The STEM-designated online MBA program from Rice Business brings a tight-knit community and data-driven business education from our home in Houston to professionals around the world.
Rice Business is a small school with big ideas. Our online MBA program brings our powerful community and modern business education to professionals across the United States and around the world.
The program consists of 54 credits and can be completed online in 24 months.
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WHY ONLINE
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Our rankings showcase what we do best: empower aspiring leaders with advanced business competencies and personal support to pursue bold ideas and solve today’s biggest challenges—no matter where they’re living and working.
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When you expand your perspective, you expand your potential. The Rice MBA gives you the tools to approach challenges and solve problems differently, and the mindset to identify and seize new opportunities.”
Barbara Bennett, DIRECTOR OF MBA@RICE
Here, you’ll build the confidence to grow and take risks, backed by the support of best-in-class faculty and your fellow ambitious students. We challenge you to embrace your entrepreneurial spirit, boldly pursue innovation to solve complex business problems, elevate your career and create value for your organization.
*While travel to the client’s location is encouraged as part of the Global Field Experience, it is not required.
Make Your Move
Build the core skill set and accomplished network you need to
nourish your creative ideas and advance your career. Join us.
Why Earn a Rice MBA Online?
We’re living in extraordinary times. An increasingly complex world calls for a learning experience that works for everyone—from busy professionals to multitasking parents to military members—while still serving up a top-notch Rice education.
With Rice, business is personal. Designed using extensive research on how online MBA students learn best, our purpose-built digital campus creates a collaborative space to advance your education and connect with accomplished business leaders from around the world.
Here’s what you can expect from our online MBA program:
Meet with faculty members and peers each week for live, face-to-face class sessions over Zoom. Our small class sizes allow for rich discussion and debate, encouraging you to step up and take a leadership role.
Engage with real-world case studies, recorded faculty lectures, and collaborative projects each week—from anywhere, using any connected device.
Connect with peers, faculty and mentors in person during MBA@Rice Residentials on campus and Global Field Experiences in locations around the world. You’ll strengthen your professional network, gain hands-on experience, and collaborate with peers.
With our online MBA you can still enjoy a quality curriculum and access to a diverse community of like-minded professionals. Here’s how online and traditional classes compare.
The MBA from Rice Business empowers you to act on big ideas and tackle complex challenges—giving you the tools to elevate your career, create value across your organization and meet the demands of today and tomorrow.
Our highly customizable curriculum will help develop your understanding of essential business principles such as financial accounting, business analytics, marketing strategy, leadership and finance. You’ll then learn to apply these larger concepts throughout an organization as you hone your skills with your choice of electives.
Rice’s online MBA is designed to meet you where you are. Whether you’re an experienced professional ready to sharpen your leadership edge, or an emerging leader eager to accelerate your trajectory, there’s a pathway for you.
The Experienced Track is for professionals with three or more years of work experience who are ready to deepen their expertise and expand their impact.
The Early Career Track is for high-potential professionals with less than three years of work experience and a strong undergraduate academic background.
The Early Career Track is a structured pathway within the Rice online MBA program—not a separate degree, an easier path or an alternative credential. Like Experienced Track candidates, Early Career Track candidates don’t need to submit GMAT or GRE scores. The Early Career Track is currently only available for the October 2026 cohort.
Early Career Track students begin the program with a dedicated peer cohort, connecting with fellow early-career professionals who are navigating similar transitions and pursuing ambitious goals. From team projects to group discussions and networking, that shared context makes the experience immediately relevant—and positions you to hit the ground running.
Early Career Track students are full members of Rice’s online MBA ecosystem. By year two, they integrate into the broader cohort and earn the same degree as their Experienced Track peers.
Wondering if the Early Career Track is the right fit for you? Connect with an enrollment specialist.
With 13.5 elective credits, you’ve got the flexibility to make the MBA program your own.
You can choose electives that align with your specific interests, go with a general management approach or select one of seven career or industry focus areas:
CORPORATE STRATEGY
CORPORATE FINANCE
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
MARKETING
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
ENERGY
HEALTHCARE
Breadth is key. For this reason, the curriculum at Rice Business is comprehensive. It equips students with a versatile skill set, priming them for leadership roles across diverse industries. However, for those looking to explore specific subjects in greater depth, we offer optional focus areas. For some, it’s a strategic move to stand out in the job market, facilitate a career shift, engage in unique learning experiences or simply follow a passion. There are no additional credit requirements needed.
