Master of Business Administration Online
2 years part-time
MBAOL
$4,986 per course (2025 fees) FEE-HELP available
Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Aug, Oct
100% online. Discover more about online study
Leverage your experience and take a new leadership challenge head on
The Adelaide Business School’s MBA is designed by leading academics and infused with real experience from industry experts. You’ll emerge with the skills, insights and practical experience ready for senior leadership role in any sector.
Benefit from a Group of Eight program of studies tailored to the online learner and skills essential to the workforce in 2024. Develop and build your critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making skills while undertaking courses in key business applications including strategic planning and organisational leadership.
The University of Adelaide has partnered with Boundless Learning, a leading global learning company, to deliver these degrees 100% online. The Partnership has been established to deliver the very best experience and learning outcomes to all our students. Students will be awarded a University of Adelaide qualification and these degrees meet the University's highest quality standards.
100% online
Six annual intakes so you can study whenever and wherever it suits your life
Group of Eight membership
We’re a Group of Eight university, a group of leading academic institutions in Australia
Connection to industry
Benefit from networking opportunities, guest lectures and mentorship from industry leaders
Real-world application
Our Research Project course sets you up for real industry experience and success
What to know about our online MBA
- What you’ll learn
- Structure
- Careers
- Flexibility
- Your study experience
- Entry requirements
- Fees & fee assistance
- FAQs
What you’ll learn in our innovative MBA
The Adelaide Business School MBA is a comprehensive, innovative program providing you with the essential combination of theoretical knowledge and practical skills. Build on your real-world experience to successfully navigate dynamic business environments through the development of skills critical to leadership roles.
Skills you’ll develop:
- Critical thinking: looking at organisational challenges rationally and logically, free of any bias, and finding a solution.
- Problem solving: analysing a challenge and organising the implementation of your solution after weighing the pros and cons.
- Decision-making: effective, rational processing resulting in a course of action.
- Strategic planning: clearly defining the goals and objectives of an organisation and how to achieve them.
- Financial management: understanding the role of finance within corporate management, focusing on its goals and functions.
- Organisational leadership: making strategic decisions and motivating team members to achieve organisational objectives.
MBA structure & courses
At the University of Adelaide, your program is taught in six, six-week online teaching periods. This intensive model allows you to focus on one subject at time while graduating quicker than a degree taught in-person.
When it's time to enrol, you'll choose the course you want to kick off your degree with and when – the online teaching period you start in is up to you.
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Leadership and Influencing
MANAGEMT 7123OL
Leadership today involves tackling challenges that demand personal and organisational change, requiring both intellectual and emotional understanding. In this course you’ll explore your own leadership journey, philosophy, and growth areas. Use contemporary models to diagnose challenges, assess team capabilities, and understand workplace culture, gaining essential skills for effective leadership in any environment.
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Accounting and Financial Management
MANAGEMT 7126OL
This course aims to enhance your financial literacy, enabling you to evaluate organisational financial performance effectively. Through the development of your accounting language, learn to interpret financial statements, balance sheets and cash flow reports. You’ll also be introduced to crucial concepts including capital budgeting, and risk-return dynamics, essential for managing finances.
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Marketing for Managers
MANAGEMT 7124OL
Marketing is essential for all businesses, regardless of size or sector, as it involves engaging with customers or clients for revenue. In this course you’ll dive into fundamental marketing principles, including the need for customer orientation, market evaluation, targeting opportunities, consumer behavior, and integrating product decisions with pricing, distribution, and promotion.
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Entrepreneurial Mindset
MANAGEMT 7125OL
Entrepreneurship isn't just about starting new businesses; it involves a range of skills including creative agile thinking, recognising opportunities in competitive markets, problem solving through failure and navigating ambiguity in changing environments. Develop the skills increasingly valued by employers and necessary for success in today's dynamic marketplace, whether in startups, corporations, government, or social enterprises.
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Innovation Management
MANAGEMT 7127OL
This course acknowledges the importance of gaining competitive advantages in today's dynamic business environment, emphasising that innovative enterprises tend to outperform non-innovative ones in terms of growth, financial performance, and employment. The role of innovation leaders is crucial for organisational success, and managing innovation requires managers to effectively translate ideas into actions. The course equips managers with the knowledge and tools necessary to foster innovative behaviours within enterprises, ultimately leading to successful innovation outputs.
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Managing People and Organisations
MANAGEMT 7128OL
Smart processes, structures and a positive workplace culture can amplify your vision as a leader. In this course you’ll examine the key influences and tools to enhance effective management action, focusing on the human factors that are dealt with by managers on a day-to-day basis. Learn how to stay competitive by mobilising and developing staff, making ethical decisions and successfully managing interdependencies.
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Managerial Economics
ECON 7244OL
Enterprises, public-sector organisations and not-for-profits operate in a highly dynamic and often very competitive economic environment, where they must meet organisational goals while constrained by limited resources. Effective managerial decision-making requires a deep and extensive understanding of this environment. Valuable topics for managers in this course include scarcity and opportunity costs; money and finance; the macroeconomic environment; behavioural economics; competition and pricing; strategic decisions; market failure; innovation; globalisation; and the growing significance of ecological sustainability and climate change policy for business.
