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Career-Centric Online MBA Program for Leaders

The Online MBA program from the Raymond A. Mason School of Business imparts essential business knowledge and builds the dynamic mindset necessary to lead in today’s challenging business environment. The program also delivers tangible career outcomes. Our graduates consistently outperform their peers—the average starting salary for new MBA hires in the U.S. is $120,000,² while the average William & Mary Online MBA graduate earns $135,879, positioning them for impressive career advancement.¹

Your William & Mary degree opens doors through the power of the Tribe network—a global community of alumni who support each other across diverse business sectors. While the respected William & Mary name helps get your foot in the door, our specialized Graduate Career Management Center provides personalized support to help online students secure and negotiate job offers.

Throughout the program, you’ll learn to work through complex global problems through the “Wicked Problem” framework. These principles are then applied to real workplace challenges, creating immediate ROI by allowing you to solve business problems relevant to your current role or professional aspirations—often leading to promotions before graduation. It’s no wonder over 93% of our online MBA alumni rate their satisfaction with the online program as “high” or “very high.”¹

Online MBA Program Details

49 credits
≈22 StudentS per Course
12 Courses
7.5 Weeks per Course
1 Weekend Residency
No GMAT or GRE scores required

Online MBA by the Numbers

98%

of alumni would recommend the W&M Online MBA program¹

$135,879

average salary for W&M Online MBA graduates after graduation¹

~80%

of graduates received a raise either during or upon completion of the program¹

18%

average raise among graduates who reported receiving a raise during or after the program¹

Join an Expansive Network and Expand Your Own Success

Online MBA alumni also shared various career outcomes after completing the online program themselves. They reported that they held the following professional titles shortly after graduation:

CEO

President

Senior Director

Business Owner

Vice President

Program Manager

Technical Consultant

Financial Analyst

Cherise Newsome

CHERISE M. NEWSOME

MBA '23 CANDIDATE

VIRGINIA PILOT "TOP FORTY UNDER 40" HONOREE, OCTOBER 2021

“Because I was earning my MBA and learning skills that a vice president would need to be able to work effectively across the organization, I got promoted to Vice President for Communications.”

Microsoft

BMO Harris

Boeing

Accenture

Discover

IBM

Johnson & Johnson

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Pepsi Co

U.S. House of Representatives

Apple, Inc.

Ernst & Young

Amazon

Charles Schwab

Deloitte

Get to Know the Online MBA Experience

Use the three tabs below to review the essential hallmarks of the Online MBA program: the Wicked Problem, the W&M approach to design thinking and our innovative, immersive curriculum.

The Wicked Problem: Your Roadmap to Dynamic Leadership

Threaded throughout your Online MBA program are “wicked problems,” which you will explore in each course.

A wicked problem is defined by the following characteristics:

An unknowable set of potential solutions
No definitive agreement on the nature of the problem itself
No way to know with absolute certainty that a chosen solution is best

By their very nature, wicked problems are best approached through design thinking, as their resistance to clear paths and easy answers demands an approach that seeks neither of those things. Instead, you will work to refine and improve a set of possible solutions, viewing each as a beta test and none as an endpoint.

Apply What You Learn To Your Work—No Waiting!

Don’t wait until graduation to start making an impact on your career and your organization. With the W&M Online MBA curriculum, you can start applying your knowledge of the wicked problem and design thinking to your current work right away.

We found students were able to take this back to the workplace and be a really important change agent in their organizations.

JAMES OLVER

PH.D., ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

Each course of the Online MBA program helps you grow into an adept business leader by adding new skills and knowledge to your management toolkit that you can incorporate into your design thinking mindset, whether they be rooted in finance, marketing, business administration, business analytics or other business disciplines. As you progress through the program, you’ll compile a wicked problem portfolio to track your iterative engagements with your problem. This portfolio is shared with your classmates to provide opportunities for collaborative problem-solving and mutual growth.

This journey concludes with the Revolutionary Leader Practicum in which each Online MBA student delivers a TED-style “Tribe Talk” detailing ways they engaged with their wicked problem across their time in the program. By summarizing the steps you have taken toward unraveling your problem and identifying potential solutions, you’ll demonstrate the growth mindset required to lead with vision, openness and limitless potential.

What Is a Wicked Problem? | William & Mary Online MBA

The wicked problem is great because it taught me to be a problem-finder and problem-solver, which changed my mindset about how I envision business, conduct business and measure the effectiveness of business.

CHERISE NEWSOME

MBA ‘23 CANDIDATE

Six Considerations to Discover, Test and Develop an Idea

Thumbnail of Six Considerations to Discover, Test and Develop an Idea page from Ebook

Get your copy of our free guide, designed to help you work through your own wicked problems. Learn how to more effectively develop and test ideas to find solutions to complex business problems.

Download Now

Design Thinking: Continual Discovery

By choosing the Online MBA at William & Mary, you’re opting to pursue design thinking: an essential element of leadership with a growth mindset. Design thinking is a method of tackling problems that does not presume a solution. It replaces a linear mindset that prioritizes completion over innovation with an iterative approach aimed at constant refinement and open to unexpected discoveries.

