Hi guys... Does anyone here have any firsthand knowledge of the online MPA program at Upper Iowa University? I have decided that I want to transfer my Amberton MBA credits to a NASPAA accredited MPA program and I am currently leaning toward Upper Iowa. The program appeals to me on several levels: NASPAA accreditation, the potential to work hard and complete the program quickly enough that I will still be able to meet my goal of starting my doctorate in 2007, the price is about half of what I would pay for the University of Baltimore's WebMPA (one of my other front-runners)...AND...an added bonus: UIU offers a specialization in Public Personnel Management -- which is exactly where I plan to spend the next 20 years of my professional life. All in all, it looks to be a pretty good fit for me. I don't think I'll find a NASPAA accredited MPA program as inexpensive as Amberton's MBA, but the UIU program looks like it has the potential to meet my long term/big picture needs a little better than the Amberton program. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Amberton -- I have had an extremely positive experience there -- but the fact that it isn't AACSB accredited has been nagging at me a bit and this is just going to fit my needs a bit better. I am early enough in my program that if I am going to make a move, now is the time to do it. Unless someone here has something awful to say about the program, I'll probably transfer. As always, thanks in advance for your feedback. Mary
Mary, UIU is an institutional member of NASPAA, however their MPA program does not hold NASPAA accreditation at this time. You can find a list of accredited MPA programs at www.naspaa.org. Have you looked into Troy University's online MPA degree program? Troy features five, 10-week semesters each year and offers a specialization in public personnel management. You can also transfer up to 12 semester hours into Troy's MPA program and the tuition is only $870 per course versus the $999 per course at UIU. Troy requires 36 SH for the MPA degree versus 42 SH at UIU. TU is very good about offering the required courses and various electives throughout the year and you should be able to finish an MPA degree with Troy by 2007. According to the MPA program coordinator, Troy University will be applying to NASPAA for accreditation of their MPA program soon. Another high-quality, reasonably cheap MPA program worth looking into is the one offered at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The program is ranked pretty high by USN&WR and is currently accredited by NASPAA. abnrgr275
California State University-Dominguez Hills Offers a MPA online degree that is accrediated by NASPAA. http://mpaonline.csudh.edu/
I do not have any experience with their MPA program, but I am a UIU alumni, so while I admit bias, based on what I experienced as an undergrad in their accounting program and from others I know in their MBA program I believe you will be well served with Upper Iowa. Good luck. William
Hi Mary, sorry this is not an answer for your question. I'm considering switching from the MBA program at Walden U to Amberton, simply because its more cost sensitive. How is the MBA program at Amberton? Did you find it difficult? From looking at the website they seem very no nonsense and tough, I'm just wondering if I can handle it working full time and per diem, if it is a tough workload. I haven't found many other people who have went there or graduated from there online. Any info you could give would help. Thanks Sara
Sara, How far along are you in the MPA program at Walden? Do you like it? Any complaints? I am in the process of applying to Walden. I'm interested in the Emergency Response Policy & Coordination concentration. Any thoughts on Waden's MPA program would be appreciated. Thanks, SMALLS
Hi Sara, I enjoyed the Amberton program and most of the professors and classes. I found it to be moderately rigorous -- not impossible, but it wasn't a cakewalk, either. I found that I could do the majority of my work on weekends, but on the weekends when I was in school I didn't do much besides school. It was a good amount, I think. I wouldn't have wanted anything less. I have a friend who was doing her MBA with UofP at the same time and she commented that my program was a lot more works than hers. I would recommend starting with just one class until you get a feel for the workload. I could handle 1-2 a term, but when I tried to push it to 3, it was too much with my work schedule and family obligations and I ended up dropping one of the classes. The price was certainly right. My girlfriend dropped out of the UofP program because of the cost, but said when she is ready to go back she will definitely consider Amberton. She paid more for a few classes than I was going to pay for an entire degree program. I really enjoyed the professors. They were extremely helpful and, for the most part, very responsive. (One or two weren't so great, but that's the same, anywhere. The good ones definitely outweighed the bad ones.) My favorites were Cox and Staley. They all teach in the on the ground classes, too. Dr. Cox earned his doctorate from Capella. In fact, if you look at their faculty roster, I believe a lot of them did their PhDs via DL so they have a good feel for what it's like. I would strongly recommend Amberton. I know that there are a few others who post on this site who are further along in their programs than I am. Perhaps they will see this post and will respond, too. Good luck in whatever program you select- Mary
re Thanks Marylars, I think I have almost made up my mind that Amberton is right for me, its RA jus in case I ever decide to transfer credits to another RA school, it definately within my budget, and for what I hear their workload is manageable. Thanks! Smalls - I was enrolled in the MBA program at Walden, I found it to be a great school, customer service is great, although I found the classes to be challenging and very time consuming. I was logging in almost every day to catch up on the posts or I felt overwhelmed. My reason to transfer is based on price, at almost 400 a credit and all their classes are 4 credit I needed around 68 credits to get a degree from there which was going to end up being a big price tag. If you have an employeer who will give you tuition re embursment than I say walden is great, if not than I say find a cheeper program.
An update... After speaking with the director of the UIU program, I have decided to stay at Amberton and to finish my MBA there instead of transferring to an MPA. It sound like UIU has a fine program, but it doesn't sound like it will work as well for me. I wasn't too keen on two of the requirements -- group work required in every class (I loathed B&M group work when I was 20 years younger -- via DL and with a busy work and family schedule it would be much worse now) and the fact that one has to 'attend' class by posting substantial amounts of information on their forums a minimum of 5 out of 7 days each week -- were big negatives for me. Plus, due to the public admin prereqs (foundation courses) and the fact that not all of my grad MBA credits would transfer to the program (not public admin focused) a transfer would add an extra year to my degree quest. Besides, abnrgr275 was right...they're NASPAA members, but the program is not yet accredited. They have started the process, but it sounds like it will be years before they're there. I also looked into NASPAA-accredited Valdosta State and UN-Omaha, but from what I could tell, both were semester-based with no chance to compress coursework to fit my schedule a little better. They would have taken me forever. So...I'll just stick with Amberton. Amberton's customer service has always been top-notch and I have really enjoyed my courses. The price can't be beat, the professors are good and the coursework is relevant.
