What Can You Do With an MBA in Delaware
In the state of Delaware, which is less than 500 feet from sea level, you’ll find a variety of universities that offer many online MBA programs. Choosing the program that best meets your needs, you’ll soon find yourself with many choices, from international business and management systems, to business analytics and organizational leadership, or even finance.
If an online program best meets your job and family situation, the MBA programs Delaware has include 100% online options. With these, you can attend classes whenever you have time. If money is an issue, ask about financial waivers. With a quick search for scholarships, this may bring the cost of an MBA within your reach.
Should you be geographically distant from an MBA program, online distance learning can enable you to “attend” class without ever commuting to campus or sitting in a physical classroom, from literally anywhere in the country.
Featured Online Programs
Best MBA Programs in Delaware
Delaware State University
Score: 81.33
- Graduate Tuition
- In-State: $6,060
- Out-of-State:$12,876
- Net Price: $11,886
- Acceptance Rate: 55%
- Retention Rate: 75%
- Graduation Rate: 45%
- Total Enrollment: 5,826
- Undergrad Students: 4,996
- Graduate Students: 830
- Grads Salary: $77,000
- Student-to-faculty: 16:1
Goldey-Beacom College
Score: 80.68
- Graduate Tuition
- In-State: $13,050
- Out-of-State:$13,050
- Net Price: $13,454
- Acceptance Rate: 63%
- Retention Rate: 72%
- Graduation Rate: 67%
- Total Enrollment: 1,012
- Undergrad Students: 620
- Graduate Students: 392
- Grads Salary: $74,000
- Student-to-faculty: 17:1
University of Delaware
Score: 79.89
- Graduate Tuition
- In-State: $18,504
- Out-of-State:$18,504
- Net Price: $18,044
- Acceptance Rate: 74%
- Retention Rate: 91%
- Graduation Rate: 80%
- Total Enrollment: 24,039
- Undergrad Students: 19,482
- Graduate Students: 4,557
- Grads Salary: $81,000
- Student-to-faculty: 15:1
Wilmington University
Score: 63.58
- Graduate Tuition
- In-State: $9,432
- Out-of-State:$9,432
- Net Price: $14,089
- Acceptance Rate: 100%
- Retention Rate: 56%
- Graduation Rate: 20%
- Total Enrollment: 14,020
- Undergrad Students: 9,091
- Graduate Students: 4,929
- Grads Salary: $74,000
- Student-to-faculty: 12:1
Why Consider an Online MBA?
Two words: Your career. Let’s say you see yourself occupying a high-level management or even a C-suite position. However, for this to happen, you need to advance past your undergraduate degree by returning to school and earning your MBA. In Delaware, despite it being a relatively small state, you’ll have access to several high-quality, full- and part-time, accredited MBA program options with great rankings.
To start, you’ll take your core business courses, which provide a solid foundation from which you can expand your learning into a chosen concentration.
If you have a career in nursing, medicine, social work, information systems, hospitality, engineering, or biological sciences, then you could earn a dual master’s degree such as an MBA/MS in Hospitality, Restaurant, and Institutional Management for hospitality managers.
Percentage of Students Enrolled By Distance Education
Typical MBA Concentrations
Some Delaware MBA programs offer concentrations to their students based on their desire to deepen their learning and understanding of leadership, human resources, or health administration. These classes allow you to master specific skills that will most benefit you after graduation from your MBA program.
University of Delaware’s Lerner Business & Economics program provides the following concentrations:
- Healthcare Management MBA
In a healthcare concentration, you’ll gain advanced leadership and business skills. You’ll also receive opportunities that allow you to enter this fast-growing industry. The content of the specialization includes healthcare reform, informatics, population-based care, E-service delivery, and patient experience. - Hospitality Business Management MBA
In the hospitality business management concentration, your learning focuses more on the hospitality industry, specifically the functional business areas. Your hospitality coursework will be taught by hospitality faculty. Once you graduate, you’ll be able to find employment as a restaurant manager, hotel manager, marketing strategy consultant, casino manager, director of food and beverage, hospitality information systems manager, or event manager. - Human Resource Management MBA
Goldey-Beacom College’s MBA program has a human resource management concentration. If you already work with an organization, this specialization will help you to expand your knowledge of recruiting, on site mediation, and more. Joining a specialization such as this will also allow networking with others in the field and help you gain insight. - Marketing Management MBA
In the Goldey-Beacom College’s MBA program, a marketing management concentration gives you additional coursework in international marketing and current topics. You’ll also be able to choose an elective in information technology/computer science, which will add credit hours to your total degree but can be very useful if this subject is of interest to you. - Entrepreneurship/Business MBA
Goldey-Beacom College MBA also has an entrepreneurial studies concentration. If launching your own business is one of your plans, this concentration includes everything you need to learn, including innovation and intrapreneurship in larger organizations. Your concentration coursework includes entrepreneurship, creating and leading new ventures, project management, and social entrepreneurship.
