Ranked School but no AACSB, or Unranked with AACSB

I've bene pondering my next step following the BA, which should be completed next summer. I am fairly certain that I want my graduate degree (probably a MBA) to be done in a traditional classroom or a hybrid of online/traditinal classroom, but I am not completely ruling out an online program. In any event, there are several schools located very close to me to choose from:

Hood College: Located very close to me. Not AACSB accredited, but is perennially ranked by US News & WR. 2008 Best Masters Programs - #18 in the North Region.

Mount Saint Mary's: Located very close to me. Not AACSB accredited, but is perennially ranked by US News & WR. 2008 Best Masters Programs - #30 in the North Region.

University of Baltimore/Towson: Two schools have joined to jointly issue its business degrees. Located fairly close to me and offers flexibility of a hybrid program. AASCB accredited but not ranked in US News. Individually, Baltimore is ranked by US News & WR as a fourth tier school for Masters Programs, Towson is ranked #45 in the North region.

Locally (Maryland/DC/Virginia), Hood and Mount Sait Mary's have better reputations.

Thoughts from the board?

Pug

 

The rankings that you refer to are overall rankings of the institution. USN&WR also ranks some individual graduate programs, including business. In the business rankings, USN&WR only considers AACSB-accredited schools.

I don't always put a lot of faith into USN&WR's rankings, but if you're going to use them as a consideration then I think it's noteworthy that they won't even rank schools that aren't AACSB.

 

Thanks. I'm aware of the institutional rankings and how they work, that's why I'm curious as to the opinions of others here. To be clear, the rankings I am referring to don't refer to the institution as a whole, they refer to all graduate programs offered by a given institution, but not to one particular program. So the question is, would you prefer an AACSB program from an unranked school before you considered a non-AACSB program from a college whose graduate degree programs as a whole are ranked, but not specifically its business programs? On the one hand, AACSB is the gold standard, but on the other hand the majority of employers don't know and don't care. The lack of AACSB is certainly no guarantee of inferior quality, and the name recognition of a ranked school may have its merits, particularly regionally.

Pug

 

If all other factors are equal, I would attend the school with the best reputation if you are planning to live in the Baltimore/DC area. Employers would probably take reputation over AACSB accreditation. However, if you ever want to teach, you'd be better off with the UB/Towson MBA.

Since none of the schools are ranked extremely high, I'd look at things like cost, convenience, and job placement of each school and throw out the rankings altogether.

 

Ok, let me throw something else at you. Johns Hopkins offers a MBA program and is less than 30 minutes from me. Hopkins has serious name recognition and is ranked #14 in the nation overall. However, its business program is not AACSB and is therefore not ranked. Where do you lean on that one? I am also looking into Loyola, which is AACSB accredited and ranked #2 overall in the North (behind Villanova). But tuition for the MBA and eMBA is not listed on its website.


Pug

 

I would take the Hopkins or Loyola route on name recognition alone.

 

Most HR professionals only go by "who they know". So, I would first go with a recognized school (if industry is where you will be going). If academia, go with AACSB.

 

Name recognition wins out, but let me qualify that. Johns Hopkins is not known for business. Its reputation for science and medicine is so strong I would think any degree from JHU would carry some weight, but I'm sure recruiters don't believe since the school is ranked 14th, the MBA is the 14th best program in the country. Loyola would probably be a good choice since it has decent name recognition, AACSB, and a solid ranking.

I am of the opinion that if you can't go to an elite B-school (the only one in your area is probably Georgetown), go to any recognizable and respected school that fits your needs. At that point, any difference in outcome is nominal.

 

Just out of curiousity, what do you consider "A" schools if you are listing Georgetown as a B? Harvard and Yale? Where do you rank the University of Maryland/Robert H. Smith School of Business? Loyola? Hopkins?

Pug

 

I would pick these school are A school.

