Is AASCB worth it?

Hello,

I am a government employee looking to complete my MBA for promotion purposes. I am in a management intern program that is supposedly a "fast-track" to management. Hence, I need my MBA.

To give a bit of background, I have a very good undergrad GPA, magna cum lade, etc. Yet, I do NOT want to take the GRE or GMAT. Personal preference. This led me to researching school that a) did not require either test for admissions and b) may or may not be AASCB accredited.

I have researched a great number of schools both AASCB and non-AASCB, and I have still not come to a consensus yet.

I suppose my bottom line is this: Is the AASCB accreditation worth the extra time, effort, and, most importantly, money just to reach an MBA?

I ask because I am young, and not entirely sure that I will finish my career with the government. If I knew I would, I could answer my own question:
An AASCB MBA carries no more weight in federal service than a RA MBA.

However, I haven't figured out how to tell the future yet so I question whether a RA MBA will carry the same weight as an AASCB MBA in the private sector.

I would welcome any recent thoughts on this topic. Thank you all in advance!

Kyle

 

In private sector companies, I doubt most employers even know what AASCB is or care. That said, if you ever decide to teach a few courses somewhere with your MBA, you will require one from an AASCB school in most cases. The other side of the argument is that some employers give more credit to well-known MBA programs as opposed to small regional schools depending on the company. (Financial firms, etc.) Almost all of the top tier MBA schools have AASCB accreditation so these companies would care although in a non-direct manner.

Since you said "I haven't figured out how to tell the future yet" and "because I am young" my advice would be to shoot for the best program you can afford. You never know where your career will take you years from now and I'm sure you only want to earn an MBA once. It's always easier to have a degree from a better school than you might need rather than a average school when you might be competing against top candidates.

 

I agree with bazonkas.
Once you have reasonable work experience (4 or 5 years maybe) then that becomes as important as your academic credentials in many private sectors.

Another option for you to consider is earning an MPA, then later taking the appropriate MBA (perhaps with employer tuition support). Knowledge gained from a MPA program will be useful working for private companies who do business with government agencies.

 

What bazonkers said...

AASCB is suposedly the creme de la creme of business accreditations, but you'll never really need an AASCB MBA unless you want to teach at a school that has AASCB accreditation. If you get an MBA that doesn't have AASCB accreditation, you will still be able to teach at all business schools that don't have AASCB accreditation.

 

First,

Thank you all for the responses. I appreciate the information thus far.

Second,

Though I would still like to garner more opinion from the DL public here, I do seem to gather that AASCB is a bit more nicety than necessity. I have no desire to teach, though I certainly won’t rule out anything career-wise. However, this won’t affect my decision towards or away from an AASCB school.

Sure, cost is a factor, but not THE factor. I am a veteran with education benefits, and as said previously, a current Civil Service employee with education benefits.

I say this to say that I find myself coming back to what bazonkers and others have said “It’s better to have it and not need it, rather than need it and not have it.” I can appreciate that logic. I’m just not sure I am willing to hand over a lot of extra cash for that AASCB seal on the school. Further, I have been with the feds for almost 8 years now, and don’t see that ending anytime in the near future..therefore not requiring the AASCB for promotion potential.

Again though, I would still like to hear from others. Thanks again.

Kyle

 

There are a few AASCB-schools that do not require GMAT - Syracuse, Scranton, and some might wave it, like CSU.

 

First,

Thank you all for the responses. I appreciate the information thus far.

Second,

Though I would still like to garner more opinion from the DL public here, I do seem to gather that AASCB is a bit more nicety than necessity. I have no desire to teach, though I certainly won’t rule out anything career-wise. However, this won’t affect my decision towards or away from an AASCB school.

Sure, cost is a factor, but not THE factor. I am a veteran with education benefits, and as said previously, a current Civil Service employee with education benefits. However, I absolutely refuse to pay the exhorbant amount charged by so-called "good schools".

I say this to say that I find myself coming back to what bazonkers and others have said “It’s better to have it and not need it, rather than need it and not have it.” I can appreciate that logic. I’m just not sure I am willing to hand over a lot of extra cash for that AASCB seal on the school. Further, I have been with the feds for almost 8 years now, and don’t see that ending anytime in the near future..therefore not requiring the AASCB for promotion potential.

Again though, I would still like to hear from others. Thanks again.

Kyle

 

AASCB is not always more costly. Jacksonville State University (http://www.jsu.edu/distance/index.html) I think they are about $9K.

Here is a thread - http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?t=30854&highlight=jacksonville+state+university

 

Not supposedly. They are. The other accreditations aren't even in the same ball-park. Download a list of schools and compare.

And while you might not need an AACSB MBA per se, you'll be hard pressed to match most non-AACSB MBAs against most good MBAs that also happen to be AACSB. It's not a matter of whether AACSB is important so much as it is a matter of asking yourself why you'd presume that the business schools that are AACSB are somehow wrong? In other words, if the best schools have all decided to voluntarily join the organization and promote it (as they do), why would anyone assume it's worthless? The best schools obviously believe in it.

And before anyone says "Oh that's just marketing!", think about that. Does a big well-known state school like Auburn really need marketing? Maybe it serves a purpose for the smaller schools but not the bigger ones. Schools like UW-Madison would be one of the best b-schools in the country today without AACSB but they also believe in its processes. What does that tell you about it as a mark of quality?