We introduce design thinking in the Online MBA program’s first course—Renaissance Manager. Adapted for the modern business world, this tried-and-true framework informs the decisions of effective design thinkers by driving them to:

Approach new challenges with voracious intellectual curiosity
Develop and maintain broad knowledge and interests to transcend limitations
Think systematically and logically to focus on creative, well-reasoned solutions

Face a changing business landscape with confidence and poise as you turn diverse ideas into sound strategy.

When you embrace design thinking as it’s taught throughout the Online MBA curriculum, you’ll build the mental agility to accept new information openly, collaborate generously and innovate perpetually in search of meaningful improvements rather than finite solutions.

Renaissance Manager was a phenomenal way to start the program. I really liked how it addressed the major challenge impacting every business today—disruption

jerry kelly

JERRY K.

MBA ’19

Class Life in the Online MBA Program

William & Mary’s academic calendar offers three unique start dates throughout the year, so you can enroll when the time is right for you and complete the Online MBA in as few as 24 months. Visit our application requirements page to see what you need to get started, and to learn how our commitment to holistic evaluation has inspired us to offer our renowned Online MBA with no GMAT requirement.

All courses are accessed through our engaging online learning platform, which makes it easy for online MBA students to track their assignments, connect with faculty and peers, submit coursework, and view lectures—and all that’s required is an internet-connected computer or a mobile device.

W&M requires some admitted online MBA students complete a quantitative refresher course but also offers it as an option to those who waive from it, www.mbamath.com.

Contact an admissions outreach advisor for more information about this course and to see if you may be eligible to waive this requirement. You can also reach out to an admissions outreach advisor with questions about the online format, financial aid or other questions related to the entire program.

Year 1 Courses

BUAD 5017: Renaissance Manager (4 credits)

This course provides a context for business, historically, functionally, and cross-culturally. It addresses the nature of problems; modes of thinking and inquiry; approaches to problem identification, framing/re-framing, and problem-solving; and approaching problems from multiple, interdisciplinary perspectives.

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BUAD 5107: Financial and Managerial Accounting (4 credits)

This course introduces students to the roles that accounting systems play in various organizations and global markets. Accounting is frequently referred to as “the language of business”, emphasizing its prominent position in both business communications and decision-making. The reports derived from accounting systems are often the primary way that information within organizations – as well as from organizations to various stakeholders – is communicated. Such information provides essential input and serves as a fundamental basis for managerial and stakeholder decisions. At the conclusion of this course, students should understand the primary elements of this language so that they are able to communicate more effectively about important business matters.

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BUAD 5507: Organizational Behavior (4 credits)

Organizational behavior is a field of study that seeks to understand, explain, and improve human behavior. The structure of this course is designed to explore how Renaissance Managers can improve two aspects of human behavior. The first is job performance, or the degree to which employees can perform the behaviors necessary to help the organization reach its goals. The second is organizational commitment, which is the extent of an employee’s loyalty to the present organization rather than seeking employment elsewhere. This course will guide students through a model that seeks to explain both areas of organizational behavior.

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BUAD 5707: Business Analytics (4 credits)

The primary aim of this course is to supply the student with the analytical tools that are needed for success in business. The course covers various tools that are necessary to analyze and understand the implications of collected data, including statistical tools (hypothesis testing,correlation and covariance analysis, probability distributions, simple and multiple regression, forecasting), statistical decision-making, simulation, constrained optimization, and sensitivity emphasized throughout the course.

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BUAD 5607: Operations (4 credits)

To achieve competitive advantage, managers must understand how to design and control products and services, as well as the systems for their delivery. To reach that understanding, this course focuses on issues of planning and control of complex products and services, as well as managing quality and continuous improvement and control of the supply chain.

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BUAD 5947: Global Managerial Economics (4 credits)

This course explores the essential macro- and microeconomic theories and evidence about how markets work and the factors that hinder their execution in an applied, global framework. As part of the course, students will assess the effects of other countries’ differing monetary and fiscal policies in relation to the competitive conditions in various industries. They will also apply demand and cost analysis and industrial structure to frame and answer the questions of optimal pricing, resource allocation, global outsourcing, and competitive strategies.

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Year 2 Courses

BUAD 5307: Finance (4 credits)

This course teaches students about the concepts and tools of valuation, financial and project analysis, financial forecasting, risk and return, cost of capital and mergers and acquisitions.

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BUAD 5407: Marketing (4 credits)

This course will focus on developing the integrated marketing programs that address customer needs, competitive activity, channel and supplier behavior, macro environmental factors, and market evolution. Strong emphasis is placed on assessing the market and developing a responsive marketing mix that includes product policy, pricing, channels of distribution, integrated marketing communications, and support structure.

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BUAD 5227: Integrated Technology (4 credits)

This course is designed to introduce students to basic information technology and digital fluency. Emphasis will be placed on understanding how managers can participate in opportunities to select and successfully implement information technologies in order to promote business strategy. Interactive analytic tools will be used to solve business problems involving various functional areas.

