I stumbled across this very new program and couldn't find anything on the forum, so just thought I'd bring it to light - looks pretty good, but 32 weeks makes it quite a stretch. http://www.tepper.cmu.edu/mba/mba-curriculum/mba-programs-coursework/flexmba/index.aspx $118,000 also makes it among the priciest of DL programs... Still cheaper than Cross-Continent MBA at Duke!
I think you'll find these programs with very high prices tend to have a large majority of their students receiving hefty support from their employers. Very few are paying even half of the published tuition rates themselves. Is there an education bubble? Definitely. But these flex/part-time/exec MBA programs aren't driving many of their students into excessive debt.
AU - of course the cost is similar... But I would have thought the university's cost is far less than it would be with a traditional program given no use of lecture rooms, and class sizes can be much larger given the scalability that online classes allow for. Am I mistaken?
These programs are cash cows and the CMU administration knows that a large portion of the applicants are employer funded. They know that they are probably deterring some applicants that have to self-fund, but they've studied their model enough to know that the tuition rate they charge is the one that will generate the most revenue for the school. Beyond that, I would say costs are only slightly less than if the program were delivered on campus. A professor drawing a six figure salary still needs to be allocated to leading the class, graduate assistants to do grading will still be utilized, there are technology expenses to consider versus using a classroom for three hours a week if the program was taught on site.