FAU, Auburn, or UMass?

I have narrowed my list of schools to persue a MBA to these three. I won't have a business undergrad, so I was trying to find a school that is:

1)AACSB
2)Under 20K (although I know UMass is a little over)
3)Complete in 2 years or sooner
4)Easy to satisy prereqs

I could choose Florida Atlantic University, as a Florida resident. It would be cheap, but for me it would take 52 credits to complete.

I really like UMass, however, it would be cheaper and possibly faster to attend Auburn. Plus Auburn will accept my clep credits to satisfy the prereqs.

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

FAU is a good choice for being a FL resident (cost wise).

UMASS - Good reputation.

Auburn - OK reputation (comparatively)

 

Make sure you also check out Florida State University . As a Florida resident, its total program cost would be $17,493.42 for a 42 hour program and they don't require any prerequisites (they do require you to independently make up your deficiences by working through online and ungraded lessons.)

 

I would avoid Auburn:

http://www.sacscoc.org/disclosure/Auburn%20U.pdf

 

Auburn- around since1856
UMASS-around since 1867
FAU-around since 1964

of the three, Auburn would be my choice. I will disclaim by saying I am an Auburn grad. However, I think we too often forget about the reality of the degrees based upon where you live and work and the potential for coworkers or supervisors to have degrees (and preferences) for these schools. If you work in the FAU area it may well be to your benefit to get a degree from FAU. However I agree with JoAnn that FSU would be a better choice. Certainly an Auburn degree will carry better than FAU in other areas and I would welcome the explanation to the contrary since name recognition is half the battle in employability.
I would throw any USNEWS or other rankings out the window and take a good look at where you will work. If you were to travel out of the southeast, Auburn or FSU would carry better than FAU. If you want to do some ad hoc testing ask your coworkers opinions on the schools.

 

issue has been resolved (see Auburn Homepage or local news). But where would we be without some good ole southern politics to enliven the news.

http://web6.duc.auburn.edu/administration/specialreports/sacsletter010605.pdf

 

I didn't realize FSU would be an option given the criteria I was looking at. I'll have to take a look at their program.

I live in Jacksonville, so all of the available DL MBA programs are outside of my area. So far, I think I'm going to put FAU at the end of my list and look at FSU and Auburn.

 

The only possible drawback for you is criteria #3. FSU claims their program can be completed in 28 months. That's just 4 months past two years which isn't too bad, is it?

 

Are you able to take 3 courses per semester at FSU, or do they only allow two?

 

Are you able to take 3 courses per semester at FSU, or do they only allow two?

 

I'm not sure whether some semesters more than two classes are offered. However, unless they've pre-chosen which electives you will take there are probably some semesters where three or more courses are offered, but you will have to contact the business school to verify this. It seems they only allow Fall starts, but you finish in 7 semesters. If you have any more questions, take a look at the link I provided earlier. Also, I know about their policy regarding prerequisites because I contacted them a couple of months ago.

 

I'll check in to FSU some more, but I really want to start this spring. Thank you, JoAnn, for pointing FSU out to me.

 

Since you're pretty close, how about the Georgia Web MBA.

Cheap and AACSB.

http://www.webmbaonline.org/faq/#acred

 

From reading its FAQ, Florida State looks like it only offers two classes per semester.

FYI - There isn't much difference between the resident ($416.51) and nonresident ($445.14) tuition.

 

That's what it looked like to me also. After some consideration, I'm still leaning toward Auburn. Mainly, because it is AACSB, relatively low cost, I can satisfy the prereqs with my CLEP tests, and it can be completed in around 1.5 - 2 years because of only required 36 credits. The reputation of Auburn is pretty good in my area. It seems like we have a lot of Auburn, as well as Clemson graduates, so I will have much problem with this.

I've also eliminated FAU, but would really like UMass overall. The cost is the only thing holding me back. I figured it would cost around $27k without books.

 

Again, take a look at my earlier post: the Georgia Web MBA might be a slick solution to your dilemma.

As for UMass, they allow you to transfer in up to 6 credit hours once matriculated. You could reduce your expense by taking those 6 at a real cheap AACSB program online, that should cut costs down to about $24,000 or $23,000, depending on how cheap the alternate credits you pursue are.

Since you're considering UMass @ what you figure to be $27,000, why not look into the University of Florida? They have a 1 yr online program that's about that same price, and they're a bona fide top-50ish program, probably one of the top 3 or 4 online/DL MBAs in the country. The only catch is it's for those with UG Biz majors, but do you have a number of business courses? That might waive you into that program. Or you could take the required business courses on the cheap through a local CC or small college, could probably pull it off in a couple semesters, maybe just one, maybe even over a really intense Summer session. Then get into the one year program at Florida.

I'd really take a hard look at it and get creative. If you can up you budget just a bit, you can go to the best school in Florida.

Link here:
http://www.floridamba.ufl.edu/FutureStudents/internetoneyear.asp

Two year option's more expensive, but link here:
http://www.floridamba.ufl.edu/FutureStudents/internettwoyear.asp

 

I looked at the Georgia WebMBA and the only thing that concerns me is the prereqs. I haven't completed any business courses, only CLEP.

I won't be finished with my BS until Fall of this year, so taking a lot of extra courses isn't an option.

Do you think the debt I'd have to go into is worth it to go to UF?

 

Depends. Do you plan on ever working outside the Florida area? Since you don't have business courses and can't do the one year thing at Florida, you're stuck doing the two year, and that's about $37K, almost $20K higher than Florida State or Auburn. Florida State and Auburn are regional programs, and you're surely likely to find plenty of alums in Florida and other parts of the deep South, so if you stay in that region, I can't imagine any huge benefit to the higher-priced Florida degree.

If you want a degree that's more portable, however, Florida is pretty much it in your area (or Emory's DL MBA, but now we're talking astronomical debt). Florida-Warrington has a national reputation that Auburn and Florida State can't match, and Florida has even flirted with BW's Top-30 from time-to-time (it's currently 50-something, still pretty impressive out of about 700+/- programs nationwide).

So the answer is: "It depends on your long-term goals." I'm curious about one thing, though, why Auburn over Florida State? I'd think the latter would have more utility in your area.

 

How about Mississippi State? Pretty cheap--$374/cr.hr., AACSB-accredited. Decent school.

http://www.distance.msstate.edu/mba/

Also, check out USN's b-school DL page (note that some of this info is out-of-date or inaccurate, and some programs require residency)

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/elearning/tables/mba_reg_prof.htm

 

I would choose Florida State over Auburn, but my concerns are that I couldn't start until the fall. I have student loans already, which I don't want to start paying back yet. I would choose UF above all, I just don't want to get into a lot of debt unless I knew I would gain larger rewards for in the corporate world where I live now.

I don't anticipate moving out of the area, however I would if I receive an offer that is worth it.