Dakota Wesleyan University has been ranked as the #21 online MBA program in the nation, according to a recent report from Fortune.
Fortune collects data from a wide variety of sources: where the leaders of America’s 1,000 biggest companies pursued their MBAs; annual online search volume; previous Fortune rankings; class size; tuition; acceptance, graduation and retention rates; average undergraduate GPA and average number of year’s work experience.
92 qualified business schools were named to the 2024 list. DWU moved from #63 in 2022 to #21 this year. Additionally, the school was ranked #9 nationally for affordability in 2023.
According to DWU MBA professor Dr. Diana Goldammer, “DWU’s MBA is practical, relevant, and applied, on top of being a value in the online MBA space. Our pricing makes us competitive, our completion timeline is attractive to prospective MBA students, and students are using their MBA coursework in their professional settings. Our faculty’s commitment to making the student experience impactful is a major reason we earned this ranking. Their focus is always on the students and what they need to learn and demonstrate to be even more valuable to their organizations after the program.”
DWU’s online MBA program which was started in 2013 has some unique features like no graduate school admission exams required; programs delivered 100% online in 7-week modules; no thesis required and the ability to enter the program with a background in any bachelor’s degree area of study. Students use work experience in a relevant field or a leveling course as a substitute for undergraduate business courses. 44 students graduated in December and May.
Goldammer concluded, “This endorsement from Fortune Magazine indicates that while we might be a smaller, up-and-coming program, we are ranked strongly based on their third-party benchmarks. As the only program from South Dakota in the rankings, professionals nationwide can trust that they can access the quality education the midwest, and DWU specifically, is known for.