Anyone heard of ms in finance program at Golden Gate University? Is GGU recognized nationally? Its finance program is kinda pricey and I'm not sure what employers would think about a degree from GGU. Any other schools that offer MS in Finance through DL? Thanks a lot.
Golden Gate University (http://www.ggu.edu/) is privat, regionally accredited (WASC) university based in San Francisco. It has a fairly good reputation as a school catering to mid-career professional. While more expensive then Cal State schools, it made its niche by offering evening and weekend courses in downtown San Francisco, and a regional sites such as Walnut Creek.
Do a search on Golden Gate Univ. I remember some posters a while back who expressed some frustration with their online classes. I agree with Mike. GGU has a pretty good rep in the Bay Area, and is quite well known here. They are fairly innovative in terms of offering programs that fit well with mid-career folks. They were one of the first around here to offer fully online degree programs. Nevertheless, if you want a little more name recognition, I would look at UoL and Indiana. University of Leicester also has an MS in finance. http://www.le.ac.uk/ulmc/text/dl/fin.html
I just completed the graduate certificate in Finance at GGU and have applied for the MS in Finance program. I have found it to be expensive, but it had some of the courses I was looking for in the areas of business valuation and financial modeling that were not all offered at other online institutions. The quality of the instructors is hit or miss. The 2 clowns I had for Math 240 (it was team taught) were a joke and boarded on professional malpractice in their errors, evasiveness, lack of focus, non-responsivenes and lack of course preparation. Out of the 5 courses I took, I had one great experience, one good experience, two bad to mediocre and one rotten experience (the math class). The math class was so bad that I got a full refund the last 2 weeks of the term. But then again, I kept copious notes and was able to clearly document the negligence and ineptitute. Remarkably, the two are still teaching the class - so much for proactive quality contol in a bureacracy. With this track record, why am I continuing on to a MS, you ask. Well, I was able to get 4 courses from my prior MBA accepted. With these 4 courses and the ones I took to get the certificate, I only need 3 more for the degree. The chairman of the department, Steve Hawkey, seems like a real nice and competent fellow qnd is easy to work with. I use him as my "informal" advisor. The College for Financial Planning (CfFP) offers an online MS with an emphasis in finance at about $690 a course, which is considerably cheaper than the $1,770 GGU wants. however, CfFP would only take 4 courses toward their degree, which ment I would have to retake a bunch of the course material I have already had. Although less expense, it would much more time consuming. Mike
Thanks for all the responses so far. They are very helpful. The one at Indiana University seems to be pretty impressive but more for professionals in the field (I'm changing career so finance is a new field for me). U of L...I'm not sure....I definitely think its program is better than GGU's but again, I really concern about the possibilty of finding a job here with a British degree... Anyways, I've already applied into the Finance program at GGU - just doesn't seem to have many choices. You know what, Mike, I'm supposed to take that Math class (240) in spring, and I'm not sure if I want to register for it after reading your experiences...Not sure what I should do to avoid that. What are the other bad classes that you took? Thanks again...
You may have to check, but I think Math 240 at Golden Gate is a core statistics requirement. If so, you could take a gradute level statistics course at another online university to fulfill the requirement. I used the stats course I took for my MBA as my qualifier. I was taking the Math 240 as a refresher, not because it was required for me. Try looking here for an alternative: http://www.learn.colostate.edu/courses/course.asp?course=ST%20530 Mike
MS Finance at Golden Gate University I have a friend who earned his finance degree from GGU. I remember him saying he was pleased with his experience (specifically mentioning the up-to-date curriculum, the strong practitioner bent, and the genuinely helpful professors in the program). GGU has a solid reputation in the Bay Area (and is particularly known for its taxation programs whose graduates, I've heard, are sought after by top corporations in the area).
GGU has a reasonably well known law school. Kinda pricey, as has been pointed out, but with a rather interesting graduate law program (LL.M. and J.S.D.) in international law and taxation (and other subjects) R/A and ABA. They must be doing SOMETHING right. They are competing with UC Berkeley, Stanford, and McGeorge head on for students, not to mention the plethora of smaller law schools in the Bay area.
