March 28, 2025 | Brittney J. Miller
This fall, the University of Tampa will launch an online MBA program geared toward working professionals, complementing its existing in-person programs.
The university has long considered adding an online MBA program, but Amy Harris, director of graduate business programs at the UT Sykes College of Business, says the team has struggled to make the idea compatible with the UT brand of providing high-touch and high-quality studies.
The solution, Harris says, was found by weaving three core components into the online curriculum: leadership development, experiential education and analytical skills.
“Many schools are great at developing content and hard skills, but I also think what makes people successful in their careers are softer skills,” she says. “The program is going to deliver our UT brand but also add convenience.”
The program will be asynchronous, allowing students to learn on their own schedule. Accepted students must have at least two years of relevant full-time work experience, creating a cohort of 20 to 30 working professionals. The University of Tampa will soon offer its first asynchronous online MBA program geared toward working professionals.
Analytics — which is becoming “increasingly important” — will be a key focus, Harris says. Along with marketing, accounting and finance classes, quantitative analysis and applied analytics courses will help students crunch numbers to drive evidence-based decision-making.
“We’re drowning in data. For managers particularly, we’ve collected all these numbers, and it’s like, ‘OK, what do we do?’” she says. “It’s something our regular MBAs don’t have to do.”
All pupils will be paired with an executive coach at the beginning of the program in a leadership course. The university will also offer an optional in-person residency, where students can work on their leadership plans and identify strategies for career success. Learning opportunities will include business visits, interviews with company leaders and simulated scenarios.
“It’s completely different courses than our regular MBA,” Harris says. “The audience is a little bit different, so the courses are a little bit different.”