I'm currently enrolled in the MBA Health Services program at Walden University, while I have no problem with the school I am having problems paying the high price tuition. I am thinking of enrolling into a DETC program sch as Ashworth College or Columbia Southern University to finish my degree, only because I'm paying out of pocket for my degree and these are a lot more reasonably priced. Right now the degree is just for my satisfaction just to have that MBA after my name it is not going to help me advance in my career at this time, though it may in the future, and I'm not planning on transferring the credits into another degree. Has anyone else completed an MBA DETC program and had any problems with their employeer not recognizing it? Are DETC degrees generally recgonized? Is this a wise decision to transfer? Does anyone know of any RA MBA programs that are reasonible priced? Thanks, Sara
Sara, you can do a search on the forum. Also go to www.geteducated.com and download the freebie. Probably one of the lowest price RA schools for an MBA would be Amberton University. www.amberton.edu You can also search on my user name for University of North Alabama and Columbia Southern University information. Best of Luck, Kevin
Out of curiousity, I posed similar questions in the form of a poll at the Ashworth College group on Yahoo. Out of 25 repondents, 1 person said they could not get ANY school to recognize their degree, 1 said they found the courses helpful, but their employer would not recogize it, and one person said employers generally only recognized RA degrees. 12 people responded they had not graduated yet, but the courses have been good and their employers were supportive, 3 said they were able to transfer their entire degree into another DETC-accredited school, and 2 said they were able to transfer their entire degree into an RA school. Two people each said they were able to transfer SOME of their credits into either DETC or RA-accredited schools. The poll didn't specifically mention MBA or AS degrees, just degrees in general. The bottom line of this unscientific poll was more often than not, people with an Ashworth degree have been able to tranfer at least some of the credits into either DETC or RA-accredited schools, and that most of their employers recognize and support the degree.
Personally I was able to transfer just about 100% of my Ashworth credits into the Kaplan University CPS BS of CJ degree. Although they are not accepting students anymore, I don't think anyone with RA or DETC credits will have any problem transfering credits into another DETC school. It's kind of a survival method for DETC institutions. As for RA schools accepting DETC credits, I have found that I am limited in choice for my Masters degree because my undergraduate work is DETC accredited. Bummer, but not a huge deal as the following I have found will generally accept a DETC undergrad degree for graduate programs: Capella St. LEO Phoenix and a few others. Some officially deny accepting DETC credits but have in the past. I think its a matter of money. As for being limited in my career for DETC accredited degree? Hardly at all. I know of certain state level jobs that only accept RA degrees, which I can hardly blame them since state schools are RA accredited. As for private sector and federal govt. jobs, I've not had a single problem as of yet.
RA degrees have wider acceptance and therefore generally more utility than DETC degrees. This discrepency in utility seems more pronounced in academia, i.e., getting teaching jobs or getting accepted into graduate programs, than in the general workplace.
great responses thanks to everyone for the great responses, My undergraduate degree came from a RA school and I'll always have that. For me the MBA is just something extra that I wanted to have and from the responses I got since I'm not using it to teach or for a govt. job than a DETC degree is just as good for me as an RA MBA. Unfortunately I live in NJ and there are no state colleges around me, they are all private and will cost a small fortune, I know I'm still paying off my undergraduate degree. Thanks for the information in the poll thats reassuring and the information on amberton, I'll check it out. If anyone else has any more ideas or thoughts please let me know. Has anyone here went through the Columbia Southern Univ masters program? How is it? Thanks Sara
Re: great responses Hi Sara. First of all, please make sure a DETC degree program is right for you. There may be limitations. That being said... I went through CSU's BS program. I was very pleased with the school. The tuition is very reasonable. They use Blackboard and you can order your books right from the school website. The professors were very attentive and most of the courses had section exams, a paper or project and a proctored final exam. If you are interested in a DETC school, then I would not hesitate to recommend CSU. Craig
Another MBA that is DETC accredited would be: Southwest University: Cost about $6200 ish and is pen and paper based at your own pace. Andrew Jackson University: Also pen and paper but costing only about a little under $5,000. California Coast University: Costing about $6,000 and you can RENT your books for about $20.00 which is a huge cost saver. All are traditional mail, paper and study methods, however all of them are several thousand $ less than CSU due to the tuition increase CSU is doing in September. $240 an hour. You may as well attend NCU or Amberton for that amount. OUCH.