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BUAD 5517: Leadership for the 21st Century (4 credits)

Leadership in the 21^st century extends beyond the traditional topics of culture, networking, change management, and diversity. In a society where technologies are constantly disrupting communication and teams are becoming increasingly global, managers must be able to cope with constant change, messaging and empathy, and the powerful leadership trends that are emerging.

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BUAD 5907: Strategy (4 credits)

This course covers analysis for decision-making at industry, firm, and business levels, concentrating specifically on multi-business firms and global industries. Firm resources and competencies, business and environmental demands, and the sources of competitive advantage are also major points of focus throughout the course, which stresses the practical applications of theory.

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BUAD 5967: Revolutionary Leader Practicum (4 credits)

The Revolutionary Leader Practicum is a supervised business workshop that allows each student to apply the functional and design skills they have learned to the “wicked problem" of their choice. As a final deliverable, students must provide a detailed description of the problem itself, the approach(es) taken to address it, overall results, lessons that were learned, and any next steps.

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Optional Foundations in Business Analytics Certificate Courses

BUAD 512A Probability and Statistics with R (4 credits)

This course introduces the R programming language to teach statistical analysis within a business environment. The course will cover basics of data management and wrangling in R, probability and probability distributions, and statistical techniques including statistical inference, hypothesis testing, analysis of variance and an introduction to regression analysis.

BUAD 512B R Business Modeling with Python (4 credits)

This course covers the use of the Python programming language in the context of modeling business problems. Particular attention is given to learning the power and flexibility of using Python in business settings commonly encountered. The mechanics, syntax and semantics of the language is emphasized. The course includes in-depth coverage of Python data types, control flow, functions, packages, data wrangling, data visualization and matrix manipulation.

BUAD 5112: Competing Through Business Analytics (4 credits)

This course will include a survey of the state-of-the-art in business analytics, exploring how companies use it for competitive advantage, and identifying factors for successful strategic and operational support as business intelligence tools. Topics will include business metrics used for performance measurement and incentives, effective information communication, visualization, process improvement, the development and application of algorithms and ethical implications. The course will also include a series of opportunities for problem-solving using business analytics in different areas of an organization, such as operations, supply chain management, human resources, finance and marketing.

Please note: Course list and sequence are subject to change.

I am extremely surprised with the level of rigor the program entails. During a given week you will have numerous readings, quizzes, individual reflection papers and group project work.

Matt Tabers

MATT TABERS

MBA ’19 CANDIDATE

Follow the Facts

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Get a closer look at courses, program highlights and admissions requirements by downloading our program details guide

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Enrich Your Leadership Development

Every professional can become a leader and every leader can improve. Through the leadership development series from the Raymond A. Mason School of Business, you’ll gain new insight into making an impact through inclusion, strengthening employee engagement, solving big business challenges and cultivating the type of workplace that others will strive to join.

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Give Your Online MBA Degree an Analytics Focus

We recognize that many motivated working professionals today wish to build a set of technical skills that fall outside of our standard Online MBA curriculum’s focus. Likewise, corporate leaders are looking for employees who can work effectively with data to drive key business decisions. For these reasons, we’re excited to offer two options to accommodate student demand for more robust programming and analytics courses.

As an Online MBA student, you may either:

Register for BUAD 512A: Probability and Statistics with R and/or BUAD 512B: Business Modeling with Python from our Online MSBA curriculum to augment your Online MBA with knowledge of these languages
Complement the Online MBA program with our Online Foundations in Business Analytics Certificate to add hands-on technical experience to your leadership skills and leadership toolkit over a three-course (12-credit) curriculum

Both of these options can be integrated seamlessly into your Online MBA program sequence, allowing you to build these additional skills without extending your time to degree. And, with either of these options, you will graduate with a greater understanding of the language of data and be able to turn patterns into actionable insights. Redefine strategies to enhance agility and better drive profits.

Contact an Admissions Outreach Advisor for more information.

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Discover the Value of Cohort Diversity

Our Online MBA cohorts have historically represented more than a hundred undergraduate universities and an impressively diverse student body in terms of ethnicity, career field and professional history. The story these statistics tell is that this program is one in which a variety of voices come together to develop their skills while also contributing to the personal and professional growth of others.

Gain invaluable exposure to a varied group of peers with new and important perspectives, and let their insight help you navigate the challenges and opportunities created by the wicked problems of modern business.

The Who's Who of the Online MBA

A snapshot of the people most likely to be in your cohort:

9

average years of work experience

3.2

average undergraduate GPA (on a 4.0 scale)

32%

U.S. minority

46%

Female

16%

From military background

NOTE: Statistics are based on cumulative self-reported W&M Online MBA Student Profile Data collected from all cohorts between 2020-2024.

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About the Raymond A. Mason School of Business

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Sources

Based on a limited sample of self-reported data from alumni of W&M’s Online MBA program from graduating cohorts between 2015 and 2024
Retrieved on February 26, 2025, from gmac.com/-/media/files/gmac/research/employment-outlook/2024-corporate-recruiters-survey/2024_gmac_crs_report.pdf?rev=43588bfef9a549af9bb00a432a3d7b06