10 differences between Distance MBA and Full Time MBA

Full-time MBA or Distance MBA; it is a tough decision to make. Many students and experienced professionals face this question after deciding to pursue MBA. Let us understand the main difference between Distance MBA and Full-time MBA first.

Distance MBA, as the name suggests, is taught or held through virtual mode. Videos, emails, and post are some of the mediums through which distance MBA is taught. Whereas full-time MBA entails a physical aspect to it where the lectures are held in a classroom and there is direct contact between the students and the faculty. Moreover, they are other on-campus facilities available to them as well. They can even participate in other non-academic activities like sports, elocution, quizzes, competitions, etc.

We have listed 10 differences between Distance MBA and Full-time MBA in the table below, for you to make an informed choice.

No.	Characteristic	Distance MBA	Full-Time MBA
1	Delivery of Program	Online. Some institutes send across study material through post.	Classroom study with a tight and fixed schedule is the mode of program delivery in a full-time MBA program.
2	Curriculum	There is a crisp and concise curriculum in Distance MBA.	Theory and Practical are both comprehensive in a 2-year full-time MBA program.
3	Principles of Teaching	There is a lot of flexibility in terms of exam schedule, selection of venue and online submission of assignments.	There is a very tight and strict schedule for assignment submission, exam dates and class participation.
4	Duration	A distance MBA program could range from anywhere between 1-3 years with a good 1-2 years to complete the course.	The duration of a full-time MBA program is 2 years.
5	Fees	Fee is anywhere between Rs. 20000 to Rs. 1 lakh, which is much lesser than a full-time MBA program.	Comparatively, a full-time MBA program is quite expensive and can range anywhere between Rs. 14 to 30 lakh depending on the institute.
6	Intake Process	No fixed time period to seek admission into a Distance MBA program.	Since the number of seats is fixed, there is a lot of competition to get a seat in a full-time MBA program.
7	Admission Process	The admission process for Distance MBA is much simpler and user friendly since a lot of applicants come in for admission owing to them being working professionals.	A complex and elaborate admission process is established to secure admission in full-time MBA. Entrance Exam, Group Discussion and Personal Interview are some of the rounds one has to go through to get selected in a full-time MBA program.
8	Exposure	There is no industrial or field visit involved in Distance MBA so the learning is restricted in the terms of exposure.	Industrial visits, factory visits, field visits are an important part of a full-time MBA program and is part of the curriculum.
9	Placement	There is no placement process involved in distance MBA and job search and job change needs to be done on your own.	A placement process is conducted at the end of each final academic year and students have the opportunity to get hired in the best of companies tied-up with the program.
10	Networking	Since it is online, there is no interaction between the students and faculty or even between the students themselves.	There is continuous interaction between the students and faculty hence networking takes place on a large scale with students, guest faculty and other members which is an advantage.