Choose it if the function you want to lead is HR itself. This is the one occupation on this site where the federal source says some positions require a master's outright rather than prefer one, and a specialist HR master's is the alternative BLS does not rank against the MBA.
A human resources concentration adds talent management, compensation and employment law to the core, for readers aiming at HR leadership. The programs below are the online MBAs whose schools list a human resources concentration with AACSB, ordered by their national score. The score describes the whole
MBA, since neither federal earnings nor AACSB tuition is reported for a single concentration;
the concentration tells you what the program lets you specialize in. Program summaries on the
cards come from each school's own online MBA page.
The Top 10 Online MBA Programs In Human Resources
Rank#1
Score70.6
University of Nebraska
Nebraska MBA
Online MBA in human resources · Lincoln, Nebraska · Public · AACSB business and accounting
Admitted students receive a Strengths-Based Leadership Assessment with one-on-one faculty coaching, and can join an optional one-week summer residency in Lincoln.
Read more about University of Nebraska
The 48-credit-hour program combines 10 core classes (30 hours) with six elective classes (18 hours), taught fully online in 8-week sessions. There are no set login times: students complete weekly assignments on their own schedule, some professors add optional live Zoom sessions that are archived, and most students finish in 18 to 36 months. Students can specialize in areas such as Business Analytics, Finance, HR, Marketing and Supply Chain Management.
A GMAT, GMAT Focus Edition or GRE score is optional, and applicants are strongly encouraged to have at least three years of post-graduate professional experience that includes decision-making responsibilities. Students can apply for fall, spring or summer and show statistics competency through a free online course before the advanced quantitative classes. Applicants name three references, all supervisors or professors, rather than sending letters of recommendation.
Eleven concentration choices include one built for people working in the engineering industry and an HR track that prepares students for the SHRM Assurance of Learning Certificate.
Read more about University of North Alabama
The MBA is delivered 100 percent online with five start dates a year, and students finish in 12 to 18 months full time or 18 to 24 months part time. Everyone completes the 25-credit MBA Core, then adds a concentration or selects three electives (9 credits) to build a custom path.
Admission typically calls for a bachelor's degree or equivalent and a minimum 2.50 GPA, with no GMAT required, although requirements can vary by concentration and professional experience. Up to six semester hours of graduate credit may transfer in, and applicants with six to eight years of business experience can take the Executive concentration.
The online MBA comes in 15 concentrations, including Aerospace Logistics, Native American Leadership and Safety, and requires no GMAT for admission.
Read more about Southeastern Oklahoma State University
The MBA in General Business requires 24 credit hours of core courses and 6 credit hours of specialty courses, chosen as two graduate-level courses at the 5000 level or above. Core coursework covers finance, accounting, economics, behavioral management, research and data analysis, and students build skills through applied business projects and a course covering all aspects of entrepreneurship. The program can be completed in as few as 12 months, and its calendar lets students start soon after applying.
Applicants qualify with a bachelor's degree and a 3.0 GPA overall or in the last 60 semester hours, or with a 2.5 overall GPA (or 2.75 in the last 60 hours) combined with either three years of continuous professional work experience or an application portfolio, each with the program coordinator's approval. The program is built for both business and non-business graduates. Those without a business degree can satisfy prerequisites online through four 1-week leveling courses.
Emphases range from Cybersecurity Management to Environmental Safety and Health, and a Customized emphasis lets students assemble approved graduate courses across areas in this asynchronous MBA.
Read more about University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
The MBA is a 36-credit program that can start in the spring, summer or fall term and move at the student's own pace, and full-time students can finish in as little as three semesters. Courses are asynchronous, with connections built through online assignments and discussion boards.
Many applicants qualify without GMAT/GRE scores: beyond a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution, each must meet one criterion, such as military service, a 3.0 GPA from an AACSB- or ABET-accredited program, or four or more years of professional work experience. The curriculum aims to develop professionals who think globally, behave ethically and lead innovation strategically, using case studies and teamwork.
Every candidate finishes with Policy, Strategy and Goals, a capstone built on real-world cases, and GMAT/GRE waivers extend to holders of CPA, CFA, CFP or FRM certifications.
Read more about Oakland University
Nearly all business faculty are full-time professors. Optional concentrations each require three elective courses (9 credit hours).
A bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution is required, and other routes to a GMAT/GRE waiver include a 3.2 GPA in any major or three years of relevant work experience with a 2.75 GPA. Students in the U.S. on an F1 visa, or seeking one, cannot enroll in the 100% online program.
The 30-unit OMBA culminates in an online, open-book comprehensive exam of seven questions, one per core course, taken alongside the capstone course MGT 5900.
Read more about California State University, Stanislaus
The OMBA is a 30-unit program of ten courses, seven core classes and three electives, followed by a comprehensive exam. Students can finish in as little as 1.5 years or take up to seven years. The three electives can form a concentration in Business Analytics, Digital & Social Media Marketing, Finance, or Human Resource Management, or a General Track that mixes areas.
No GMAT or GRE is required, and the program is built for working professionals and executives. A cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher is required in all courses counted toward the degree, and every requirement, including the comprehensive exam, must be met within seven years of admission.
Students can point the capstone at an issue in their own workplace, an independent research project or a startup proposal, and they also build a personal strategic plan.