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Research for Managers
MANAGEMT 7131OL
This course teaches essential tools for leveraging business research in managerial decision-making to minimise uncertainty. It covers basic vs. applied research, highlights the benefits of undertaking research, and demonstrates its role in strategy development. You'll gain the skills and frameworks needed to succeed in a final research project for your MBA.
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Strategic Alignments
MANAGEMT 7129OL
Enterprise success relies on a well-defined strategy where managers link organisational goals, resources, and the business environment to drive higher performance. They play a crucial role in developing and communicating this strategy, ensuring alignment and empowering teams to contribute effectively. This course follows a three-step approach: understanding the environment (what can be done?), selecting actions (what and why?), and implementation (how?).
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Systems Thinking
MANAGEMT 7130OL
Modern challenges require managers to adopt systems thinking, which considers the interconnectedness of finance, economics, markets, people, and nature. Systems thinking focuses on the relationships among system elements and the interactions of the system with its environment, rather than the elements themselves – holistic (integrative) thinking vs analytic (dissective) thinking. In this course, you'll explore how managers can use systems thinking to navigate complex environments and influence outcomes more than they could with linear or mechanistic thinking.
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Research Project Part A & Research Project Part B
MANAGEMT 7133AOL & MANAGEMT 7133BOL
The final research project aims to apply classroom learning in a practical setting by through a supervisor-guided research project based on learnings from the Research for Managers course. Based on a proposal submitted for approval at the conclusion of the Research for Managers course, students collaborate in teams of two to three or individually with supervisors to conduct research, analyse findings, prepare a comprehensive report, and deliver a final presentation.
Where can an MBA take you?
Go anywhere with an MBA from the Adelaide Business School. You’ll gain the future-focused, adaptable skills to successfully lead teams, manage complex projects and drive organisational success. Benefit from a program with a strong, proven connection to industry and a curriculum founded in real-world insights. Take advantage of industry partnerships, guest lectures and networking opportunities with your fellow students and MBA academic staff to enhance the growth of your career.
Equipped with an MBA, you can point your career in the direction of a senior leadership role in any industry or sector, in private companies, government departments or not-for-profit organisations. Career paths to consider upon graduation could include Senior Managers, Business Consultants and Entrepreneurs.
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General Manager
General Managers operate as one of the senior, key decision-makers at an organisation, with responsibility for profit and loss. In Australia, they enjoy an annual average salary of $165,000, with a 9.6% expected job growth over the next five years.
Source: SEEK
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Business Consultant
Business Consultants are responsible for creating strategies for continual business improvement. In Australia, they enjoy an annual average salary of $120,000, with a 32.2% expected job growth of the next five years.
Source: SEEK
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Real students & real opportunities
Geoff Birt, a graduate of the University of Adelaide MBA, discusses his experience and the insights gained from pursuing his degree, while reflecting on how the MBA program equipped him with valuable critical thinking, problem-solving, and leadership skills.
Read how Geoff furthered his career through understanding the importance of networking and continuous learning in business.
True flexibility in a degree that’s 100% online
Tailor your study experience with the University of Adelaide to your own needs. Start when it suits your schedule by choosing one of our six annual intakes and study from wherever you are in the world. Gain a world-class degree from the comfort of your own home.
You’ll study one course each online teaching period, allowing you to focus on a single subject before you move onto the next while balancing your personal and study commitments. Access your dynamic online classroom and all coursework, readings, discussion boards and assessments in one location that works across all your devices.
Learn in a dynamic, personalised online classroom
Benefit from a tailored learning experience and dedicated support throughout your studies while you chase your career goals. In each course during your degree you’ll expand your knowledge in weekly interactive tutorials, participate in drop-in sessions with your tutors and engage with your peers in discussion forums.
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Support throughout your studies
We’re here to support you at each stage of your study journey, from enrolment through to post-graduation. Our team of Student Success Advisors will draw from their wealth of knowledge and maximise your study experience through personalised support via phone and email.
Get assistance on your program, learning support, academic resources and counselling and disability support. Be guided by leading academic instructors in each of your courses who will provide support and feedback, and take advantage of 24/7 tutoring and writing review services in writing, maths, statistics and computer science.
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Learn from industry leaders
In each course you’ll find expert teaching staff and leading faculty members who want to inspire and support you.
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Engage in real-world content
We tailor your classroom to the online learner, teaching each course using short instructional videos, podcasts and real-life case studies all available on-demand.
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Grow your network
Study your MBA alongside like-minded students, with opportunities to network with your fellow students, industry leaders and alumni at each step of your study journey.
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Let us help you with your career development
Be prepared to take the next step in your career equipped with your degree and our complimentary career support. Online resources including interview training, career planning and resume reviews will place you as a strong candidate for your dream role.
Entry requirements for the Master of Business Administration (MBA)
There are several pathways into the online MBA with the University of Adelaide, from academic entry to the successful completion of the Graduate Certificate of Business Administration.
