This means that I am 2 classes and almost $4k closer to finishing my MBA! NCU's MBA is at your own pace with courses finishing in 12 weeks or less. This means that you could take 2 courses at a time and finish in as long as 60 weeks. There are some courses that take more time than others, depending on your existing knowledge, writing ability, and skills. But I think most students could accelerate a little and finish in less than a year. I am planning on finishing mine in this calendar year which would put me at about 9 months to complete 10 courses. From the catalog. As of August 15, 2011, all new students entering the MBA degree program are automatically enrolled in the 30 credit hour MBA degree program. Students whose MBA degree program was in progress as of August 15th, 2011 will continue to be enrolled in the 36 credit hour degree program. Students currently enrolled in the 36 credit hour MBA program can transfer to the 30 course credit program if they have 9 or more course credit hours needed to complete their MBA program. Graduates of the Northcentral University program must complete 30 business credit hours with exposure to a variety of business disciplines while allowing the student to select a specialization of their interest. The program is designed to prepare students to advance to higher levels of leadership in business. Northcentral University Catalog
Ok newsflash! They dropped the per course charge to $1400 from $1850!!! Master of Business Administration (MBA)* Total Number of Credit Hours Required to Complete Program 30 Number of Courses at 3 credits per course 10 Number of Courses X MBA Course Rate ($1,400) $14,000.00 Total Estimated Cost of the Program $14,000.00
That is certainly pushing the lightness factor (30 cr) for an MBA. That and the price drop makes me wonder if they are having financial issues or student enrollment issues, etc???
Online MBAs sell like hotcakes. This probably makes them more marketable. Personally, I've thought on an off about a graduate degree, with my number one barrier being price. If people out there are like me, they wouldn't even give NCU a second though because there are much less expensive options out there. Having an MBA with less required courses significantly lowers the price, which makes it more marketable to the person who thinks like that.
The challenge is that there are a whole lot of schools selling those hot cakes now. We saw the stats in an earlier thread about the GIGANTIC drop in enrollment at many for-profits. My bet is that if such enrollment drops have not already hit NCU, they see the writing on the wall and realized that they will get hammered unless they come up with some competitive advantage over places like UoP, Kaplan, & Strayer/Devry. My bet is that they realised that price was the best choice.
I was about to say how sad in terms of being so few credits when compared with most Masters programs but then I seem to recall that there were some business PhD's that do not accept the MBA as meeting entrance requirements. I guess it is more of a professional practitioner degree rather than an academic degree (although in that arena Counseling and Social work require 50% more credits plus and ministry requires a Masters that is three times the length). I do not know much about the business field but are there not much more substantial MBA's out there? Are these small MBA programs more of a cash cow "Masters"?
Yes it has lightened up a bit but so have many other offerings. I don't mind at all because I intend to move on to the PhD anyway. Many masters degrees require only 30 CR as well. An MBA is a general degree whereas a masters is specialized. There are hybrids out there though. FSU's masters in MIS is a 33CR masters degree with the flexibility of choosing up to 15CR from the MBA. If you think about it, this is actually lighter in content than an MBA in Management Information Systems at NCU with the 36CR program in which the student takes 18CR of of MIS coursework and 18CR of MBA course work. I doubt that FSU would disallow MS MIS graduates to enroll in their PhD programs.
I have to correct this posting. The courses are now 8 weeks in length so a student taking 2 at a time can finish all 10 courses in 40 weeks if he follows the recommended pace. I have to say that some courses will occupy more time than others. Human resources is currently kicking my butt.
Unlike NCU's program, this program has nine courses of prerequisites: Program Prerequisites Requirements for business background courses: Accounting 2012 and 2013, or 5002 Economics 2001 and 2002, or 5002 Finance 3015 Management 3001 and 3009 Marketing 3001 Quantitative Methods 2010 Requirements can be met by: (a) passing non-credit proficiency examinations in the foundation areas (b) passing CLEP or DSST examinations for undergraduate credit or passing ULM credit examinations in those subjects in which there are no CLEP or DSST examinations available, or (c) completing the background courses with a grade of C or better.
I was strongly considering this same MBA program. I personally have met all of the requirements of that program having graduated with a BSBA degree. This topic has come up before, and the open enrollment nature of the NCU program is well known. For example, you can enroll in the masters in psychology or education degree programs without a bachelors in psychology or education. The problem is that if you have no practical business knowledge you will have a lot of trouble completing the SKS5000 course which covers the common business domains and assesses the learner on each of them with tests and papers.
Bad news. The $1400 per credit MBA pricing was a glitch. I called NCU and asked for my most recent transaction to be updated to the new $1400 per course pricing and showed them the price on the catalog. They said they would get back to me. Now the pricing has been adjusted back to 1850 per course. I received a voicemail telling me that it was an IT glitch and that my personal transaction would be adjusted down to $1400 for one time only. So its a mixed blessing. I am grateful for the price break but would rather see the program priced competitively at 1400 per course.
