Excelsior MBA

Is Excelsior a good choice for an MBA program? I am just wondering, because there is a lot of discussion about this college for undergrad programs, but hardly any for their graduate programs.

Sathya

 

Where's your undergrad degree from? I'd look into a state university that offers distance learning in your own state before considering a shabby degree from excelsior.

 

If you are just starting in your search I would look at http://www.aacsb.edu/ to find those institutions that will have the most utility. It really depends what field you are going into. Where I live as long as you attended an accredited institution, RA or DETC, your MBA will serve you fine. If you plan to teach I would definitely pursue an aacsb certified, regionally accredited school.

 

How do you come to this conclusion?
The Excelsior degree requires 48 units vs. the 30 - 36 unit MBAs often suggested in this forum.
I can transfer in up to 24 units which means I can take some courses at other campuses including UC and CSU campuses
I do not know anyone who has taken the Excelsior MBA but if I was looking for an MBA Excelsior would be one of my options along with CSUDH and APU.

Incidentally your comments might be taken more seriously if you listed your academic credentials in your posts.

 

Excelsior College www.excelsior.edu is regionally accredited by the Middle States Association. So, it's not totally shabby. On the other hand, it does not have professional accreditation and that might be a drawback in some circles. So, determine what you are going to use the degree for and then find out whether the lack of AACSB accreditation will be a drawback with prospective employers and grad schools you might be dealing with down the road. They do have concentrations in Information Security and Human Performance Technology, if either of those fields interests you.

 

And why do you think an MBA from Excelsior is a "shabby" degree?

 

Thanks for all the replies. Appreciate it.

I have been looking at many past discussions at this forum and they have all been useful. I do intend to do some teaching in future. So professional accreditation might be worth having. I will keep looking at other options.

 

Just ignore him foobar. I took the advice of Vin and if I were you I would do the same. He is a troll, plain and simple.

 

While Excelsior MBA might not be the most prestigious, i don't see any reason why we should consider them as shabby. They are an accredited university offering undergraduate and graduate level programs.

 

If, by teaching, you mean that you intend to do some occasional adjuncting while working a full-time job in information security or human performance technology, an Excelsior MBA will probably serve your needs quite well. If, by teaching, you mean that you intend to seek a full-time tenure-track position as Professor of Business Administration, then you will almost assuredly need an AACSB doctorate (of which there are a few options in the UK which can be completed at a distance). For that purpose, one might be well-advised to look for one of the many DL AACSB MBA programs.

 

If saiga is critizing an MBA program, especially in this case with Sathya asking for adevice, then it seems to me that he should let Sathya know if he has a no degree, bachelors degree, masters degree, is an HR person, or other.

I post my qualifications when it seems appropriate, and don't bother (sometimes) when it isn't. Just my viewpoint.

 

saiga

Saigaz, do you have a Bachelors degree and, if so, where is it from?

Saigaz, why do you say that Excelsior College offers shabby degrees?

 

This thread will give you some insight as why saiga thinks Excelsior is a shabby school. I think it has to do with the fact you can test out of most of your degree there.

http://www.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?t=29805

As you can see from my sig, I don't have a MBA or a masters degree (yet). I do have quite a bit of high tech industry experience, however. I will say that from my experience in the workplace, it seems that the biggest benefit most people get from a MBA is being able to expand your network by reaching out to your classmates as well as learning valuable skills and lessons from group project work. I'm very pro-distance learning but I think if there was a local option for a MBA (evenings etc.) I'd strongly consider that before an online program. At the least, I'd look for an online program with cohorts and residencies so you aren't finishing your degree in a complete vacuum.

 

Thanks.

I do intend to teach, but i don't think i would be looking at tenure track positions. How is Excelsior perceived in the NJ/NY area? I recently moved here, so i am not aware of the local reputation of the school.

 

I do not know how Excelsior is perceived on the east coast.
You can read success stories of former students in the "Hats Off" section of the college's Live & Learn magazine:
https://www.excelsior.edu/Excelsior_College/Live_and_Learn_Magazine/Hats_Off

Excelsior changed its name in the last ten years or so. It used to be the "University of the State of New York (USNY)", then it bacame Regents College, and then it was spun off to be independant of NY state financing (as I recall).

I note you have a MSc from Cranfield - in the aerospace industry that school is regarded as one of the best universities in the world. My former employer used to give them some big research grants and projects.

 

I don't know, but you might ask Rich Douglas, who holds an AS, a BS in Business, and a BA in Sociology from Excelsior's predecessor organization, the Regents External Degree Program of the University of the State of New York (in addition to which he also holds an AAS from the Community College of the Air Force, an MBA from National University, and a PhD in Non-Traditional Education from the Union Institute & University).

 

Their grad programs are still quite new so you probably won't find much about them. I _briefly_ considered their MBA but as my undergrad was from them I wanted to pursue something more mainstream, hence Indiana.

I'd personally recommend taking a look at CSUDH's MBA program (http://mbaonline.csudh.edu/programs.asp) as it'll probably be less expensive than Excelsior and will have the marque of a brick & mortar university on it. There are also tons of choices that are cheaper than Excelsior.

I wouldn't consider Excelsior's MBA "shabby", more likely "serviceable". I'd compare it with degrees from AIU and other predominantly online degree providers.

 

BA sociology U of I-urbana
Masters of Education-U of Wisconsin Madison

 

Thank you every one for all the suggestions. I will look at other MBA offerings as well.

Thanks again.