National University (CA)

Can anyone give me any inside information about National Universities on-line MBA program? I have been comparing several on-line programs as well as an extension program through San Jose State and have found that National is by far the cheapest.

In comparison to the following colleges, is National better, the same or worse:

1. Golden Gate U's Cyberuniversity

2. Univeristy of Phoenix on line (I have my BSIT from there -- not very impressed)

3. Keller (DeVry) - by far the most expensive at $28,000 plus books

4. San Jose States extension

5. CSU-Dominquez Hills on-line program

Any suggestions? I want a degree that will mean something (not just a piece of paper).

Thanks!

Mr. Engineer

 

With San Jose being AACSB accredited it would have to be on the top of the list, but all the required programs are not offered on-line, some would need to be taken in the class room.

That said I would probably rank them as follows:

San Jose State
CSU-Dominquez Hills
Keller (DeVry)
National
Golden Gate
Univeristy of Phoenix

And this is purely my preference.

 

thanks for the input! I too am from California, specificially the Silicon Valley.

Has anyone on the board actually gone to National? The reason I am looking at National is that it is one of the least expensive. Tuition runs about $13,000. Compare that with Keller at $28K, and you understand why I see a significant difference. I am also looking at CSU Dominquez Hills, but they are not as flexible with their classes as National.

Why the significant cost difference between the two private colleges.

BTW: Having gone to UoP for my Bachelors, I would never go there again. I can't vouch for the Business degrees, but the IT degrees were terrible. Our VB instructor had never even written code in Visual Basic (she was a Cobol lady - lol)

 

Was is Duke $147,000? Because people will pay it!

Then Golden Gate: Executive MBA (EMBA): $37,440 (all-inclusive)

Domingues about $10,000

San Jose (par time) about $8,000 (but attend classes).

 

Both Rich Douglas and I are National alums. Rich received his MBA in pre-internet days, though. I earned one of my teaching credentials through them, but it was also land-based. They now offer all of the coursework for the credential online (minus the student teaching).

Having said all that, I was quite pleased with the experience. I would certainly consider them for a degree again (if they offered something I was interested in and I wanted to go back to school again).

Of all the programs that you listed, the only *school* that I would place higher than National is San Jose State and that is solely due to AACSB. I don't believe the quality of education will be vastly different.



Tom Nixon

 

In comparison to the following colleges, is National better, the same or worse:

1. Golden Gate U's Cyberuniversity WORSE

2. Univeristy of Phoenix on line (I have my BSIT from there -- not very impressed) WORSE

3. Keller (DeVry) - by far the most expensive at $28,000 plus books SAME

4. San Jose States extension BETTER

5. CSU-Dominquez Hills on-line program BEST ON YOUR LIST

Live in CA ?, look at Chapman (B), Redlands (B+), Pepperdine (B+), Azusa Pacific (C), or read Bear's book on MBA's

 

I personally had a horrible experience with National, but only took one class. Ther eis a technical support center and the instructor. The instructor does not anwer technical questions, and vice versa. The problem arises (in my case), wen a new instructor comes on board, and a new student, issues an assignment, but the student can't view it. Ask the instructor, and get no response. Finally technical support figures it out, and points are deducted becuase it is late.

I know I am the exception, and for the most part, I hear good things, but the class I took was about 7 years ago, so maybe this has changed.

Also, since so many complained, everybody was given an A at the end of the semester, though most assignments we didn't do, since we couldn't view them. Go figure!

 

I took my MBA from National University, and I know a couple of things about degree acceptance. My comparison of National vs. the list (in terms of the prestige of the degree):

1. Golden Gate U's Cyberuniversity: Same

2. Univeristy of Phoenix: Same

3. Keller (DeVry): Same

4. San Jose State: San Jose

5. CSU-Dominquez Hills: CSU Dominguez Hills.

My research shows that "normal-sounding" names do better with HR managers; envoking "State" in the college's name is even better. The chances are most people haven't heard of any of them, including National, but the last two will sound better. I suspect you'd get as good (or better) an education at the last two.

Please remember to look carefully at learning modalities. You know about the unique, learning team approach taken by UoP. Be sure the other schools you consider have learning modalities you can live with. Also consider prerequisite requirements, admissions, costs, administrative issues, etc.

 

Rich
Thanks for the input. I tend to agree that the way a school sounds makes quite an impression on Human Resource managers.

If I had the time to go full or part time to a brick and motar school, I would definitely vie for either Santa Clara University or possibly UC Berkeley. Santa Clara might not be any better than CSUDH or SJSU-Extension but you met a lot of the Silicon Valley elite (Intel, AMD, Applied) executive types. For an engineer, this can have its definite advantages.

I have decided to study for my GMAT's and apply for CSUDH. For my money, it seems like the best program for what I need, and the fact that it is a named state college, it definitely won't be a degree mill.

Speaking of degree mills, I have found that a lot of legitimate DL and adult colleges are getting a bad wrap because of the degree mills scams. Keller, UoP, Kaplan, Jones, and others are getting hit hard because they are being mistakenly linked to the large amount of fake colleges (usually based in Florida). I went to UoP in San Jose and can tell you from experience, I worked harder and learned more that when I went to CSU Hayward (it is hard to learn anything when you are meeting in an assembly hall with 100 other students).

Just my two. Has anyone else had simular expriences with having to convice hiring managers that you have legitimate degrees?