The Association of MBAs (AMBA), an international accreditation organization, has reported a worldwide trend of a 3% increase in part-time MBA students, who now account for 59.5% of MBA students. The part-time MBA program allows one to obtain an MBA while continuing working in one’s job, attending classes at night or on the weekends, and so on. Meanwhile, the full-time MBA offers daytime courses on weekdays, and often requires a decision to leave one’s job to dedicate oneself to obtaining the MBA. This type of program accounts for 23.3% of MBA worldwide. The remaining approximately 17% of students opt for an intermediate method, the so-called “modular”-type MBA. This involves concentrated coursework (study modules) for a period of serval weeks, and is offered several times during a year. The modular courses form the EMBA (executive MBA) programs, which are conducted specifically for busy businesspeople from around the world. This method, however, is seeing a major decline worldwide, because it requires a leave of absence for several weeks from one’s job, meaning that highly specialized workers or company officers are the most suitable candidates for this type of program.

It is time to compare the merits and demerits of the part-time and full-time MBA. Truly, the only benefit of the full-time MBA is its dedication to academic studies. While one can understand why people are attracted to the full-time MBA programs at world-famous business schools, it is a fact that this choice involves an immeasurable risk. Over the past few years, the number of applicants to full-time MBA programs has been declining worldwide, such that certain representative European business schools have already lowered their academic standards for student admission.

So, which do you think is best?