When Covid forced universities and business schools across South Africa to shut their doors, the Council on Higher Education (CHE) had to make a decision. With in-person MBA classes impossible, it granted emergency concessions for accredited programmes to shift online. That lifeline has now been extended to 2026.
For business schools that have invested in digital platforms, faculty training and new pedagogies, the stakes are high. For students who pay hundreds of thousands of rand for a South African MBA, the question is just as pressing: will their degree be fit for a future where business is increasingly digital, data-driven and globally competitive?
CHE CEO Whitfield Green says it’s not business as usual at any institution. “The context has changed, technology has advanced rapidly. With AI, we have the possibility of individualised responses to students. We’re definitely seeing stirrings across the board.”
The CHE is a statutory quality council, established under the Higher Education Act of 1997. Its higher education quality committee (HEQC) determines which degrees may be accredited. This includes all higher education programmes, not just those offered by business schools.
For their programmes to be accredited, business schools must submit a detailed application covering curriculum design, staffing, resources, pedagogy and assessment. These are reviewed by expert panels, tested against published criteria and ultimately decided on by the HEQC. Institutions may be accredited outright or with conditions that must be resolved before, or soon after, enrolment begins.
The full-time MBA, once the flagship model, now represents the smallest share of the market
The MBA framework was first fully tested more than two decades ago, when the CHE undertook a comprehensive review. Between 2002 and 2004, it assessed all MBA programmes on offer. Most retained their accreditation but several — offered by both local and foreign schools — failed.
Besides quality, the main cause was local relevance. Some foreign schools simply transplanted home-country MBAs to South Africa without considering whether they reflected local business conditions. A number of local schools taught foreign MBAs considered valueless for the same reason.
The CHE has conducted MBA reviews since but none on the same scale. Today, more than 20 MBA programmes exist within universities or registered private higher education entities, all under CHE oversight.
When lockdowns hit in 2020, the CHE had little choice but to allow accredited classroom-based programmes to go online. “Covid meant that institutions transitioned outside of their accredited modality,” says Green. “You couldn’t offer contact during that period, so institutions developed the capabilities and capacity and put infrastructure in place. Most are now signalling that they’d like to retain that.”
FM research shows that South Africa’s MBA market remains dominated by flexible study options, though the balance between distance, part-time and full-time programmes varies widely across schools. Of the 17 institutions surveyed, 10 offer distance MBAs or MBLs with at least some face-to-face contact sessions — a model used by business schools such as the Gordon Institute of Business Science, Henley Business School Africa, Nelson Mandela University, Stellenbosch, Unisa and Wits. Seven institutions provide part-time evening or weekend MBAs, allowing students to combine work and study, while five schools offer fully distance MBAs with no in-person component at all. Only two institutions still run traditional full-time MBAs with daily classes.
The data also underscores the clear dominance of flexible learning formats. In 2025, 1,927 students enrolled in fully online MBAs with no face-to-face component, a 5,100% increase from 2020. A further 1,036 pursued distance programmes with some in-person contact sessions. By contrast, just 548 students opted for part-time MBAs delivered in evening or weekend formats, and a mere 35 enrolled in traditional full-time daily classes. The full-time MBA, once the flagship model, now represents the smallest share of the market.
Temporary concessions have since been renewed multiple times, most recently extended to the end of 2026. By then, the CHE expects to have concluded a formal “themed review” of modes of provision. Institutions that wish to retain blended or fully online MBAs will need to submit self-evaluation reports, which will be assessed by panels. “If the institution does not go through this, the understanding is that they are going to be staying with the accredited [format],” Green says. “They would need to have reverted to that fully in the next year.”
This evolving era presents a dilemma: how to embrace flexibility without letting standards slip. FM research shows that graduation rates are highest in full-time MBAs, with 95% of students finishing on time, while part-time programmes average about 80%. Distance MBAs with some face-to-face support achieve an 81% completion rate. Fully online, no-contact MBAs fare the worst, with just 58% graduating within the required time frame.
Green is clear that quality assurance will not be compromised. “The criteria are there, and institutions would need to show that they meet them.”
Those criteria are extensive. They cover IT infrastructure, staff training, student access to laptops and data, pedagogical design, integrity of assessment and the student learning experience. “It’s not just a technical shift,” says Green. “There’s a whole range of issues: is there a sound pedagogical approach underpinning the modality? How is assessment undertaken? How is the integrity of assessment maintained?”
This mirrors global best practice. International accrediting bodies such as the Association of MBAs in the UK and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business in the US already allow online MBAs — but only if they can prove equivalence to face-to-face programmes in faculty contact, peer learning and outcomes.
South African schools that hold both CHE and international accreditations will be held to the stricter of the two standards. For students, that dual oversight may be reassuring — but only if the CHE finalises a policy that prevents the emergence of substandard or fraudulent online offerings.
Adding to the pressure is the influx of international providers. Henley Business School (UK) has long operated a South African campus with full CHE programme accreditation, but the rise of fully online MBAs means local students can now enrol in programmes delivered from the US, UK, Europe, Asia or South America without leaving home.
If foreign schools want to offer classroom-based MBAs in South Africa, they need CHE accreditation. Online MBAs are another matter. South Africans can sign up directly for a foreign online MBA that has no CHE accreditation. This is not necessarily a problem. Most of the world’s top-ranked and most respected business schools now offer internationally accredited online MBAs.
Perhaps the greatest unknown is how AI will reshape business education
Their programmes may not have direct African relevance or the official CHE seal of approval, but they carry real academic and professional weight in the global business world. As local business schools testify, they are no longer competing with just each other for South African MBA students, but with the rest of the world.
Perhaps the greatest unknown is how AI will reshape business education. “The technology has far outstripped our ability to respond quickly,” Green admits. “We don’t have national responses yet. We don’t have an AI policy or anything around that. Individual institutions are starting to develop their own policies, but the response is uneven.”
The CHE has hosted colloquiums on AI in higher education and launched a research project but has not yet published any policy. Green believes it falls to business schools to take the lead. “It’s about being responsive to context and to change, and undertaking curriculum review and reform so that graduates come out with attributes that are relevant in time, place and space. They must be able to make a contribution to the economy, to society, to the organisations in which they eventually work.”
It is a sober reminder that accreditation, while necessary, is not sufficient. Schools must adapt their content and pedagogy if the MBA is to remain relevant.
“The MBA programmes should be evolving to meet the needs in this changed context — the emphasis on data, technology, AI and building those capabilities in graduates as they go forward,” he says.
Green is adamant that the MBA will endure. “There is prestige associated with holding an MBA. Our MBAs are benchmarked globally, often recognised not just by the CHE but also by international agencies. The competencies developed in the MBA add value to our business sector and provide the skills required for people to operate effectively.”
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