Hello Everyone, I was taking a drive with my older brother who mentioned he wants to get his MBA. He has been working at a community college for the last 14 years and now the head of finance dept, with a multitude of lateral promotions, which has him managing just about every department. He said everyone who he started with got there Masters and moved on to working at 4-year schools which he ultimately wants. Working at a 4-yr will provide better pay, better longevity to retire there, and so his daughters can get a free or discounted education at that school. The requirement he does not meet for the same position at a 4-year is having a Masters degree. He mentioned sending an application in to Strayer and Phoenix. I cringed once he said Phoenix since I know they have a bad rep and notoriously expensive. He got a little defensive and said well they're online schools I don't have time to go to classes at a BM. I reminded him I am no stranger to online schools lol. I told him there are other options I didn't know much about Strayer but I said don't rush into anything quite yet. Instinctively I wanted to immediately recommend WGU since I got my BS in IT and I liked the entire experience but I know the MBA is a whole different field. I didn't want to mention the great cost and he does it and gets burned in the end and blames me. Has anyone with years of real world experience use the WGU MBA to help them move up into a position they wouldn't be able to get without a MBA? Thank you
No experience with a WGU degree, though I have done course development for them. They target a certain market, they are not junk, but they are not the sweet spot for you brother. There are so many online options from major universities available to him that I have a hard time believing he's done even 10 minutes of search on this. No way should he even consider a for-profit if he wants to move to a four year, especially when he could go to a place like UMass for about $30K or one of these legitimate state universities for far less than UoP: The 10 Cheapest Online MBA Programs for 2015
Although the options are seemingly endless; in that your brother is motivated to move to a four year college /university … he might want to consider selections from this extensive /consolidated ranked /unranked online MBA program listing: Best Online MBA Degree Programs | Online MBA Rankings | US News Note: If the purpose of the MBA is toward a future university setting … he should first consider those B-schools with AACSB accreditation IMO.
I just graduated from WGU with an MBA in Healthcare Management. I'll let you know soon if it helps me.
I had a co-worker who graduated at WGU with his MBA in Information System Management (or something within the IT field). It served him very well. He ended up gaining a management position (originally from California and transitioned to Iowa) where he make six figures. He didn't have any prior management experience before this, but he certainly had enough to leverage his past work experience to gain the job. I hope this helps. Now if you want my opinion, I personally believe that promotion comes from the Lord. Regardless of where you friend goes, if God doesn't allow for promotion, it won't happen. With that said, I also think WGU is a great school, and would highly recommend it for the cost and value.
