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Online MBA Admission Requirements

Edited by Trevor Rupe

Published

An application form on a clipboard beside a pen and a laptop

State a GPA floor

36

of 143 pages read

Most common floor

3.0

at 19 schools

Name a GPA that waives the test

42

a different number entirely

Name prerequisite courses

38

for non-business degrees

No federal file records what a graduate program asks of applicants. IPEDS publishes admission figures for undergraduates and nothing comparable for an MBA, so the only source is each school's own page. This site has read 143 of them, quoted what they say and re-checks those quotes by script, which makes it possible to count the requirements rather than describe them.

The GPA Line, And The Other GPA Line

Two different numbers get called the GPA requirement. One is the floor for admission. The other is the mark that waives the GMAT, and it is usually higher, because it is doing a different job. An article that averages them together tells an applicant the bar is higher than it is. Here they are counted apart: 36 pages state a floor, 42 name a waiver mark.

Stated undergraduate GPA floors for admission
Stated floorSchoolsExample
2.50 8 Lamar University “In order to qualify for Pre-MBA admission, students must have a minimum 2.50 cumulative GPA.”
2.75 7 Fayetteville State University “Minimum undergraduate GPA of 2.75 or higher (or graduate GPA of 3.0 or higher)”
2.85 1 University of Nebraska at Omaha “Unconditional admission may be granted to an applicant whose record includes at least the following: 2.85 junior/senior GPA”
3.00 19 Abilene Christian University “Have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above, probationary status may be granted to applicants with a 2.5 – 2.9 GPA and 2+ years of work experience.”
3.25 1 Clarkson University “An undergraduate GPA of 3.25 or higher from a regionally accredited college, including Clarkson University.”

A page that states no number is not a program with no requirement. It is a program that did not publish one, and there are 107 of those here. The admissions office is the place to settle it, and the school's own page is linked from every card on this site with the date it was read.

The Test, Which Most Of Them Do Not Want

44 of the pages read state that no GMAT or GRE is required. Another 42 keep the requirement and name the GPA that lifts it, which is the arrangement worth reading closely: a waiver has conditions, is applied for, and can be refused. Which programs say which sets them out one by one, with the sentence each one rests on.

What Else The Application Asks For

Counted the same way, and read the same way: this is how many of the 143 pages mention each item, not how many programs require it. A page that does not mention a résumé may still want one.

What online MBA application pages ask for
Asked forPagesWhat it usually means
Foundation or prerequisite courses 38 for applicants without a business degree
Work experience 26 a number of years, or experience in place of a test
A résumé 25 the document the work experience is read from
An essay or statement 22 goals, and why this program
Letters of recommendation 18 usually two, sometimes optional

The first row is the one that costs money. Foundation or prerequisite courses are what a school asks of an applicant whose degree was not in business, and they sit outside the tuition figure this site ranks on, which is the price of the MBA itself. Across the 286 ranked programs that median is $32,265; a foundation sequence is on top of it, in both money and months.

If Your GPA Is Under The Line

9 of the pages describe a route for applicants who do not meet the floor. The words vary, conditional, provisional, probationary, and so do the terms, but the shape is the same: admission on condition, usually a set number of courses at a set grade before full standing. Three of them, in their own words:

Conditional admission is a decision a school makes about one applicant, not a published rule you can plan around. What it does establish is that the floor is not always the end of the conversation, which is worth knowing before ruling a program out on a number.

Common Questions

What GPA do you need for an online MBA?
Of the 143 AACSB-accredited program pages this site has read, 36 state a floor for admission. 19 of them set it at 3.0, and the lowest stated anywhere here is 2.5. A page that names no number is not a page with no requirement; it is a page that did not publish one, and the admissions office is the place to ask.
Can you get into an MBA program with a 2.5 GPA?
At some of these schools, yes. 8 of the pages read state a floor of 2.5, and a further 9 describe conditional or probationary admission, which is a route for applicants below the line: you are admitted on terms, usually a set number of courses at a set grade. It is not the same as meeting the requirement, and it is offered at the school's discretion.
Do online MBA programs require work experience?
26 of the 143 pages mention work experience, but they mean two different things by it: a stated minimum for admission, and experience offered in place of a test score. Neither is universal. Most of these programs are built for people already working, which is a different claim from requiring that they are.
Do you need the GMAT for an online MBA?
Mostly not. 44 of the pages read say outright that no GMAT or GRE is required, and 42 name a GPA that waives the test. Which programs say what is on the no-GMAT article, with the sentence each one rests on.

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