Why Accreditation is Important?
Accreditation gives both a university and a business school a positive mark that tells prospective students and their employers that the courses you can take are of an approved, high quality. Any university or business school that applies for accreditation will be required to pass difficult peer-review evaluations, as well as a self-evaluation. Upon approval of an eligibility application, the program begins the initial accreditation phase. This includes self-evaluations, developing an in-depth strategic plan, then the beginning of committee and peer reviews.
Universities and MBA programs can apply for and receive accreditation from more than one organization, such as the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) or the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE).
AACSB accredits MBA programs while ACBSP covers business programs from associate, baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral levels; including MBA programs. IACBE is the newest accrediting agency. Like the ACBSP, the IACBE accredits all levels of business programs. Each accrediting agency operates independently of other accrediting agencies and creates and sets its own standards for determining which programs should receive accreditation.
Regional accreditation is sometimes a more reliable mark of a program’s standards than national accreditation. Several agencies accredit complete institutions of higher learning.
Seven of these agencies that have been recognized by the Department of Education include:
- The Higher Learning Commission
- The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges
- The New England Association of Schools and Colleges
- The Middle States Commission on Higher Education
- The Northwest Accreditation Commission
- The Western Association of Schools and Colleges
- The Southern Association of Schools and Colleges
Though often less important for graduate studies, you should know that attending a non-accredited school will make it more difficult to transfer credits, no matter your GPA, and neither full nor partial federal funding is provided to those institutions that do not have accreditation.
Career and Job Outlook for MBA Graduates
In Delaware, the economy is recovering. Management professionals including general managers, advertising and promotions managers, marketing managers, sales managers, as well as others don’t tend to have much trouble finding work once they have graduated from their MBA programs.
Industries with high levels of employment and pay for managerial occupations are stronger economically. In Delaware alone, managers held almost 19,260 jobs in 2020, which is about 2.7% of industry employment.
While Delaware is a small state geographically, employers are seeking out managerial candidates in good numbers. For instance, accountants and auditors hold a little more than 5,000 jobs throughout the state.
Sales managers do even better. Per 1,000 jobs, almost 2.3 managerial positions go to sales managers. As far as an average hourly wage, they earn $78.93. Annually, they earn around $166,170 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Administrative services managers do nearly as well in terms of employment per 1,000 jobs. They hold 1.8 positions in Delaware. Their average annual wage is a little more than $131,000.
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Public relations managers and fundraising managers do well in Delaware as well. Out of 1,000 jobs, 220 go to managers of these professions. Their average hourly wage is $59.47 and their annual mean wage is $138,210.
And let’s not forget personal financial managers. Per 1,000 jobs, they receive a little more than one offer. Their average hourly wage is $78.93 and their average annual wage is $176,630.
Top Employers in the State by Number of Employees
| Company | Industry | Headquarters City | Number of Employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| DuPont | Chemical Production | Wilmington, DE | 34,000 |
| Delaware State Government | Government | Dover | 16,000 |
| Dover Air Force Base | Military | Dover | 12,000 |
| Christianacare Health System | Healthcare | Wilmington | 10,000 |
| University of Delaware | Education | Newark | 9,000 |
Average Degree Salary Ranges Potential
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual wage for management occupations in Delaware was $147,700 in 2020. Since Delaware is a relatively small state, this figure is important. Several well-known companies such as AstraZeneca, Citi, and DuPont have a presence in Delaware cities, making it easier for MBA graduates to find employment at a managerial level.
