Cheapest MBA courses by credit hour

I'm in the UMass MBA program. It ain't exhorbitant, but it ain't exactly cheap, either, at $660/cr hr. Finances are tight, and as I still have 21 cr hr to complete the degree, I'm doing what I can to lessen the student loan load. I'm planning to get 6 credits online from another AACSB school, as UMass allows this many transfer credits.

Does anyone know who has the cheapest tuition for individual courses for an out-of-stater? It's imperative that the tuition be for out-of-state, as I live in a state--Kansas--that has no pure online AACSB MBA program--alas! I know some programs are cheap overall, like Miss State, but that's mainly because they have fewer cr hr requirements, not because the cr hr themselves are the cheapest. So far, about the cheapest I can find from an AACSB school is Nebraska, at $294/cr hr. Anyone have any other ideas?

Thanks,

LF

 

How is Amberton www.amberton.edu tuition-wise? Their name seems to keep popping up whenever people ask about the least expensive MBA. Are they AACSB?

 

They're certainly cheap @ $200/cr hr and they're RA, but when I looked for them on the AACSB website, they don't show up as an accredited member. My best guess, though not sure, is that UMass would shoot down any non-AACSB credit hours. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

Any more?

 

Well I attend Texas A&M - Commerce for my MBA program all online. I am in California and the out of state price is not that bad. They are also AACSB and I have had a great experience so far with the university.

This may be a good site for you to check out and see if anything there can assist you.

http://www.geteducated.com/rankings/best_mbaaacsb.asp

Besy of luck.

Joe

 

I'll look into them. Seems like every single school in Texas is being consolidated either under the A&M or UT system, doesn't it? Does wonders for the prestige of some of these smaller schools. I personally prefer "Texas A&M-Commerce" over "East Texas State" (their former name), but maybe that's just me.

 

Hi Little Fauss,

Not to tell you what you already know but I'm reasonably sure that Nebraska is the cheapest online AACSB MBA on cost per credit hour basis. I also think there are quite a few that are somewhat less expensive than UMass, but more expensive than Nebraska. Wyoming, Texas A & M - Commerce, Miss State, Western Kentucky ($360 per credit hour - just checked), I believe SUNY is around $300 per credit hour (and never mentioned on this forum), Auburn is somewhat cheaper... there are a helluva lot in the $550 range aren't there?

 

Thanks for the info, November. I'll take a look at SUNY. Do you know which one? Or is it a cooperative program among several different in the system like Georgia and Texas have?

 

I personally think that the Texas A & M thing is a coup! It means that someone like me can do an online MBA from TAMU-C and say, gee, I have an MBA from Texas A & M and no one up here in the frozen north is going to be any wiser that this is not exactly maybe possibly what they assume it is. I'll tell you, for no GMAT and not a big price tag you're getting fantastic name recognition, which I think personally is a huge plus for an MBA.

I looked at applying to Texas A & M - Commerce, sent them my transcript for evaluation and so on. Basically, I was in no problem. For about the same money I could also have probably been accepted at Southwestern College, which I like a lot based on their curriculum. Now, not to be petty, but probably most people here have heard of Texas A & M. Southwestern College? You can probably count on one hand the number of people in Montreal who've heard of the school, and you might have a couple fingers left for Bellevue and Baker (two other schools which I like).

 

Hang on, I have a link SOMEPLACE!

Edit:

Here's the good news: I found the link:

http://web2.sunyit.edu/programs/graduate/mba/

Here's the bad news: $473 per credit hour for out of state, sorry about that.

 

Sort of. Though imho, from what I know of the TAMU-Commerce program, it's not entirely fair to compare them to UMUC (not that you technically were). It seems like a very solid B&M school down there that just happens to offer online degrees, rather than being a slightly-shady adult degree completion outfit. That may not be entirely fair to UMUC, but I've heard so many horror stories about them, and none from the TAMU system.

 

A fine little Christian school, quite legitimate, been around for over a century, but you're right, the name recognition isn't there and probably never will be. I never even heard of it myself until a couple years ago, and I live about 100 miles from the campus and have relatives who live right there in Winfield.

If anyone wonders about their curious name: they're most certainly not in the "southwest", they're not even in southwestern Kansas, they're just south of Wichita, which is south central or you might even call it southeastern. Back when the college was founded, in the Little House on the Prairie days, Winfield was pretty much the southwestern edge of the frontier. In fact, the Ingalls family was settled not far from there in Independence until the federal government kicked them off and the had to run back up north. Just goes to show that a college with a lot of tradition can yet be almost perfectly unknown. You tell someone you got an online MBA from Southwestern, and they might take you for a millophile. But not the case.

 

While I'm not disagreeing with you (really, I'm not) I just wonder how silly it would sound to say "My MBA is from Texas A & M University Dash Commerce" (okay, just kidding). Seriously, what do you say? Texas A & M University, Commerce Campus? The difficult part with that, around here, is that an undergraduate business degree is generally a Bachelor of Commerce. People are going to think you're saying that you got it from the Texas A & M business school campus. It would take a 45 minute explanation and then they'd end up thinking you went to Texas A & M but you're a nut job about explaining it and not hire you.

If I went to UMUC I'd say I went to "University of Maryland University College".

Despite my previous post on TAMU-C I am not a person to tell the half the story that is more convenient.

 

I really enjoyed your usage of Millophile, incidentally.

It's a shame about Southwestern College, because I really do like their curriculum, but TAMU-C or University of Wyoming would serve me much better, I suspect. Not that I'm in the market for an MBA presently, anyway.

As a complete aside I note that having gotten RA the American Public University System has moved into the most affordable RA DL MBA club at 9000 bucks + books.

 

I just checked with the program director at Nebraska, and while he said that I could enroll as a visiting student, he said I would be knocked to the bottom of the list for every class. He said my chances would be very slim to get into a required course. As the required courses are pretty much what I'm seeking to take, as they are the ones that have counterparts in the UMass program, looks like I'm back to the drawing board. This is the way it is with many things via DL, there are a lot of ideas that sound great in theory, but don't fly when you actually investigate. So, off I go to find another lower-priced program.

One note: thaty guy from UNL answered my email with lightning speed, very impressive. That's one thumbs up for the program.

 

Have you given the University of North Alabama any thought? I am currently taking a class there ,even tohugh I am enrolled in another MBA program($300/Cr. hr.). They also seem willing to accommodate me in meeting core requirement classes.(although they are not AACSB(they are ACBSP) they do transfer to my AACSB school).

 

Funny you mention that, I just checked into them today. I'll wait and see how it pans out. It would be great if my school--UMass--also accepts non-AACSB. If that's the case, though, then I'll dump everything for Fort Hays State, which is supposedly AACSB-bound (though not yet there) and is dirt cheap for KS residents: $177/cr hr.

 

For those of us in-state, this is a good deal (a lot cheaper than my $800/hr for IU and I can transfer in 6 credits). Thanks!

 

It ain't so cheap. I could've sworn it was $177, but that's for in-state on campus. It's $400 for online, in or out of state.