Online MBA at the University of Liverpool

Hello fellows,

I searched google groups and this forum, but I didn't find enough contributions
concerning the online MBA at the University of Liverpool (UoL).
I am interessted in a 100% online MBA, so one of the programs I found
was the online MBA at UoL.
Can you please shed some lights on the following points:

1. The UoL admission advisor is pushing me too much to apply, the thing
that makes me a bit uncertain about the program and its quality.

2. The admission advisor works in Holland instead of being in Liverpool
? Even though the Masters Software comes from Holland, I still can't
get it why the advisors have to be in Holland.

3. The advisor told me that I will get a pure MS degree from the
University of Liverpool which doesn't state that it was made online. Do
someone know whether his statement is correct?

4. The fees are 20804€ for the whole program only if you pay them at
once, otherwise they will get increased by more than 4000€ . Can an
experienced person tell me if it's normal?

5. Accredition.. Is the program accredited? I couldn't find this word
in the Program's website.

6. I would like to contact some currently registered students in online
UoL or already graduated fellows from an online UoL program. If you are
one of them please send me an email to [email protected]

7. Most important: what does John Bear say about online MBA at UoL ???

Thanks in advance for your reply and for your help.

If you have some suggestions or advices for me, I will appreciate all
of them.

Yours
Jozy

 

Hi Jozy:

To the best of my knowledge:

1. This is due to the fact that the program is marketed by a provate company. The program comes from a fine institution and I don't see any reasons to doubt about their quality.

BUT, for that kind of money, you could attend a top MBA program anywhere. Eg Henley, Warwick, Imperial College , IE.

2. Again, the program is simply marketed from Holland. Nothing to be worried about.

3. I don't know really, but the only institution that I've seen stating that the program was earned through DL is the University of London.

4. I've seen the market the program the other way round, ie they state the program costs, say GBP 24k, and offer a 4k discount if you enrol immediately.

5, 6 and 7: I don't know, and I'm not Dr Bear


Again, why not attend a more prestigious institution for less money?

Good luck,


Joi

 

Hi Joi,

Thanks a lot for your reply,

I would like to go over the points, and I would like to get your feedback:

1 and 2.
I am not stuck to the University of Liverpool online program, neither to a British one, actually I am not living in the UK.
As I read in one of the contributions, that it will be more appreciated to pursue an online MBA program that has only assignments, and doesn't require the students to go for exams in order to avoid fraud. Liverpool was simply one of those.

I want to prursue a 100% online MBA in a good reputated university, I can do it over 2 to 3 years, and my budget is around 20.000 €

If am not asking you to decide for me, but I will really appreciate it if you can give me more options and suggestions.

3. This means that the advisor lied when he told me that the certificate will not state that the program was online


4. It's a good thought though.

5. and 7. Dr. Bear: we (or at least I) look forward to receiving your comments.

6. Students or graduates of Online UoL: I look forward to getting your opinions about the program.

Waiting for your reply Joi, and for some replies from the forum members.

Best regards
jozy

 

I think it is too expensive as Joi said. Imperial College´s MBA should be around €20,000, but you would have to take examinations. I think it is worthy. Good luck!

 

University of Liverpool is legitimate in UK.

It ranks (according to http://education.guardian.co.uk/universityguide2005 ) around 40+ over around 100 universities in UK.

BTW, IC's MBA should cost a bit less than €20,000, depending forex rates..

 

Dear Jozy:

As you point out, the final decision is up to you.

First of all, regarding point 3, I didn't say Liverpool was lying. What I said is the, to my best knowledge, London is the only institution discriminating between residential and DL degrees.
SO, more likely than not, the official didn't lie to you, but you should ask him.

For the kind of money you can invest in your education, these are, IMHO, the best options:

1. Instituto de Empresa (Spain):

This institution is currently among the most prestigious in the world.

Their Global Communities MBA actually costs Euro 30k, but they offer scholarships and you may, depending on your country of origin, arrange a loan to cover the part you can't afford immediately. Entries in February and September, but you must apply several months in advance, especially if you intend to apply for finaid.

It requires 2 brief residencies (2 days), virtually in any continent.

Does not require GMAT (They have their own exam, you may be able to make arrangements to take it in your home country)

Requires a high-speed connection, as students have 2-way video sessions on Saturday.

Languages: English and Spanish.

Options of 1year full time, 18 months, and 24 months.

I'm applying to this one.

www.ie.edu

2. University of Warwick (UK)

Among the top 50 programs in the world. It requires a 1-week residency at the beginning of each year.

Costs around Euro 15,000.

Requires GMAT

The program lasts 3 years part time.

www.warwick.edu

3. Imperial College, University of London (UK)

Among the top 60 in the world.

Costs aroung Euro 18,000.

Requires GMAT.

There are no residencies, a big plus.

Requires GMAT.

www.londonexternal.ac.uk

There are several posters with MBAs in the forum. They will be able to offer excelent advice.

IMPORTANT:

When I mention rankings, I'm referring to the full time versions of the programs.

 

Sorry, I clicked on "Submit" before writing Good luck, Joi.

So,

Good luck,

Joi

 

The University of Liverpool is a fully recognised and has degree granting power in the UK. If you ever have a question on a UK university I recommend looking here:
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/recognisedukdegrees/

U of Liverpool's online programme is run by Laureate(formerly Sylvan learning systems) education. IMHO there are far less expensive options that will suit your needs.