Have a questions about the entry requirements for this program? Get in touch with our team of Enrolment Advisors.
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Academic entry requirements
Collaborative learning is at the core of our online MBA. Activities and exercises will require you to problem solve and draw on real-world business examples. As such, relevant work experience is important for your success.
To be eligible, you need to meet one the following requirements:
- A completed undergraduate bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) and a minimum of 2 years' relevant work experience.
- No degree, completed GMAT with a score of >500 and a minimum of 2 years' relevant work experience.
- A completed university Graduate Certificate in Business Administration.
If you do not meet the above entry requirements, you may be eligible to study our Graduate Certificate in Business Administration.
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English language requirements
In order to meet the English language proficiency requirements for our 100% online postgraduate programs, you must be able to demonstrate that you meet the minimum English Language requirements.
Typically, if English is your first language you will not be required to provide evidence of English language proficiency. You will also not be required to provide evidence of English language proficiency if you are an Australian citizen, Australian Permanent Resident (visa status) or hold a passport from one of the following countries: Canada (English-speaking provinces only), New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
To learn more, visit the English Language Proficiency Requirements for detailed information about these requirements, including acceptable English language tests.
We also recommend that you speak to an Enrolment Advisor to discuss options that are specific to your circumstances. You can schedule a call here.
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Your pathway to the MBA
There are multiple pathways into the MBA. If you don’t meet the entry requirements, the Graduate Certificate in Business Administration could be your ticket to the full master’s.
Fee information & FEE-HELP
The total cost of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) is $59,832 or $4,986 per course (2025 fees).
FEE-HELP
FEE-HELP loans are available to eligible students for all University of Adelaide online programs. You can apply for a HELP loan as part of the enrolment process after you have been offered a place.
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Further fee information
All fees are indicative only. Tuition costs are calculated based on the actual courses the student takes to complete the award. All fees are provided in Australian dollars (AUD).
For Postgraduate programs, the quoted fee is a base fee that is subject to an annual increase for each year of the standard duration of a program.
What are other students asking?
If you can't find the answer to your question in the FAQs list, get in touch with our Enrolment Advisor team.
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Does the MBA have an AACSB accreditation?
The University of Adelaide’s online MBA is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), known worldwide as the longest-standing, most recognised form of specialised accreditation that an institution and its business programs can earn. Accreditation is a voluntary, non-governmental process that includes a rigorous external review of a school's mission, faculty qualifications, curricula, and ability to provide the highest-quality programs.
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What is the MBA research project?
The MBA research project (courses MANAGEMT 7133AOL & MANAGEMT 7133BOL) involves applied research conducted within a workplace and can be completed alone or in teams. Students play a significant role in defining their research project. The project will begin in the Research for Managers course and will have the opportunity to be refined in following courses. Research projects will also be supported by a research mentor who will provide guidance throughout the course.
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Do students have the option to start their research project in their own time, prior to the course commencing?
It is recommended that students do not commence the research project until they get to the research project course. Students can conceptualise their projects prior to starting, however, ethics clearance for collecting primary data must be received before data is collected from participants, otherwise it cannot be used.
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Can students pick an IT-focused project for their MBA research subject?
Yes, students can pick an IT-focused project on any industry.
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Can an MBA student use work experience to gain course credits?
Students may apply for credit on the basis of informal learning (including but not limited to learning gained during work experience, volunteering, internships, or workplace training), however, note that this is normally in conjunction with previous study in order to meet the 80% course equivalence.
Where work experience is a requirement for entry into the program, informal learning is only considered where an applicant has specialised course knowledge (eg. specialised work experience or workplace training combined with an undergraduate degree in a specialised area). Contact an enrolment advisor for more information.
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Can students undertake an MBA without a degree in Australia?
Yes, students can study an MBA without holding a degree in Australia. The University of Adelaide offers an online Graduate Certificate in Business Administration pathway program into its online MBA, for students without prior education. The online Graduate Certificate in Business Administration makes up the first four courses of the online MBA, providing a natural pathway into the MBA.
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If someone wishes to continue onto the MBA from a GCBA, what are the entry requirements for these students?
A pass is all that is required to continue studies from the GCBA to the MBA.
Want more information?
Download our MBA brochure and dive into all of our online Business programs, where an MBA can take you and how online study works.
Globally recognised & accredited
Accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
Accredited by the Accreditation Council for Entrepreneurial and Engaged Universities (ACEEU)
Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) advanced membership
“The MBA gave me wonderful generalist knowledge from a leadership perspective—knowledge that can be applied across multiple industries and beyond the one that I’m currently in.”
Geoff Birt, MBA Online Graduate and banking professional.
What's next?
How do I apply for the MBA?
Apply for the online Master of Business Administration in three easy steps:
- Create your account in our Application Portal
- Upload your supporting documents
- Submit your application and we'll be in touch.
What happens after I submit my application?
Once you submit your application, our Enrolment team will be in touch with two business days to confirm we received your application and advise you of next steps.
Where can I get help with my application?
Our dedicated Enrolment Advisor team are available five days a week to assist you with your enrolment. You can contact them via phone, through email or by booking an appointment.
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