Explore the curriculum and course structure.
Your Rice Business Network Is Waiting
If you’re ready to take the next step in your business career, reach out today.
Recognized for their achievements in teaching, research and practice, Rice Business faculty members consistently publish groundbreaking business insights while remaining invested in your success, working with students one-on-one to help them explore their own big ideas.
Learn more about program leaders and faculty members below or at Rice Business Wisdom, our online ideas magazine that features clear, quick translations of faculty research that will change the way you think.
10,000+
RICE BUSINESS ALUMNI
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COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
At Rice Business, we are proud of our alumni and their accomplishments across every major industry. As an online MBA student, you will have access to our global alumni community, who regularly connect with current students looking for advice, mentorship or professional opportunities. As a Rice Business graduate, you’ll join a network of 10,000+ alumni while also becoming part of Rice University’s 80,000+ alumni community around the world.
Make Connections.
Transform Your Career.
Learn how the online MBA can open doors for you throughout your career.
Applications to the online MBA program are accepted on a rolling basis, and we evaluate your candidacy based on a variety of elements in addition to your test scores and work experience. This includes your essays, virtual interview, leadership roles, community involvement and career progression.
Learn more about admissions requirements and deadlines.
The final deadline for the October 2026 cohort is August 26, 2026.
We go beyond test scores to identify which applicants are Rice-ready—looking at previous coursework and grades, professional development and certifications, and past and present job experience.
Students who meet the following qualifications are not required to submit a GMAT/GRE score:
A waiver may be considered for other candidates, but you must demonstrate to the committee your ability to handle the rigor of the program by submitting this waiver request.
Waivers are still available on a case-by-case basis for students who do not meet the qualifications above, however a waiver application is required. Please contact your enrollment specialist for more information.
We honor the service of our military students and value the perspective they bring to our MBA classroom.
If you are an active-duty service member, veteran or military spouse or family member, you may be eligible for benefits that can help make your MBA more affordable. Our online MBA is rated in the top 20 online MBA programs for veterans by U.S. News & World Report.7
Based on your individual eligibility, the Post-9/11 GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program are two options to consider. Learn more about the military benefits you can access with Rice’s online MBA.
To determine the value of an MBA, you need to consider what’s important to you in a program—network, career services, electives?—and decide whether a business school delivers. At Rice Business, we’ve designed our online MBA experience around connection, innovation, career support, boldness and flexibility. If you share our vision, you belong here.
The length of an MBA program depends on many factors, including the number of credits and whether you attend full time or part time. You can complete the Rice online MBA program in as few as 24 months, or you can take fewer courses per quadmester to earn your degree in 36 months.
At Rice Business, we’re looking for diverse perspectives, authentic voices and big ambition. The application is your opportunity to show us who you are. To apply to our online MBA, you must have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent from an accredited college or university. Learn more about our application requirements.
Work experience is not always a requirement for earning your MBA online. The online MBA program at Rice offers an Early Career Track, which is ideal for candidates with 0–3 years of work experience. You may be a good candidate for the Early Career Track if you are a recent graduate or an early career professional with a strong undergraduate academic background. Students in this track will join a dedicated cohort of fellow early career professionals for the first year of study before integrating into the experienced online MBA student body.
Testing requirements for MBA programs vary, but the Rice Business online MBA program requires GMAT/GRE scores from the past five years. You may qualify for a GMAT waiver if you have sufficient professional or academic experience, such as seven years of professional full-time work experience or a graduate degree in a quantitative field.
We can’t speak for all employers, but we think it’s safe to say that most hiring managers care more about the quality of the education than the learning modality. With MBA@Rice, courses are created and designed by the same faculty that teach in our other MBA programs. Your diploma will indicate the same degree as the on-campus degree.
Request information about Rice’s online MBA today to lead change in business tomorrow.
Rice Business partners with 2U to support the delivery of this online program. Rice Business has full control over the program, including all core academic functions. Learn more about 2U’s roles and responsibilities.
