Contact Information:
Dr. John Fizel, Program Director
The Pennsylvania State University
Phone: (814) 898-6527
Fax: (814) 898-6528
Email: dlh164@psu.edu
http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/pub/imba/welcome/elb

Online Degree Programs:
Master of Business Administration

Admission Requirements:

• GMAT scores.
• GPA culled from two official transcripts from each undergraduate and graduate institution attended. Penn State graduates need not submit transcripts.
• Professional work experience after completion of baccalaureate degree.
• Two letters of recommendation (prepared within our online application).
• iMBA program application.
• TOEFL score, if needed.

Tuition:
$849 per credit

Learning Environment for Students:
iMBA courses are offered in a cohort model. Each fall a group of students (the cohort) enter the iMBA and take the same courses at the same time until the program has been completed. A common schedule with the same colleagues generates better discussion and more cohesiveness among peers and also allows better integration of course content within and across terms.

Although most of the program will be completed online, the individual student is never alone. Interaction among students in learning activities is an integral part of the student-centered pedagogy employed in the iMBA program. Group work and cohort interactions are completed through standard distance education communication tools and applications appropriate for business professionals. These include asynchronous methods such as bulletin boards, e-mail, and listservs as well as synchronous methods such as chat and audio conferencing. Ongoing discussions also occur in the iMBA Cyber Forum.

Residency Experiences-Putting Theory into Practice
Two one-week face-to-face residency experiences will enhance the integrative focus of the curriculum. They will be the culminating activities for the third- and eighth-term courses. In the first residency experience the iMBA students work with a prominent U.S. firm and the executives of that firm. Students will integrate financial, organizational, cultural, and strategic themes as they dissect the operations of the firm and provide a perspective on the future operations of the firm. The second residency experience is the capstone requirement, in which the iMBA students will use knowledge and skills attained from all previous courses to develop and present strategic plans to a panel of faculty and business professionals. Guest speakers from business and industry will be a part of each residency experience. Significant time will also be devoted to student-student, student-faculty, and student-business leader interactions. View Residency Videos here.

Faculty:
The courses in the iMBA program are taught by Penn State's full time Graduate School faculty. Penn State's business education faculty are all seasoned veterans of the business world. Decades of experience went into the design of the iMBA program and its courses. As a result, the program focuses on the most relevant topics of study for today's global marketplace. The iMBA's high-quality, cross-functional curriculum includes in-depth analysis of the following key areas:

• leadership
• strategic planning
• customers and markets
• information analysis
• human resource management
• process management

Accomplishments:
Penn State is a pioneer in distance education. It has demonstrated a strong commitment to, and a pioneering attitude toward, distance education since 1892, when the University began to utilize the still-experimental rural free delivery to meet the educational needs of isolated farmers throughout Pennsylvania. That same spirit of innovation and commitment to distance education lives on today through new programs like the iMBA.

The iMBA courses have been designed with the best use of technology in mind. Penn State professors have teamed up with instructional designers, instructional developers, web designers, graphic artists, and editors to develop courses that are more than text or video placed on a web site.

The iMBA program also uses Penn State's nationally recognized support system for online students. All iMBA students have access to resources available to the resident students. You will have access to academic counseling, administrative support, student services, and a technical help desk. You will have access to the thirteenth largest library system in North America. You will be able to search the online catalog and review bibliographic databases as if you were sitting in any Penn State library. Although sitting at home taking iMBA courses, you will never be without help.

Recognition:
Consistently ranked among the top MBA programs in the world.