#45 IE-SMU MBA Admissions Chat with Gregor Halff and Lieven Demeester

Most of the top-ranked business schools in Asia are in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. But what if you can't afford to leave your job or city to pursue your MBA? IE Business School and Singapore Management University (SMU) have teamed up to help such professionals in South East Asia and launched a 10-month blended MBA, which combines residential segments in Singapore and Madrid with weekly online classes and forum discussions.

Most people (including myself) consider "online MBAs" a way for business schools to scale and make more money. But after speaking to Dr. Gregor Halff, Associate Dean of General Management Programs at SMU, and Dr. Lieven Demeester, IE-SMU MBA Academic Director, I learned that students can expect as much - if not more - time spent with professors than in a traditional face-to-face MBA format. Gregor calls this small-group learning supported by technology; the expected class size is 30 students.

Graduates are awarded a joint-degree from IE and SMU and get access to both schools' alumni networks and career services. At 74,900 SGD, the tuition is 20% more than SMU's MBA program, but also 30% less than IE's MBA program. Students take 18 core courses, 3 courses focused on management in Asia, and must complete a real-world 10-month consulting project with teammates.

Listen on for the insider's scoop on this new program...

Darren's take: this blended program is ideal for professionals in SE Asia who a) don't want to leave their job and b) want get a high-touch, top-tier joint MBA degree in just 10 months.