Read more about William Paterson University
Courses are 100% online and delivered in an accelerated format with multiple start dates each year, and the MBA can be earned in as few as 12 months. The general track requires 15 credit hours of core courses (including the capstone), three credit hours of concentration courses and 12 credit hours of electives, and concentrations include Environmental, Social, and Governance; Healthcare Economics and Management; and Sales Strategy.
Admission requires an undergraduate degree plus a 3.0 GPA, a 2.75 GPA with two years of professional supervisory experience, or a 2.75 GPA with a qualifying GMAT or GRE score. Students without a B or better in the undergraduate business foundation courses may need up to nine additional credits but can start the MBA core while taking them.
Concentrations extend to Certified Financial Planning, Collaboration Science and Investment Science, and students can earn the MBA online or in person.
Read more about University of Nebraska at Omaha
The MBA requires 33 semester hours, including nine hours of electives drawn from approved MBA courses and departments such as Communication Studies, Political Science and Psychology. Concentrations also include Healthcare Management, Risk Management and Sustainability.
GMAT and GRE scores have not been required since Fall 2021 admission, and unconditional admission can be granted with at least a 2.85 junior/senior GPA. Applicants who lack some foundation courses are admitted provisionally until they complete them with a B or better, and the program is designed for working professionals.
Adding a second area of emphasis takes just three more courses, so graduates can finish with two emphasis areas on the diploma in as little as one extra semester.
Read more about Pittsburg State University
The general online MBA is 30 credit hours, built from seven required core courses and three emphasis courses in 7-week terms, with multiple start dates each year and completion in as few as 12 months. Coursework embeds case methods or simulations, includes an experiential exercise in leadership and team-building, and ends with a capstone in which students benchmark their skills against MBA peers worldwide through a program assessment. Pitt State offers eight areas of emphasis, including Data Science and Information Systems and Healthcare Administration.
Admission follows one of two tracks: a resume showing at least three years of substantial, full-time managerial experience (managing people, financial resources or customer relationships beyond a basic supervisory level), or an undergraduate business degree earned within the last three years. No prerequisite or leveling courses are required regardless of undergraduate major, so students start MBA courses on day one. To remain in the program, students must earn an A or B in their first two online courses.
Thirteen optional concentrations, each requiring three courses, include health care supply chain management and sport and entertainment management.
Read more about Wayne State University
The online M.B.A. can be taken part time or full time, with a mix of live and prerecorded lectures. In the fall and winter terms, accelerated courses on a 4-week/11-week delivery system let students take more classes per semester and shorten the time to the degree.
The curriculum runs through foundation, core and elective courses covering management, leadership, communication, global business, operations and organizational behavior. Concentration options range from accounting systems and digital/business analytics to human resources, international business and marketing.
Online MBA in human resources programs, ranked 11 onward
#
School
State
Tuition
Earnings, year one
Score
National rank
11
Clayton State University
GA
$13,206
$55,163
43.4
196
12
Jacksonville State University
AL
$22,932
$65,786
42.8
199
13
University of North Texas
TX
$37,660
$78,816
42.0
206
14
Slippery Rock University
PA
$18,215
$61,813
41.3
212
15
University of Houston-Clear Lake
TX
$39,684
$73,717
32.6
258
16
Nova Southeastern University
FL
$55,864
$68,274
18.3
282
What Human Resources Managers Earn
BLS reports a median of $149,280 for human resources managers , across 220,660 jobs nationally.
The range is wide: $88,200 at the 10th percentile and $267,810 at the 90th, so the median is a midpoint, not a promise. These figures come from the May 2025 wage survey and describe the occupation, not graduates
of any program. MBA salaries by occupation compares the other
roles MBA graduates move into, and how to become a human resources manager sets out what the job itself asks for.
HR Programs Listed Without A Score
These schools also report a human resources concentration to AACSB but lack one of the two
figures the ranking needs.
Mercer University-Macon and Atlanta CampusesGA$31,860
The State University of New York Polytechnic InstituteNY$51,766
Common Questions About The HR Concentration
What is the best online MBA in human resources?
On this ranking, University of Nebraska, which is 22nd of 286 online MBAs nationally and reports a human resources concentration to AACSB. University of North Alabama and Southeastern Oklahoma State University follow. The scores describe the whole MBA: federal earnings and AACSB tuition figures are not reported for individual concentrations.
What is the cheapest online MBA with a human resources concentration?
Among ranked programs, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, which reports $11,730 in whole-program tuition to AACSB. The median across the 16 ranked programs offering human resources is $26,800.
What can you do with an MBA in human resources?
The most direct federal occupation is human resources managers, where BLS reports a median of $149,280 (May 2025), against $105,770 for general and operations managers. Those are occupation figures; federal data does not report pay by degree or concentration.
Sources For The Online MBA In Human Resources Ranking
Accreditation, online MBA offerings, concentrations and tuition: AACSB's list of accredited schools, retrieved September 21, 2026. Program details on that list are reported to AACSB by each school.
Graduate earnings and debt: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field-of-study file (Most-Recent-Cohorts-Field-of-Study_06102026.zip), business master's in CIP 52.01 and 52.02.
Institution identifiers: IPEDS, used to match each AACSB school to its federal records.