Hello, I am a long time lurker of this website and finally decided to sign up. There is a wealth of information here from so many different personal experiences which makes this site so helpful. My background: I attended a B&M school for IT and received my A.A.S in 2002. I knew nothing of schools being RA or NA etc. I found out later that the school was NA before being bought by Kaplan. Due to the job market and the opportunities that were available to me, I ended up leaving the IT field and I am now working for a credit union after starting at a bank but grew weary of the mergers. I wanted to add some business education and was able to complete a Business Administration degree from California Coast University at very little cost. (They accepted past credits and my employer reimbursed some as well). I am now looking into a graduate program in organizational management or project management. It does not have a be a degree, it can be a graduate certificate. Does anyone have any thoughts on what school program to check into? I thought about California Coast but wanted to check with other schools first. Grantham University offers has a certificate in Project Management and is recognized by PMI and IACBE although only NA. American Public University offers a Graduate Certificate - Organizational Management and is RA. Any advice on the two schools above? Basically, my goal is to get the most for my money. The credit union is growing and I am trying to be ready for when something because available. Sorry for the book of a post.... Thank you! -Mike
Is it clear to you that you need this credential in order to reach your goals? Is there any way that the NA v. RA debate will inform your choice?
I believe it will help. The Cal Coast degree has been a help on its own. I would prefer a RA degree the only reason I did not pursue one the first time was because I had 60 NA credits. I know I am limited as far as getting into a program from a RA school but wanted to see what others had to say regarding any of their experiences. The Cal Coast degree was an easy choice because it was flexible and very affordable. Graduate classes are more expensive so I wanted to see what advise I could get.
It seems that the number of RA schools accepting NA credits is increasing. In your place I would identify several programs that best suited my needs and simply apply. Don't restrict your choices because of a guess that you'll be turned down.
Statements regarding the utility of regional accreditation vs. national accreditation have been made and re-made on this board. You can do some reading on it to get a flavor for it. That said, those in favor of NA degrees almost always come at the subject from a personal standpoint. They're both wrong at right simultaneously. They're wrong when they make generalizations from their particular experiences. But their right in that each person's situation is unique, and many (many!) graduates of NA schools do just fine with their degrees. Since I began reading John Bear's guides in 1980, he's had a consistent message about accreditation that applies here. When you make a selection of a school, try as hard as you can to select one that will meet your present AND future needs. Obviously, the more "niche" the choice, the more likely it is some future situation will result in a letdown. This is true for UA, NA, and RA schools. But it is a sliding scale, with RA being more acceptable in more situations. But you have to balance that with costs, types of degrees, transferring your previous credit, and a lot of other things. If an NA school seems to fit the bill, and a similar opportunity doesn't exist at an RA school, then make the choice you can and make the best of it. Good luck.
Taking things a step further The OP mentioned third tier programmatic accreditor IACBE as being a selling point for the NA school??? This sounds like a limited utility credential to me. BA
Hi BA, Not really as a selling point, I was just listing what they had. At this point I have decided to pursue a Graduate Cert with Cal Coast. My employer reimburses for some of the costs of school and with California Coast's price it all but pays the entire bill of the certificate. It's low risk with a nice chance on a decent return for the investment. I am waiting and researching because as Kizmet pointed out more RA schools are accepting NA credits/degrees. Once I have more money saved and find a RA program that fits my needs etc. I'll start on the MBA. -Mike
California Coast Master's Degree Mike, Good luck with the certificate. I think you can apply your credits from the certificate program to a Calcoast Master's later on if you want - probably an MBA or MA in Organizational Leadership. I earned 2 degrees at Cal Coast and found both very well worth it. My employer paid for both degrees.
I can't believe it's been a year since I posted this thread. I started the Management Studies certificate with CCU last fall. I have completed Project Management (my employer paid for the class) and am almost completed with Leadership. It's been interesting. Side note: a friend of mine was able to start his MBA with Texas A&M University-Commerce although his undergrad was from an NA B&M school. It does seem like it is getting easier or at least more possible to do this than before...