Re: great responses Here we are again... yet another person (albeit the other one, recently, was in a different thread) who: wants the letters "MBA" after his/her name; and, wants it to be accredited by an agency approved by the US Dept of Education (USDE) and/or its Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), but doesn't necessarily need said agency to be one of the six regional accreditors; and, presumably, wants the above, also, so that s/he will not run afoul of current or upcoming state laws which essentially require same (like Oregon's, for example); and, doesn't plan on using it to teach; and, considers NA as good as RA for his/her purposes; and, is highly financially motivated to consider an NA MBA over a much more costly RA MBA.[/list=a]I hate to keep recommending this place for fear that someone will think (wrongly, of course) I'm somehow associated with them, or work for them, or am an agent for them, or am in some other way shilling for them, but, honesttogod, the person for whom the above-listed things are true is precisely who Ashworth College had in mind when it developed its MBA program. It's cheaper than any of the others listed here because its $4,889 ($99 down, then $99/mo -- interest-free -- for 48 months, then a final payment of $38) total tuition includes all textbooks and other study materials. It's turnkey. And it's DETC accredited, and completely at your own pace. That said, there are those who rather hate Ashworth because it's to getting a degree almost as to buying something from Best Buy in that it treats the student a bit like cattle. That's a gross oversimplification, of course; and it's by no stretch of the imagination that bad; but there are some who have posted here who have also posted elsewhere herein that they dislike Ashworth because it required of them that they work a bit harder to get information and/or help they need. Some have also complained that Ashworth's "sales pitch" to those who inquire of it is a bit intense. I, too, found Ashworth's hard-sell approach off-putting when I inquired of it a while back -- and I wasn't even inquiring as a potential student. Since I have never been a student there (nor ever plan to be), I can only go by what students have said about it... which TCord1964 has covered -- at least in part -- with his earlier post in this very thread. My cursory interviews with some Ashworth students has yielded a largely satisfied customer base, notwithstanding some occasional irritations with the speed and quality of customer service. Certainly no one is complaining about the rigor (including some who have also been in RA MBA programs). And all that said, Andrew Jackson University's MBA program seems very nice, too, as NA MBA programs go. And it's close in price to Ashworth's... except you must remember that it's $5,000 price tag does not include textbooks and other study materials, as does Ashworth's $4,889 price. So AJU's MBA is likely, in reality, to be $1,000 or so more, all things considered. Still, AJU's is my second-favorite of the DETC-accredited MBA programs that are well-suited to the student with the kind of criteria listed above. I've only looked at Southwest briefly, but it looked okay as DETC-accredited MBA programs go; and I've looked at CCU somewhat more than just briefly and -- at least since it finally got DETC accredited -- I now feel it's okay, too (though one should read the long history of posts here about it -- some of them quite negative -- and make sure one's eyes are wide open about CCU, just generally, before signing-up).
TESC? Thomas Edison State College is based out of New Jersey and they have a Masters of Science in Management. (Doesn't sound as cool as an MBA) Based on what you mentioned, I would take a serious look at Amberton University. It is RA, and can be completed in 1-1.5 years, while working full time. There customer service is everything that TESC isn't. At $600 per course, RA, and a flexible payment plan, its worth it.
Personally if I had an undergraduate RA degree, Amberton would be my 1st or 2nd choice. Mainly because they are nearby, but also inexpensive and have a good rep.
Apparently, Florida Atlantic University and Florida Gulf Coast University are both RA and both are priced at $6000-$7000. http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20358
I wonder if the real problem is not so much DETC vs. RA but residential (full and/or partial) vs. strictly DL.
Re: Re: TESC? I thought I might have seen somewhere that Charter Oak State College (www.cosc.edu) offers a master's in professional studies, but I couldn't seem to find it on their website. Any feedback, anyone?
