MBA or MA: Which Online Graduate Business Degree Is Right for You?

You’re ready to take the next step in your career. Perhaps you want to move into leadership, become more effective in your current role, prepare for a career change, or develop skills that will open up new opportunities. But which online graduate business degree will best help you get there?

While a Master of Business Administration (MBA) may be the most familiar option, it isn’t the only path. Depending on your goals, a Master of Arts (MA) degree focused on communication and organizational leadership or strategic innovation may be a better fit.

As John Delano, Associate Dean for Graduate Programs in Cedarville’s Robert W. Plaster School of Business, explains:

“A common mistake is choosing a degree primarily by its title rather than by the kind of work and leadership challenge the student hopes to pursue. Students should begin with the problems they want to solve and the capabilities they most want to develop.”

Cedarville University offers three online graduate business programs:

• Master of Business Administration (MBA)
• Master of Arts in Communication and Organizational Leadership (MACOL)
• Master of Arts in Strategic Innovation (MASI)

While each program develops a different combination of knowledge and skills, all three are grounded in Cedarville’s distinctly Christian approach to business and leadership, equipping you to pursue professional excellence with integrity, humility, and service.

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What’s the Difference Between an MBA, MACOL, and MASI?

At the simplest level, the three degrees emphasize different dimensions of organizational leadership. An MBA emphasizes broad business management, MACOL emphasizes communication and organizational leadership, and MASI emphasizes innovation and creative problem-solving.

There is intentional overlap. All three programs develop leaders. All three can help you become more effective within an organization. And all three allow you to customize your education around your professional interests.

The primary difference is deciding where you want to develop deeper expertise.

Choose an MBA if You Want Broad Business Expertise

An MBA may be the right choice if you want to understand how the major functions of an organization work together and become better equipped to make sound business decisions.

MBA coursework develops knowledge across areas such as accounting, economics, finance, marketing, management, and strategy. That broad foundation can be especially valuable if you are preparing for management responsibilities that require you to think beyond your current specialty.

For example, you may be an engineer, healthcare professional, marketer, IT professional, or other specialist who understands your area well but now needs a stronger grasp of budgets, strategy, operations, and organizational decision-making. Or you may already work in business and want to deepen your expertise or prepare for greater responsibility.

Cedarville's MBA allows you to develop specialized expertise through concentrations in accounting; business analytics; cybersecurity management; healthcare management; nursing leadership; operations management; and strategic innovation and entrepreneurship.

You can also add an MBA to one of the following graduate degree programs and accelerate your dual-degree completion: Master of Divinity (MDiv); Master of Science in Nursing (MSN); and Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD).

An MBA may be right for you if:

• You want greater confidence working across areas such as finance, strategy, marketing, and operations.
• You have expertise in another field and want to add business and management knowledge.

Choose an MA in Communication and Organizational Leadership (MACOL) if You Want To Lead Through Communication and People

Not every leadership challenge is primarily a business problem. Often, success depends on your ability to understand people, communicate clearly, build effective teams, navigate organizational dynamics, and help others move toward a shared goal.

If those are the skills you want to strengthen, Cedarville's MA in Communication and Organizational Leadership may be a good fit.

Andrew Harris, MACOL Program Director and Associate Professor of Communication at Cedarville, offers another way to understand the distinction:

“While an MBA may prepare someone to lead an organization as CEO, MACOL emphasizes the communication and people-centered leadership skills often associated with a Chief Communications Officer (CCO). MACOL focuses on professional communication, helping students to lead in their organizations by managing the organization message, strengthening teams, and building trust with internal and external publics.”

The MACOL program combines the study of communication with organizational leadership. Its core explores areas such as communication theory and leadership, team dynamics, strategic planning and communication, public opinion, and organizational messaging.

And you don't have to work in a traditional communications role to benefit from those skills. Managers, ministry and nonprofit leaders, healthcare professionals, educators, business professionals, and others regularly lead through communication — whether they are building a team, communicating change, resolving conflict, shaping culture, or helping people understand an organization's direction.

Cedarville's MACOL offers tracks in professional leadership; digital communication and marketing; healthcare management; and social media and cybersecurity management, allowing you to tailor the degree toward your professional goals.

A MACOL may be right for you if:

• You want to become a more effective communicator and leader.
• You want to better understand team and organizational dynamics.
• You are interested in leadership but don't necessarily need the finance, accounting, and operations emphasis of an MBA.

Choose an MA in Strategic Innovation if You Want To Innovate, Create, and Solve Complex Problems

What if the skill you most want to develop is the ability to tackle problems that don't have obvious answers?

