Total tuition and fees, with aid subtracted. The number that matters.
Using this calculator's default example, a 36-credit online MBA priced at $1,100 per credit totals $39,600 in tuition, or $42,600 including fees and books before aid, as of 2026. Enter your own numbers below for your actual net cost.
Estimate only. Published tuition rates change yearly; verify with the school.
Total tuition for an online MBA is calculated by multiplying the number of required credits by the cost per credit, then adding fees, technology charges, and books, and subtracting any scholarships or employer reimbursement. Credit requirements typically run 30 to 60 depending on the school, and per-credit pricing ranges from a few hundred dollars at public universities to more than $2,000 at name-brand private schools. In the default example above, 36 credits at $1,100 per credit produces $39,600 in tuition; adding $3,000 in fees and books brings the total to $42,600 before any aid is applied. That net figure, not the advertised per-credit rate, is what you actually pay or borrow to finish the degree. Employer tuition reimbursement, where it applies, can cut thousands from that net figure and is worth confirming with HR before you enroll.
Price the full degree, fees included, in one pass.
Three things shape this number more than most students expect. First, the per-credit price is quoted for a specific cohort; schools can and do raise the by-credit rate for the following year, so a figure you find in a 2026 brochure will not necessarily hold for someone starting in 2027. Second, mandatory fees, technology charges, and books are easy to overlook when you are comparing sticker prices between two schools, and they add real money on top of the credits-times-rate math. In the default example above, $3,000 in fees and books sits on top of $39,600 in tuition, an extra 7.6 percent that a per-credit quote alone would not show you.
Third, aid changes the number that actually matters. A scholarship or an employer reimbursement subtracted after the fact turns a $42,600 total into whatever remains once you take it out, and that remaining figure, not the advertised per-credit rate, is what belongs in the ROI calculator. Run the net cost from this page against your expected raise there rather than against the number on the school's marketing page.
Advertised per-credit rates often exclude fees, technology charges, or books, and never include your specific aid or reimbursement. This calculator adds those in and nets out your aid so the total matches what you would actually owe.
Enter your total credits as 1 and use the flat tuition figure as the cost per credit. Fees and aid still work the same way underneath.
Rarely. Employer plans commonly cap out around $5,250 a year before it becomes taxable to you, so most students still cover a meaningful share out of pocket even with reimbursement.
Feed it into the MBA ROI calculator alongside your expected salary increase to see a payback period and 10-year return.
