Legitimacy of on-line/distance MBA's

I would like to ask a question for everyone out there who has earned their MBA's through accredited on-line or distance learning colleges/universities.

How many of you had to justify your degrees? Lets face it, they are not Stanford or Santa Clara U MBA's. Has anyone had a significant raise or were able to attain a better position after completing your on-line MBA? Did you disclose that your degree was learned on-line, or did it matter? What about the lack of "networking" (meeting other people in the classroom which could lead to better jobs/positions in the future)

Any comments? Any major success stories? Any bad experiences? How do you answer the question on whether or not it was an on-line MBA?

I am currently considering CSUDH or National for on-line, or SJSU's off campus MBA. Any experience with any of these programs?

Thanks in advance!

 

With the three you mention, no one will know if you earned your degree online or on campus. I have a National MBA (earned on campus). No one has ever asked. No one has ever even questioned the degree at all, about anything.

There might be some question IF you take a degree from a purely online school and IF the employer even knows enough to ask. Two big IF's.

I would be more concerned about (1) accreditation, (2) school reputation, (3) cost, (4) residency requirements, and (5) delivery modality. Find the program that fits you.

 

Did you like the National program? Did it advance your career in the manner desired?

 

My employer paid for my distance degree, it gave me the justification to get a good salary (25 % upgrade), and a great slingsot to a doctorate program. I agree though that accreditation was the kicker, I had to justify it every step of the way! The secretary in the education departement declined the reimbursement, saying no online degrees, I had to escalte to the VP, who agreed with me, and re-wrote the policy.

My degree does not state if it is online, I don't advertise it, but ill disclose during interviews. My President is supportive and wrote my letter of rec to my MBA and doctorate.

 

I think some of your questions have been addressed in the past on other threads. I don't think most employers would ever ask you whether your degree was earned via distance. If the question did come up, accreditation of the school should be sufficient in most cases to overcome any objections.

 

Most aren't!

 

RE:

I dont have my MBA but I have friends who have their online degrees (Capella, AIU, etc) and they have made good progress in their career by getting their BS or MBA. Yes its not Stanford but my buddy justified that a) his degree was from an accredited institute b) that his education online met or exceeded his education at University of Memphis. He presented his case to upper echelon management and they took that into consideration and acknowledge the fact that is education was from an accredited institute and that his own self motivation to study and get his degree online was reason enough to promote him to a higher position

 

In my office we have folks who have completed B&M and online Masters degrees. There has been no difference in treatment or accord. In fact the B&M folks have regrets that they did not do their degrees online because the time lost from pursuing experience simultaneously with education has put them at a disadvantage in the experience area. I believe that the technical skills developed/refined during the process of online education will serve you well moving forward.

I will caveat my comments with the fact that all of us attended B&M schools for our bachelors. I don't know if there would be a difference in perception because of this fact. But in my opinion I always evaluate an applicant's education with his/her able to articulate learning outcomes and the contribution this learning will make in the position for which interviewing regardless of how the individual attained this learning. I also give consideration to certifications and other form of education as I believe all forms of legitimate learning contribute.

Lastly, if you believe you will have to defend an instition that you plan to attend you may want to consider offering the choices to your boss or HR folks and let them have some input.

Regards,

Kevin

 

I seem to value my learning experience over whether a program is online or on-campus...

I have two engineering degrees from a B&M school and am doing my MBA from an online university. I seem to feel that I have not had any peoblems as far as networking is concerned, since I am using the virtual classroom feature. I get to study the text material properly at my own convenience, and give myself time to apply what I have learnt... for instance, accounting is a good example since it's the first time I have had to study the subject and I can confidently say that I am learning a lot.

The bottom line is that if I believe that I have learnt something from the program, I will have no problem defending it or to justify it in an interview... people would know from my mannerisms that I have learnt something. In contrast, even if I got my degree from a B&M school but did not learn much (e.g. in engineering, we learn how to learn and apply our knowledge to solve problems, and manage stress; not having developed that skill during the program would mean you might have problems later on), I might not be questioned much about my degree during the interview, but in the long run I may have peoblems...