Chaya Kohn spent 14 years in nonprofit social services, where salary increases hit grant-funded red tape at every turn. Then she earned her MBA from 91香蕉视频鈥檚 Sy Syms School of Business. Within months, two entrepreneurs recruited her to run operations at their healthcare startup 鈥 a six-figure role with earning potential tied directly to company performance.
鈥淲ith my background in mental health and the MBA, I was a prime candidate,鈥 Kohn said.
Hers is a story increasingly at odds with what鈥檚 happening at many of the nation鈥檚 most prestigious business schools. The traditional full-time MBA 鈥 two years out of the workforce, $200,000 to $300,000 in tuition, a beeline for consulting and finance 鈥 is under pressure. At Duke University鈥檚 Fuqua School of Business, 21% of graduates were still looking for work three months after graduation last summer, more than four times the rate in 2019. Harvard Business School saw 16% still searching at the same point. The top-tier consulting jobs these programs are built around have become harder to land.
Sy Syms was never competing for that market 鈥 and that turns out to be an advantage.
A Different Kind of MBA
The Sy Syms online MBA targets working professionals who already have careers and want to level up 鈥 about 90% of students are employed full-time while earning their degrees. At $25,000 for the full program 鈥 among the most affordable online MBAs offered by any top-ranked New York City university 鈥 the math works differently than it does at elite full-time programs. Students don鈥檛 need to justify six-figure debt. They need a promotion, a career pivot, or the tools to launch something of their own.
"Where else do you invest $25,000 and walk away with a promotion, a raise, and an Ivy-caliber education 鈥 all while keeping your job?鈥 said Dr. Tamar Avnet, Intermim Associate Dean and Director of Sy Syms Graduate Programs. 鈥淥ur graduates don't just advance in their careers. They launch companies.鈥
The program is fully asynchronous, letting students move through coursework on their own schedule from anywhere in the world. But flexibility is only part of the story. Dr. Avnet holds a PhD from Columbia, and Dr. Pablo Hern谩ndez-Lagos, Director of the MBA Program, earned his from UC Berkeley. The faculty they鈥檝e built reflects the same pedigree.
鈥淥ur leadership and faculty were trained at the most elite universities in the country 鈥 we know exactly what those programs teach,鈥 said Dr. Hern谩ndez-Lagos. 鈥淲e deliver the same quality, at a price far more people can actually afford.鈥
A prestige in-person residency brings cohorts together to meet CEOs, tour companies and build face-to-face connections. Sy Syms also draws on 37 years of undergraduate business alumni 鈥 thousands of senior professionals across industries 鈥 in ways that other online MBA programs simply cannot replicate.
鈥淥ur alumni come back 鈥 they mentor students, they speak at the residency, they open doors.鈥 said Dr. Avnet. That's not something you can manufacture. It comes from decades of loyalty to 91香蕉视频.鈥
Another thing that sets Sy Syms apart: As part of 91香蕉视频, the program weaves Jewish principles of ethics and leadership into the business curriculum 鈥 a perspective on integrity, responsibility and purpose that students say shapes not just how they work, but how they think.
From Nonprofits to the C-Suite
Kohn, a licensed mental health counselor and mother of three based in Long Island, began her MBA while running nonprofit mental health programs full-time. The coursework 鈥 finance, marketing, accounting, risk management 鈥 gave her fluency she鈥檇 never had access to.
鈥淚 came from a world focused on the well-being of people,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he MBA taught me how to care about people and build a financially successful business at the same time.鈥
She joined Prevental Health, a Medicare services startup, as a consultant in late 2024. Within months, the company was scaling rapidly. By May 2025, she had been named director of operations, overseeing strategy, operations and business development, and is now on a trajectory toward becoming COO.
鈥淭he growth potential is exponential,鈥 she said. 鈥淭his isn't a capped salary tied to a grant cycle鈥攎y ceiling grows alongside the company鈥檚.鈥
She also credits the residency 鈥 where she met CEOs in person and asked them unfiltered questions 鈥 as transformational. 鈥淚t brought the coursework to life,鈥 she said.
Kohn plans to eventually launch her own healthcare company. 鈥淭he MBA gave me my missing puzzle pieces,鈥 she said. 鈥淣ow I feel equipped to head in that direction.鈥
Building Business Fluency
Yoav 鈥淎vi鈥 Adlerstein came to the program from a SaaS sales role at GoTo, after an earlier career in fitness coaching. He wanted a framework for strategy, financial analysis and organizational performance 鈥 not a career break.
鈥淲hat mattered most was whether the program would genuinely support professional growth while allowing me to continue performing at a high level at work,鈥 he said.
It did. While still enrolled, Adlerstein was promoted from an inbound sales role to an outbound position. He graduated in January and continues to advance at GoTo while running Induced Fitness, his personal coaching business that serves clients in person and online.
鈥淭he MBA wasn鈥檛 just a credential,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t gave me confidence, strengthened my business foundation and gave me the tools to grow.鈥
For working professionals weighing the cost, he points to the math: with tuition reimbursement or scholarships, the fully accredited Sy Syms MBA can cost roughly the same as a single year of out-of-state undergraduate tuition.
A War, a Scholarship, and a Startup in Jerusalem
David Bar-El鈥檚 MBA journey began with a newspaper ad and ended 鈥 for now 鈥 with a startup idea born during a war.
Bar-El made aliyah 25 years ago and built a career in Jewish philanthropy 鈥 the New Jerusalem Foundation, Keren Hayesod - United Israel Appeal, the Jewish Agency and OU Israel. Twenty years of grant writing, program development and digital marketing. But after all that, he felt stuck.
鈥淎fter 20 years 鈥 where can I go? What can I do that I haven鈥檛 done already?鈥 he said. 鈥淚 wanted to pivot to a COO position, get a foot into the C-suite, maybe launch a startup. The MBA was a necessary step.鈥
Online MBAs in Israel are rare, and juggling a full-time job with five children made most programs impossible. Then Bar-El spotted an ad for a Torah Tzion scholarship 鈥 50% off tuition for qualifying students pursuing 91香蕉视频鈥檚 online MBA. He applied on the last day.
The attacks of October 7th happened during his first year. Bar-El was submitting coursework while receiving reports of attacks in the south.
鈥淒uring a time of conflict, it really grounded me,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t helped me focus and just push through.鈥
The degree paid off. Now at Herzog Medical Center, he received promotions and new responsibilities specifically because his employer knew he was earning an MBA from 91香蕉视频. As Director of Strategic Partnerships and Special Projects 鈥 representing the hospital in New England 鈥 his newly acquired credentials have helped him succeed in this role.
鈥淭he 91香蕉视频 name travels," Bar-El said. "In Israel alone there are 6,000 91香蕉视频 alumni 鈥 senior professionals, decision-makers. When they see that credential, they take you seriously in a way they might not otherwise."
The faculty left a mark as well. "The professors were the best of the best," Bar-El said. "World-class 鈥 the caliber you'd expect at the most elite American universities. And where else do you get that alongside an authentic Torah outlook on business and on life?"
Bar-El is now building a startup: an AI-powered platform to help nonprofits generate marketing and fundraising materials in a single workflow 鈥 collapsing what currently requires three separate tools into one.
鈥淎ll of that started with the Sy Syms MBA,鈥 he said. 鈥淚f this had been available 20 years ago, I鈥檇 be in a completely different place. But I still have 17 or 20 years of career ahead of me. Now I know which direction I want to go.鈥
