're interested in an online MBA degree these days, you'll find several quality programs and much wider acceptance of online study from employers than ever before. In fact, so many not-for-profit universities have entered the market that they are now taking significant market share away from the for-profit players who pioneered online education years ago. And while McKinsey & Co. and Goldman Sachs (GS) aren't yet recruiting graduates of online MBA programs, that day may not be that far off.

Gaining credibility

????"The acceptance … of online degrees as a legitimate replacement for on-campus degrees is going up," says Haven Ladd, a partner with The Parthenon Group's education practice. "Most HR [human resources] departments really don't care about the differences." Adds his partner, Robert Lytle, "It's only a matter of time before professional service firms get comfortable hiring online graduates."

????Online education in general is gaining credibility. The decision by the likes of Harvard, Stanford, and MIT to offer MOOC (massive open online courses) has certainly helped. But online MBA programs can still rouse controversy, of course. Many educators continue to pooh-pooh the quality of an Internet degree. They bemoan the lack of community and the limited networking of online education. Duke University's Fuqua School, which offers a global executive MBA where 40% of the work is done via Internet, refuses to even acknowledge that it is selling an "online MBA degree." Insists John Gallagher, director of executive MBA programs at Fuqua, "The last thing we want to do is dilute the brand, and so we would never use the word 'online' or call it a distance learning program."

????Yet as schools with global brands and reputations continue to move into the online market, the quality of the students who are opting to earn degrees on the web is increasing as well. "It's finally come of age," believes Phil Powell, the faculty chair of Indiana University's Kelley Direct online MBA program. "Students who wouldn't have done it 10 years ago are willing to do it now. Students who are most sensitive to pedigree and quality have finally embraced the idea."

????Susan Cates, executive director of Kenan-Flagler's MBA@UNC, says she just admitted into the online MBA program an applicant who had been fourth in her undergraduate class at an Ivy League university and first in her medical school class. "She just finished up her residency and thinks an MBA will help her go where she wants to go faster," adds Cates. "With her background, she is not going to do an MBA degree anywhere except a top-tier school."

????Unlike traditional full-time MBA programs, which have been shrinking at many schools in recent years, the online MBA market is booming. Last year, for the first time since 1999, when Indiana launched its online version of the MBA, the school enrolled a larger number of online MBA students than full-time, on-campus students. Indiana enrolled 245 students in the past 12 months, 135 in its fall cohort and 110 in this spring's newest cohort, up 20% from a year ago. That exceeds the 180 students who entered the school's traditional MBA program in the fall.