Digital interconnectivity is rapidly transforming both professional and educational experiences. And this shift is strongly reflected in the online MBA programs offered by the best business schools in the world. At IE University, the future is now.

4 min read

Today’s world is continuously moving and evolving and it’s no longer enough to simply keep up. Technology is revolutionizing business, and remaining agile in our ever-changing business environment requires a new kind of business leader. That is why high-quality education is so important: we need to be willing to constantly adapt and improve ourselves to boost our prospects—no matter where we are in the world and what our current situation might be.

At IE Business School, we’ve developed an agile, fluid and adaptable response to the challenges posed by the fast-paced world of work, a fresh and thoroughly accessible approach that flows naturally, just like modern life. Our approach to learning is liquid, combining online and in-person experiences in order to get the most out of higher education.

Liquid Learning at IE University

Liquid Learning is more than just another online format. It’s a fully integrated learning experience that blends together physical and digital ecosystems, enabling you to pursue a degree with minimal disruption to your professional life. Our programs are designed to adapt to your needs and constraints, removing physical boundaries to your education.

Online Learning: The Future of the Business Schools

We’re integrating immersive technologies into our academic offering through extended reality, an emerging interface which combines the physical and virtual worlds.

This year, we’re set to become one of the first universities in the world to open campuses in multiple metaverses, including Roblox and Descentraland. Using the power of augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality and hologram technologies, our students are able to move seamlessly between virtual and face-to-face classes, with synchronous or asynchronous sessions that you can join in our Madrid classrooms or from anywhere else in the world.

This may sound like science fiction, but at IE Business School, it’s our reality. Our students are immersed in a technologically innovative environment, preparing them to take a leadership role in the modern world’s new digitally transformed landscape.

Our Global Online MBA experience

Take IE Business School’s Global Online MBA, which was created specifically for rising professionals seeking to become effective leaders in today’s complex business context. It’s a world-class program that empowers you to unlock value and boost your prospects regardless of where you’re based.

What’s more, the program is designed so that you never have to put your career on hold. Thanks to its flexibility and adaptability, the Global Online MBA can be completed entirely online.

The program’s online sessions, delivered through our virtual campus, offer you a challenging and highly interactive educational experience.

Online Learning: The Future of the Business Schools

The strategically structured, live faculty-led sessions are designed to fit into your busy schedule. Engage with other global professionals in synchronous and asynchronous sessions in a dynamic educational environment that allows you to interact with a cohort of diverse, international professionals.

Our expert faculty delivers a wide range of simulations, videos, multimedia, exercises, group and individual sessions and high-impact modules with real-world, industry-based case studies within courses that you can attend from wherever there’s an internet connection.

There are weekly virtual discussions that are truly an extension of the traditional classroom experience, allowing you to negotiate and collaborate with your classmates and professors in the same classroom, despite the fact that you’re participating from different parts of the globe.

A blended learning format

Your MBA experience can be greatly enhanced if you opt for a blended format that offers you the best of in-person and online learning. What this means is that your online MBA sessions also include three immersive one-week residential periods, designed to help expand your learning experience and network with peers from all around the world. You start with a kick-off week at our lively Madrid campus, develop key competencies in a second face-to-face period, and then bring everything together in the third. Of course, if you need even more flexibility, you can choose to participate in some—or all—of these residential periods’ activities online instead. It’s always up to you!

And then there’s the Global Immersion Week. This optional face-to-face week is a priceless opportunity for Global Online MBA participants to travel to a different international innovation hub and interact with each other, gaining working knowledge of local business practices through lectures and panel discussions from world-class professionals. Some of the global cities we’ve already visited include San Francisco, São Paulo, Singapore, Miami, Shanghai and Mumbai.

The best online MBA

IE Business School’s flexible approach and dedication to academic excellence and employability are part of what makes the Global Online MBA one of the world’s best online MBA degrees. It’s no surprise that our work and innovation have earned wide recognition in recent years—or that our Global Online MBA has consistently topped rankings across leading publications.

Online Learning: The Future of the Business Schools

The QS World University Rankings have again recognized our Global Online MBA as the world’s best online MBA program—a five-year streak that began back in 2017.

We’re particularly proud of our rank as number one worldwide for Employability and for Faculty & Teaching.

The Financial Times’ Business School Rankings have also listed our program in the world’s top three for the past seven years.

Hear from our alumni

Beyond international rankings, perhaps the best testament to the disruptive value of our Global Online MBA is the testimony of our alumni and of those who are currently studying it. Catch up with Taylee Lewis and find out more about her experience and top tips about the program.