Cedarville's MA in Strategic Innovation is designed to develop your ability to recognize opportunities, think creatively, develop solutions, and move ideas toward implementation.

Strategic innovation isn't limited to launching startups or inventing new products. Organizations of all kinds need people who can rethink processes, respond to changing needs, identify new opportunities, and find better ways to serve customers, patients, clients, employees, or communities.

The MASI program develops skills in areas such as design thinking, creative problem-solving, strategic analysis, business modeling, and innovation. You can further customize the degree through concentrations in business analytics and visualization; business innovation; or healthcare innovation.

A MASI may be right for you if:

• You want to become more effective at moving from an idea to an actionable solution.
• You are interested in entrepreneurship or developing new products, services, processes, or experiences.

What if More Than One Program Sounds Right?

If you can see yourself in more than one of these descriptions, that's not unusual. Business, leadership, communication, and innovation aren't isolated from one another in the workplace.

Imagine an organization is introducing a new service:

• An MBA graduate might focus on evaluating market demand, financial viability, and operational requirements.
• A MACOL graduate might focus on communicating the service’s purpose, aligning teams, and building stakeholder trust.
• A MASI graduate might focus on identifying unmet needs, developing possible solutions, and testing and refining the service.

These responsibilities overlap, but each program emphasizes a different part of the work.

Delano encourages students who see potential in more than one program to ask a slightly different question: “Where do I want to grow most?” The answer can help you determine which skills you want at the center of your graduate education.

MBA vs. MA in Communication and Organizational Leadership (MACOL)

An MBA gives you a broad business foundation for understanding and making decisions across an organization. A MACOL focuses more deeply on how communication, people, teams, and organizational dynamics affect your ability to lead.

Consider the kinds of challenges you want to become better equipped to handle.

If you want to evaluate financial information, understand markets, make strategic business decisions, and oversee different organizational functions, the MBA may align more closely with your goals.

If you want to build stronger teams, communicate vision, influence organizational culture, or become more effective at leading through communication, explore the MACOL.

MBA vs. MA in Strategic Innovation (MASI)

In the MBA, innovation is paired with a broad graduate business core. You'll develop knowledge across the major disciplines of business while using your concentration to gain additional expertise in innovation and entrepreneurship.

In the MASI program, innovation itself is the foundation. The program places greater emphasis on the processes and tools used to identify opportunities, understand problems, generate ideas, test solutions, and lead innovation.

MA in Communication and Organizational Leadership (MACOL) vs. MA in Strategic Innovation (MASI)

A communications and organizational leadership graduate degree program examines change largely through the lens of people and communication: How do you communicate effectively? Build strong teams? Shape organizational messages? Influence people and culture?

A strategic innovation graduate degree program approaches change primarily through the lens of problems and opportunities: How do you uncover needs? Generate possibilities? Design solutions? Test ideas? Move innovation toward implementation?

Think about which challenges energize you most. Do you find yourself drawn to improving the way people communicate and work together or to rethinking the way problems are solved and work gets done?

Which Graduate Degree Sounds Most Like You?

If you're still deciding, start with the statement that sounds most like what you want from graduate education:

• “I want to understand business more broadly and become better equipped to make strategic organizational decisions.” Explore the MBA


• “I want to become a stronger communicator and become better at leading, influencing, and developing people.” Explore the MA in Communication and Organizational Leadership


• “I want to become better at identifying opportunities, solving complex problems, and developing innovative solutions.” Explore the MA in Strategic Innovation

These aren't rigid categories, and your goals may cross more than one. Comparing the curricula — and talking through your goals with a graduate enrollment advisor — can help you determine which program gives the greatest emphasis to the skills you most want to develop.

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Why Earn Your Graduate Business Degree at Cedarville?

Whichever path you choose, Cedarville's graduate business programs are designed to help working professionals develop both professional expertise and a distinctly Christian approach to leadership.

Courses are offered 100% online, allowing you to pursue your degree while continuing to meet your professional and personal responsibilities.

You'll learn from experienced faculty who integrate biblical truth with professional preparation and challenge you to consider not only how you can lead effectively but also how you can steward your abilities and influence for the glory of God.

Whether you want to strengthen your business acumen, become a more effective communicator and leader, or develop the ability to innovate and solve complex problems, your graduate education can equip you for greater impact in the work God has called you to do.

Ready to explore your options? Learn more about Cedarville's MBA, MA in Communication and Organizational Leadership, and MA in Strategic Innovation to find the path that best aligns with your goals.

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