The University of Wisconsin MBA Consortium — an online MBA program offered by UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse and UW-Oshkosh — was recently ranked the best online MBA program in Wisconsin and the 14th best nationwide by U.S. News & World Report.
In addition to this achievement, the UW MBA Consortium has been placed in the top 20 of the ranking every year since it started in 2015 — making it one of only eight programs to do so.
Jessica Franson, managing director of the UW MBA Consortium, said that behind these consistently high rankings is a program that provides flexibility and quality education to students, with an emphasis on cooperation.
“The word I would use to describe what sets us apart is collaboration,” Franson said. “You find collaboration in so many aspects of the program.”
Franson said that collaboration is evident not only in the name — the UW MBA Consortium signals the partnership between three UW schools — but also in the way the courses are taught and the networking opportunities provided to students.
“In the MBA program, we’ve created a core that combines and integrates three to four disciplines, functional areas or broad skills into a single course,” Franson said. “They’re designed to mirror what students and professionals experience in the real world, which requires a high level of collaboration among faculty in creating, teaching and delivering the curriculum.”
Dr. Frank Braun, the dean of UW-Oshkosh’s College of Business, Arts and Communication, echoed the idea of collaboration across campuses in an article published in January by UWEC.
“Our shared commitment to excellence across institutions is what makes the UW MBA Consortium exceptional,” Braun said in the article. “We take pride in seeing this program recognized across so many respected national rankings, reaffirming its value for students and employers alike.”
Franson said that receiving a top ranking from U.S. News & World Report, as well as from other sources like Poets & Quants, validates the work the consortium does on a daily basis and affirms the positive feedback they have received from students.
“When we try to evaluate if we are on the right track and whether what we are doing is impactful, we look to students to gauge that,” Franson said. “We evaluate if students are feeling like they have a strong return on investment with this program — and they’re consistently telling us that they do.”
Earning an MBA, Franson said, can provide career advancement pathways to students with a variety of undergraduate degrees — not just business.
“Around 75 percent of the students who come to the MBA program do not have an undergraduate degree in business,” Franson said. “This is a really good program for people to pursue because it’s a generalist degree, and it serves students from so many different industries and roles.”
Franson said that an online program like the UW MBA Consortium can provide students with flexibility and convenience, making education more accessible by eliminating potential barriers such as commutes and scheduling conflicts.
“We work with an instructional design team that collaborates with faculty to make sure that the courses we put online are easy to navigate, instructions are clear and the materials are functional,” Franson said. “Knowing they can sit down and get the work done right away helps students maintain the balance they need in the program.”
Garrison can be reached at [email protected].