Don't be fooled. Take the GMAT. You'll thank yourself in years to come. And don't think non AACSB business schools don't value AACSB. I'm an adjunct in 3 local schools (none of which are AACSB) and I can tell you that each wants to be but can't for various reasons. They recruit the best candidates they can get just like any other school will and they're aware of why an AACSB MBA is of more value than most others (why wouldn't they be).

 

My layman's impression is that AACSB favors business programs that are academic in nature, staffed by full-time professors. They put a lot of weight on things like scholarly publishing.

There might conceivably be a case to be made for hiring business instructors, perhaps more of them than AACSB will countenance, from the ranks of practicing business-people. I mean, who would you want teaching you entrepeneurship, a tenured professor or a successful entrepeneur?

Of course, most of the "lower-tier" schools that staff their business programs with hordes of adjuncts don't typically recruit top talent from the world of practice either.

Nevertheless, my suspicion is that AACSB's more scholarly model might not always be most effective for individuals (small business owners perhaps) who are seeking more practical instruction from the trenches.

 

That's why I wrote:

 

First,

Thank you all for the responses. I appreciate the information thus far.

Second,

Though I would still like to garner more opinion from the DL public here, I do seem to gather that AASCB is a bit more nicety than necessity (save one opinion that calls it necessity). I have no desire to teach, though I certainly won’t rule out anything career-wise. However, this won’t affect my decision towards or away from an AASCB school.

Sure, cost is a factor, but not THE factor. I am a veteran with education benefits, and as said previously, a current Civil Service employee with education benefits.

I say this to say that I find myself coming back to what bazonkers and others have said “It’s better to have it and not need it, rather than need it and not have it.” I can appreciate that logic. I’m just not sure I am willing to hand over a lot of extra cash for that AASCB seal on the school. Further, I have been with the feds for almost 8 years now, and don’t see that ending anytime in the near future..therefore not requiring the AASCB for promotion potential.

Again though, I would still like to hear from others. Thanks again.

Kyle

 

I think you should pursue the best MBA you can afford. IMHO, I think going the AACSB route is the best option. Standards and perceptions change over time, and it looks like AACSB is becoming (or has become) the standard requirement for teaching at good business schools. The time may come when industry starts recognising AACSB above and beyond other MBA's and may not even fun education for non-AACSB programs.

 

I was in your shoes.... in industry and wanted a good MBA. My employer (supplier to the government) required all Masters work to be from an AACSB school, so it left me with litle choice, but when pursuing my doctorate, it was a harder decision, but I went with AACSB. I am glad I did, though I did not have intentions of going into academia, the door was open and it was an option, since I went AACSB.

I took one class at UoP and one class at National University. I was not impressed at all, not sure if it was due to the AACSB requirements, but I do believe that faculty required to research have (as a whole) a better understanding of current theories and research that they can bring into the classroom.

 

Hi Lantern - You've gotten some good advice so far and so I'm not going to repeat what has already been said. I often recommend UMass. It has decent name recognition, is nicely accredited and it's not too expensive.
look here:

http://www.umassonline.net/degrees/Online-Degree-Master-Business-Administration-Lowell.cfm

Also, we have a sticky thread related to the best MBA programs. There's some interesting information in there:

http://www.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?t=27695

Finally, if you've got nothing else to do this weekend, we've got a link to what is probably the best listing on online MBA programs that you'll find anywhere:

http://sites.google.com/site/aggietechie/ (thanks jonnie!)

Maybe you'd like to think a bit about specializations. This might help you narrow down the list a bit. Good luck.

 

Scott makes some good points.

There are several AACSB MBA programs that waive the GMAT if you have a high enough undergrad GPA - which you appear to have.

I don't have programs off-hand but someone else (Ted?) might remember.

 

The reality is that everyday you have new MBA programs and there are thousands of them. Due to large difference of quality among them, there is a high trend towards AACSB accreditation.

In my case, I graduated from a AACSB accredited school and although at the beginning didn't see the difference, it has helped me to get some new credentials as I was able to apply for few international certifications that required an MBA from AACSB accredited school. It has also helped me to get some adjunct gigs as well. Having an AACSB accredited degree makes your education bullet proof and you will always get the recognition for it.

You will hear from some people that RA is enough and it is not worth working or paying more for a AACSB accredited degree. However, as you never know what the future will be like, you don't want to be turned down later from a better opportunity only because your degree is not AACSB accredited.

It looks like AACSB will be the global accreditation for business schools. As the market gets saturated with holders from MBA degrees, you will see more the AACSB requirement as a way to filter candidates from more recognized schools.

 

I agree that AACSB seems to becoming the "global accreditation", but there is also EQUIS and AMBA. Having all three seems to be the "triple crown" of business accreditation and possessed by few business schools.

 

Kyle,

Take a look at this list - there are many affordable AACSB MBA programs out there:

http://www.geteducated.com/online-college-ratings-and-rankings/best-buy-lists/best-buy-online-masters-mba-aacsb

To compare - here is a list of affordable Regional MBA's

http://www.geteducated.com/online-college-ratings-and-rankings/best-buy-lists/best-buy-mba-regional

These lists may help you with the cost perspective. Good luck.

Shawn

 

I'm not sure if you're in the DC area (you mention working for the government) but Johns Hopkins offers a MBA program that is not AASCB accredited and from what I understand, they have no intention of attempting to earn it. This is one of the few examples where I think the school's reputation can outweigh it not holding the accreditation. The school obviously has a great reputation and offer evening courses geared towards people working in the gov't/public service (not sure of distance learning options).
I would aim for something with AASBC accreditation. As has been mentioned "better to have it and not need it..."