 

Thanks a lot guys for your helpful replies.

I am still searching for the best DL MBA program for me.
The programs you suggested at Warwick and at the Imperial Collegue are interesting.

1. Warwick, The deadline for applying for January 2006 was October 31 2005. So I have missed it, which means if I apply for June 2006 I will have to do the part A of the program in 18 Months, and then I will have one year for Part B and one year for Part C.
Which means I will not be able to get the degree before 4 years from now. :-(

2. Imperial collegue, they started in September 2005, and if I want to enroll, then I can not start before September 2006 :-(

To tell the truth I might go for one of the two programs, if I couldn't find a comparable program untill July or September 2006

I have one question here, they mentioned in their wesites that the exams have to be taken in a consulate.. can you shed more light on that?


Anyhow I contacted some universities, and I got some responses from them:

1. University of Phoenix,
2. Cardean University
3. Devry
4. and Ellis College.

Can you give some opinion about them?

Thanks again for your help.

Best regards

 

I attended UOL in 2002 - 2003..

I was in the MSIT program though. I actually got a lot out of it. I did drop out of the program when I moved to the US because in my opinion an online degree will not carry as much weight as a regular brick and Mortar degree from a well respected university. Since then I have requested transcripts from the university of Liverpool and transferred some of the units to the University of San Francisco without any problems.

I agree that the price is too high these days, when I was going there the complete degree was about 12K Euro. Nonetheless, looking at your other choices I think you are better off at Liverpool. You will not get much respect with a degree from Phoenix or Capella. My manager for example has the philosophy to reduce the degree by one level --> a phoenix MBA is like a regular bachelors, a bachelors from phoenix is an AA etc.

Have you looked at Leicester University in the UK? They seem pretty decent (top 20 UK institution) and they have an intake in January --> you might still be able to apply. www.le.ac.uk

 

Jozy:


The American intitutions you ask about are RA, so they are legitimate. However, they are not in the same n league than the institutions I recommended you.

A fellow poster states you will be better-off with a MBA through Liverpol than with any other of the choices. If he/she referred exclusively to the American options, this may be so, but Liverpool is no match to an MBA from Imperial College or Warwick, and even less to IE, in terms of prestige, recognition and quality, even less considering UoL's tuition fees.

Another option in the UK considered very prestigious is Henley: www.henley.ac.uk

They might have an intake in January.

Good luck,


Joi

 

Re: I attended UOL in 2002 - 2003..

This practice seems like lazy thinking... and a tad misinformed.

Dave

 

Liverpool...

Hi joi,

I was refering to the 4 choices that jozy had mentioned. I definitely agree that Liverpool is not the same leaque as Warwick or Imperial. Actually another excellent british program that has not been mentioned yet is the Manchester MBA.

In regards to the Phoenix MBA not being very well accepted; Many hiring managers I know would not consider a Phoenix degree to be equal to a state university degree. I have taken a few classes at Phoenix myself and ended up dropping out because the quality was terrible --> not even high school level. However, that was in 1999 maybe things have improved since then.....

 

Re: Liverpool...

Hi. I've taught in the program for four years and have peer-reviewed well over 120 classes, and I've never witnessed or heard of the experience that you describe.

Dave

 

Re: Liverpool...

Hi Neekmeister:

I supposed you were referring to the American options Jozy asked about. However, since you gave Liverpool as the best option without discussing any of the other UK?Spanish options we had discussed with Jozy, I felt it would be better to state my opinion on this.

As for Manchester, this is indeed an excellent school ,but the MBAs they offer are either for financial managers or engineers.

Also, Professor Keneddy, who used to be an active poster until he retired as (I think) director of the Heriott-Watt DL MBA program, once wrote that this schools was apparently losing its edge due to a merger and the fact that they were being reabsorbed by the University of Manchester.

As for the quality of the university of Phoenix, I can't really give my opinion.


Cheers,

Joi

 

Jozy,

With reference to Joi's post above; Henley do indeed have a January intake for their DL MBA program and I am in the process of applying.

You should still make it, they are not as tight as some other business schools on application entry dates. Search under my name or Henley for more information, or ask me anything specific if you feel the program appeals.

Peace,

Dave C.

 

Re: Re: Liverpool...

It seems the shortcomming of "losing edge due to a merger" is hard to be seen as compared to the shortcomming in choosing a less pestige school.

BTW, from what I have talked to people in MBS, although their DL MBA programmes are designed for finance or engineering people, the MBA programmes are still pretty "general". They cover pretty much a general MBA would cover, with a little more emphasis on finance/accounting or operation management. I believe the name "finance specialist MBA" or "engineering manager MBA" is a bit too much for them.

 

Hi tcmak:

Thanks for the update on MBS.

And, more important to me, thanks for presenting the IE Global Communities MBA to this forum.

It's due to your info that I knew about the program and contacted them.

Cheers,

Joi

 

Good Luck, wish you all the best!

 

Joi,

Please keep us informed regarding your progress. I did look into the IE GC MBA however price and other reasons meant I stayed with my original choice of Henley. It looks a fantastic program.

All the best,

Dave C.