- Earnings with Associates - $34,919
- Earnings with Bachelors - $63,759
- Earnings with MBA - $82,544
Careers for Delaware MBA Grads
- Financial Analysts
Financial Analysts make use of client data to develop persuasive reports, to be given to administrators who are responsible for making vital financial decisions. The financial analyst frequently delves through and evaluates cash flow documents, income statements, and balance sheets so they can get an accurate picture about a company’s current financial situation. - Directors of Asset Management
Directors of Asset Management do similar work as Financial Analysts. The asset management director conceives of and develops management strategies that make financial growth possible. They may also lead an asset management team and oversee the monitoring of the conditions of all properties. - Director of Business Development
Director of Business Development for an inpatient hospital. The manager in this position will focus on the development and nurturing of professional relationships with medical and support staff, which includes doctors, discharge planning social workers, individuals responsible for payment, and clinicians in acute care hospitals. This person monitors the work of their liaison and admissions team. - The vice president and risk policy
The vice president and risk policy officer is responsible for helping bank customers to bring their accounts current. If the customer is unable to fully bring their accounts current, they will receive help in resolving their debts. The risk policy officer oversees the Collections Recovery Risk team and ensures that each team member works within the approved strategy of the bank. - The Leadership Development
The Leadership Development Program Manager ensures that the development and execution of early career programs is well managed. This includes a new and recent college and graduate development program for the Airgas company. This person also seeks and identifies opportunities to either establish or formalize processes and requirements for university internship programs.
How to Choose & FAQ's
Your post-MBA career depends heavily on choosing the online MBA program that’s right for your life and current career. If you have just started your business career, then you may want to work for a while longer before you return to school for your MBA. If you’re ready to start right away, make sure you know as much as you can going into the selection process. If you want to move up quickly, you might consider an accelerated degree, which can get you your degree in 12 months; with a part-time program, it can take up to three years to complete your degree.
Start exploring all of the core courses required of every MBA student in each college or university MBA program you consider. Next, look at the concentrations you can choose between. Look at the tuition costs of each program you’re considering. This number will help you determine how much financial aid you’ll need. It’s an investment in your career to go back to school and earn your MBA. If you’re choosing an online MBA program, the GMAT or GRE testing requirement may be waived. Once you have explored each MBA program in Delaware, narrow your choice down and begin the admission process.
- What are your long-term objectives? Write down your professional goals, which may include an industry change or growing beyond your current employment. You may want to advance to an executive position. As you do this, you’re solidifying your goals so that, as you continue thinking about your professional future, you’ll choose appropriate programs. If you’re currently in a field or industry that you plan to stay with, align your long-term planning to finding an MBA that allows you to expand your education and knowledge, so that when you graduate, you may be promoted into a higher management position.
- Should you return to your old school (your alma mater)? While this may not have been as acceptable in years past, today it’s not a bad thing. The previous thinking was that, by returning to your first university, you won’t allow yourself to expand your thinking or learning—but that’s not true these days. Because you’re going to attend online, you may encounter new professors who communicate with you and your fellow students from a much longer distance. Your classmates will be from various backgrounds or even countries! Therefore, you’re going to encounter a much higher level of diversity, even if you go to Old State U.
- What kind of a return on investment do you want? Beginning with your tuition, you should evaluate each school with ROI in mind. Questions to answer include: annual program costs and number of years to complete your program; loss of earnings to you by attending a full-time on-campus program; those elusive “hidden costs,” such as printer paper, to print out the readings or notes; or, you may need a new computer; how long it will take to pay back overall tuition costs and lost salary once you graduate? Do this for each program you’re considering.
- What is the program’s commitment to students? You’re going to be attending virtual classes and juggling work, your family, and any community commitments you may have. You want to find a program that, while focused on academic pursuits, will also provide the different kinds of support you’ll need. If you know that one program offers solid support to traditional students, that support will extend to online students as well. The forms of support you’ll need include academic, career, emotional, and technical. Professors are trained to look for signs that students are struggling. If they find that this is so, they privately approach those students.
- What are the program credentials of each university you’re considering? The most important ones are accreditation and legitimacy of the program. You don’t want to enroll in a program that is of low quality, lacking accreditation. Go to the U.S. Department of Education website and study each school for these credentials. Visit each school’s website and study its accreditation page. These should be prominently placed so they are easy to find. Accreditation through AACSB points to the high quality of the school’s business programs. Next, look for peer reputation among the business faculty.