1 Harvard University
Boston, MA
Score 100 2007-2008 Out-of-state tuition (full-time)$41.900 2007 Total graduate business enrollment (full-time)1.808 Distance Enter your zip
1 Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Score 100 2007-2008 Out-of-state tuition (full-time)$45.921 2007 Total graduate business enrollment (full-time)741 Distance Enter your zip
3 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
Philadelphia, PA
Score 95 2007-2008 Out-of-state tuition (full-time)$41.950 2007 Total graduate business enrollment (full-time)1.620 Distance Enter your zip
4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
Cambridge, MA
Score 93 2007-2008 Out-of-state tuition (full-time)$44.556 2007 Total graduate business enrollment (full-time)770 Distance Enter your zip
4 Northwestern University (Kellogg)
Evanston, IL
Score 93 2007-2008 Out-of-state tuition (full-time)$43.935 2007 Total graduate business enrollment (full-time)1.194 Distance Enter your zip
4 University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
Score 93 2007-2008 Out-of-state tuition (full-time)$44.500 2007 Total graduate business enrollment (full-time)1.117 Distance Enter your zip
7 Dartmouth College (Tuck)
Hanover, NH
Score 89 2007-2008 Out-of-state tuition (full-time)$42.990 2007 Total graduate business enrollment (full-time)500 Distance Enter your zip
7 University of California--Berkeley (Haas)
Berkeley, CA
Score 89 2007-2008 Out-of-state tuition (full-time)$37.949 2007 Total graduate business enrollment (full-time)504 Distance Enter your zip
9 Columbia University
New York, NY
Score 88 2007-2008 Out-of-state tuition (full-time)$43.436 2007 Total graduate business enrollment (full-time)1.226 Distance Enter your zip
10 New York University (Stern)
New York, NY
Score 84 2007-2008 Out-of-state tuition (full-time)$39.800 2007 Total graduate business enrollment (full-time)839 Distance Enter your zip
11 University of California--Los Angeles (Anderson)
Los Angeles, CA

 

I agree. A recognised school would the first choice for industry. If you are moving into academia, it gets a little more complicated. If the hiring school requires AACSB, then an MBA from a recognised school will not cut it. The ideal situation will always be a degree from a recognised AND AACSB-accredited institution.

 

Like Loyola. Ok, next question, for teaching purposes which is preferred, a brick and mortar AACSB from a school like Loyola, or an online AACSB from somewhere with even more stature?

Pug

 

B School is a common slang term for Business School. I don't think he was referring to Georgetown as being second rate.

 

Well, there are no online AACSB-accredited schools with more stature than B&M AACSB-accredited schools. In fact, there are few (any?) AACSB-accredited exclusively online schools. There might be some that require residencies, but no 100% online schools.

 

The business school at Johns Hopkins is unusual -- it's more like an extension program than a traditional B&M Business School. It's always been geared towards working adults rather than to full-time students, and it relies heavily on adjunct faculty from the local business community, rather than tenured professors. It might not qualify for AACSB accreditation based on its faculty policies.

It might be fair to compare the JHU Business School to the Harvard Extension School. The JHU Business School, like Harvard Extension, offers perfectly legitimate and respectable degrees. However, both schools are significantly less selective, and therefore less prestigious, than other schools within their associated universities.

 

The University of Baltimore/Towson University is AACSB accredited and they offer a 100% online option. They also offer campus and hybrid options. I know that George Washington University and Drexel also offer complete online options. I'm not sure if there are others.

Pug

 

Agreed. The question is, does the ordinary-non-degreeinfo population perceive it that way? I polled about 6 people today, asking each to rank the following 5 business programs in order of prestige and utility: Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland, Towson, Loyola of Maryland, Mount Saint Mary's of Maryland. Everyone listed JHU first, obviously based on name recognition and reputaion of the medical school. Loyola was usually listed 3rd 4th. Using AACSB accreditation as the primary factor for consideration, followed then by reputation/name recognition, my order would be:

1) University of MD (AACSB, good rep, ranked high by US News as a top graduate business school)

2) Loyola (AACSB, great rep, ranked #2 by US News for Masters Programs)

3) Towson (AACSB, little to no rep, ranked #45 by US News for Masters Programs)

4) JHU (not AACSB, GREAT rep and name recognition, ranked #14 by US News as a National University)

5) Mount Saint Mary's (not AACSB, good rep locally, ranked #30 by US News for Masters Programs)

Your thoughts?

Pug

 

No, probably not. My guess is that the "Johns Hopkins" brand garners more recognition and respect than the "AACSB" brand, both regionally and nationally.

Business degrees are professional degrees, like medical, law, or engineering degrees. But there is one difference: doctors, lawyers, and engineers are subject to state licensing laws, which typically prefer or require degrees that are appropriately accredited. Business people generally aren't affected by such laws, and this may be why professional accreditation doesn't have the same significance for business degrees as it does for other professional degrees.

 

I believe he was making a distinction between a purely B&M school with AACSB vs. a program through a B&M AACSB school that also has online studies.

 

I am not sure if the degreeinfo population can answer what all the others think, as I think we are educated about accreditation and such.