Executive MBA programs have long been viewed as a lightweight alternative to full time university MBA programs, and with good reason. The earliest incarnations of the executive MBA were nothing more than employer training programs with a minimum amount of academic enrichment thrown in for good measure. As the number of respected colleges and universities that offer executive MBA programs in conjunction with corporations expanded, however, the distinction between viable educational opportunities and corporate degree mills has become increasingly apparent.
Today, several executive MBA programs are finding favor with the corporate world, academia and those who wish to develop themselves through a combination of work and education. Executive MBA programs have been lauded in the business world for achieving the best balance between industry specific instruction and general business administration knowledge, which can offer superior acclimation to company standards for postgraduate students. While executive MBA degrees may not have the same impact on potential employers from other industries, they can be beneficial overall. This is an important point of consideration for many executive MBA students, considering the fact that employment trends of the last two decades have shifted toward multiple employers over the course of an individual's working lifetime.
Hard line critics of executive MBA programs have always maintained that any educational platform that envelopes the doctrine of a particular business entity is suspect in regard to its ability to provide instruction that permeates every facet of a field of study. The issue of whether students are being taught the modern practices and principles of business administration or the operating procedures of an organization has been a major area of contention. While there is no doubt that executive MBA programs are heavily influenced by the corporations that support them, they still offer a value to the student providing the classroom instruction is capable of standing on its own.
Executive MBA programs offer the advantage of allowing students to put their newly acquired knowledge to the test in the real world, which is something that can help them retain their knowledge base. When put into practice, business administration concepts take on a new meaning for those who are able to see the results in a more immediate timeframe.
With the cost of graduate school tuition rising uniformly across state and private institutions, executive MBA programs should continue to gain in popularity. The average rate of tuition for executive MBA's is often lower than the tuition for traditional MBA programs, and is often paid in part by the employer.