Amberton University vs Touro University

I know everyone says that the best MBA program depends on the person...so I've tried to compare these two schools. Does anyone see anything I am overlooking?

Cost
Amberton: ~9000 (free with TA for me) + book costs
Touro: ~ 12000 (free with TA for me)
Advantage Touro

Accredited
Amberton: RA
Touro: RA plus additional
Advantage Touro

Course Length
Amberton: four 10 week sessions (not during Christmas)
Touro: four 12 week sessions
Advantage Amberton

Books vs Online Library
Amberton: Textbooks (I can read in my bed or anywhere)
Touro: Online Library (stuck to a computer screen for hours)
Advantage Amberton

Online vs Brick and Mortar
Amberton: Online and Brick & Mortar (degree doesn't say online)
Touro: Online (people might look down on a fully online school)
Advantage Amberton

Teachers
Amberton: Christian Proffessors
Touro: Mixture of Proffessors
Advantage Amberton (I prefer Christian Proffessors)

How does traveling affect schooling?
Amberton: nothing to download, just go to the websites/email
Touro: seems like you have to download something on each computer you want to use for coursework this would make traveling hard for me (its hard to download stuff on public access computers)
Advantage Amberton

Writing vs Testing
Amberton: Mixture of both
Touro: Writing only, no tests
Advantage Amberton (I prefer tests/mix to writing)

Program Length
Amberton: under 2 years
Touro: under 2 years
Tie

Thats all I can think of for now, so I am leaning heavily toward Amberton University. Any thoughts?

Mike.

 

It seems that Amberton would be a better fit for your situation. Since you have TA, you might want to consider some MBA programs that also have AACSB accreditation.

Check out Jonnie's Distance Learning Page, which lists over 200 accredited MBA programs from around the world.

 

Are there any for around the same price? I can't afford to pay much really.

 

Any of the AACSB programs are going to be more expensive that either Amberton or Touro. I suggested it because you indicated that you have tuition assistance (TA) available. What is your TA limit?

 

I am in the Air Force, they will cover 250/credit hour up to 4500 per fiscal year. So in a 2 year span 9000 dollars. But Touro has something for Military members where they pick up the rest.

Mike.

 

The lowest cost AACSB program I've seen is at least $15-20K, so unless you want to spend 4+ years earning your degree, Amberton or Touro would be your best bet financially.

I think AACSB accreditation will only be a factor if you plan on teaching at a AACSB school, and it would probably give you an advantage when applying to doctoral programs.

 

Reading your pros and cons it was easy for me to see which program was best for you and your situation. Amberton. I will also say that it was on my short list for master's programs until I found UW for my particular situation. I think it's a good school and one I was leaning heavily toward.

 

Not to advocate either one...

but other considerations:

1. With Touro you can download or print off your assignments to read later . With what I would have paid for books I purchased a laptop to take with me when I travelled. I now have a laptop instead of a bunch of books I'll never read again. Not having books was not really a big deal. I never, ever used their online library. Google brought me far more information than the library. Then I just printed it off for writing the papers.

2. Touro also has a brick and mortar campus. Degree doesn't say online.

3. If you are in the Air Force, how would you make arrangments to take the test if you are deployed? Yes, testing is easier than a lot of writing but you can do the writing assignments anywhere when you are deployed. Testing is not a good option for deployable military members.

4. Touro's extra professional accreditation isn't really that big a deal. AACSB means a lot, ACBSP less so, the rest aren't CHEA recognized so they really aren't worth that much unless it is EQUIS or AMBA in Europe.

My $.02.

Chris
US Army (Ret)

 

That would be nice to have a laptop. I just get tired of staring at a computer screen all day long. It hurts my eyes.

I am an Aeronautical Engineer so I am not really deployable. Do you know how thier tests work? I know they are open book and you don't need a proctor, but I wonder if they are timed or if you have to take them at certain times.

Mike.

 

Re: Not to advocate either one...

My understanding of Amberton is that the tests are online.

 

Texas A & M - Commerce will start its online MBA March 1. The program is AACSB-accredited. There is a cohort MBA program as well.

Contact:

Shanna Hoskison

Assistant to the Director

Graduate Programs in Business

P O Box 3011

Commerce, TX 75429

903.886.5190/903.886.5114 (fax)

www.tamu-commerce.edu/graduateprograms


Good luck!

 

If the tests are online...

that would be a plus. However, books are expensive. Touro = no books. TA is great because it allows you a free education but my wife has paid as much as $200 a class for books with Troy State so that is a real factor. If you were a civilian I would say go with Amberton as the difference in tuition more than makes up for the no book factor. However, because of the cost issue of the books, I would recommend Touro. Like I said before, I commonly would print off the assignment for reading on the road or at work. Yes, it takes a little planning ahead of time, but if it saves $100 per class you are ahead $1000 at the end of the program. FYI, each class at Touro requires 5 - 3 to 5 page papers and 5 - 1 to 3 page papers. If you just cannot stomach that much writing you might want to go with Amberton and the test.

On another note, if you plan to use this degree in the private sector after you get out, you should seriously consider an AACSB accredited program. The University of Nebraska online MBA isn't much more expensive than Touro (maybe even the same) and will be much more marketable upon separation from the military. If you are a career airman this may not be such a big deal. I went with Touro because it was CHEAP ($6750) for retiree's and because I am not planning on leaving my current employer. I just needed a masters degree to bridge me to my doctorate. However, if you are a young airman or officer looking to a civilian career get a degree from a big name school. It will more than pay for itself. UMass-Amherst is another program but a little more pricey than Nebraska. You would still be able to use TA with either of them.

Do your homework before you make a choice and see what will best for you in the long run.

 

Re: Not to advocate either one...

Amberton has 2 locations in the Dallas-Ft.Worth area.

 

does touro...

does Touro University have some sort of software that you have to download to take the courses through? Does this make it hard to use from public access computers?

Mike.

 

Re: does touro...

Neither of your choices do. You just access them through a website.

 

No....

The CD operates through Internet Explorer but for the most part you can do so in the offline mode. The lectures use Media Player. You go online to submit assignments and participate in the threaded topics. The CD does sometimes take you to a website to review an article but not very often. If you find out it does so you can always download it before you go. They do have some online libraries but they were more trouble than they were worth so I never used them.

 

Re: If the tests are online...

I'm in Touro's MBA program and from personal observations, the assignment lengths are getting a little longer and demanding reasearch-wise. For example, I just finished MKT501 (Strategic Marketing).

- Module 1 through 5 Case assignment, 4-5 pages each
- Module 1 through 5 Session-Long Project (SLP), 4-5 pages min
-- Module 5 SLP actually required 6-8 pages

In the past, SLPs were always the shorter 1-3 pages you mentioned above. It's now to the point where you'll be churning out a minimum total of 8 to 10 pages every 2 weeks, sometimes more--especially if you do the enhanced case assignments (in addition to case assignments and SLPs).

 

I should point out

It was a rare paper that you can get anything said in less than 3 pages anyway. I wrote one that was 9 pages long. So at a minimum you should probably plan on a minimum of 3 pages.

 

Re: I should point out

At UMass-Lowell, the general rule for qualitative courses was that you were going to write a minimum of 10 pages per credit, and since every course was 3 credits, that meant at least 30 pages of writing for the course.

How that was broken-up was at the instructor's discretion, but at least 2 core courses, Foundations of Criminal Justice Scholarship and Research Methods in Criminal Justice, both required significant research papers (20+ pages) in addition to several 5-10 page papers, which pushed it well beyond the 30 page standard.

Of course, quantitative courses such as Statistics didn't require any research papers at all. I would have preferred to do more research papers.