Low Cost MBA

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by J. Redman, Oct 11, 2009.

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  1. J. Redman

    J. Redman New Member

    Hello everyone:

    I have been searching the internet for a couple hours and found this site. I am looking for an online MBA, and cost is a big factor. I found 2 schools with tuition at $225 a credit, one is a 36 credit program and another is 39 credits. Does anyone know of any programs with lower tuition than this?

    Thanks for your help,

    JR
     
  2. friartuck

    friartuck New Member

  3. emmzee

    emmzee New Member

    If a nationally accredited (DETC) MBA is "good enough" for your purposes, you likely won't find any cheaper than AJU:

    http://www.aju.edu/

    Of course you'd have to be sure you don't need a RA degree.
     
  4. joel66

    joel66 New Member

    I personally would not put 100% of your decision based on cost. Over the past few weeks I have done so much research looking at different schools. One thing I noticed is that even though two schools offer MBA programs, if you read the course selection and electives, I was surprised by how different the programs were. Sure, most of the core class are the same, but I noticed some schools accept CLEP for foundation courses, others says it's okay and others consider what accreditation the business school is from.

    If you plan to go based on lowest tuition, I would recommend what you want to get out of the program first. Meaning, what elective courses you want to take and specialization you want to focus on. From there, I would check at least the five lowest tuition combined and review what requirements, course selections and read feedback from other members who attended the same school. I am still doing my research and noticed some schools that is more expensive will provide me with a better ROI than other schools. Hopefully for me, I can finalized my decision once I complete my CPCU, but I have narrowed down my search to under five schools.
     
  5. joel66

    joel66 New Member

    I forgot to mention, if you are a veteran in the military, some of these schools offer substantial discounts. I noticed some programs don't know the special tuition in their tuition page, but have it in another section embedded deep inside their page.
     
  6. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    Don't forget to factor in the cost of textbooks - thet can add significantly to course costs.
     
  7. J. Redman

    J. Redman New Member

    Thanks everyone for the information. I looked at the AJU webpage and it is $300 a credithour, unless you put your name on some kind of mailing list or something, looks weird to me.

    I dont know what DETC is, is that important? I live in Ohio but travel all the time consulting, so a 100% online program is best for me. I work for myself which is why cost is a factor. I also have not been inschool for about 20 years, so I don't want to have to take exams to get in.

    I'll keep looking, I like this forum.
     
  8. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    DETC is the Distance Education and Training Council and is a recognised US Government accredition agency. For more on accreditation check out this site:
    http://www.ed.gov/students/prep/college/diplomamills/index.html?src=rt

    Generally speaking the following is a ranking of university accreditation (s) starting with the most desirable:
    • Regionally accredited with professional accreditiation
    • Regionally accredited
    • DETC and other US govt recognized national accreditors
     
  9. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    California State University Bakersfield has on on-line Master of Science in Administration.
    http://www.csub.edu/msaonline/
    Program is in quarter units ($130 to $160 per unit) --- equivalent tuition cost in semester units is $195 to $240 per unit.
     
  10. J. Redman

    J. Redman New Member

    This is priced right, but it isn't an MBA. it is interesting however..
     
  11. J. Redman

    J. Redman New Member

    Interesting, I read some of the website, but still don't get what "most desirable" means..?
     
  12. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    "Most desirable"/ This can be different for each individual. But lets discuss business graduate degrees:

    The most desirable (sometimes referred to as the gold standard) is for a RA university that is also accredited by AACSB - especially if you would like to obtain a job in academia.

    RA: many companies require a degree to be from an RA college or university and some reject a nationally accredited (DETC for example) degree.

    DETC: Most RA schools will not acept a NA UG degree towards a masters degree. Some companies and other organizations wilnot consider a DETC degree for employment. Occasionally there are niche degrees that some employers appreciate (American Graduate University for example). Units from a NA school are sometimes not accepted for transfer credit by an RA school.


    This is not to say that a DETC degree is not useful for some people - since I have 3 RA degrees I am open to earning a DETC doctorate if one appears that meets my interests as a consultant.
     
  13. potpourri

    potpourri New Member

    I think for the sake of argument here, we need to make some clarifications. If you're doing this for personal enrichment or it doesn't matter so much that you're going to use the MBA for a stepping stone or to become a professor, then a DETC (nationally accredited) degree may suffice. If you want virtual acceptance then you will want to get an MBA degree that is regionally accredited.

    Costs need to be weighed in and so forth. But what ultimately do you want to do with this degree? Why an MBA? Do you have plans for the next 5-10 years for this degree and is it to land a professional job? You need to answer these questions so that it will help you to make a good sound judgement.
     
  14. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    I enrolled at AJU under the sponsored tuition deal. All I had to do was join a social networking site for students, similar to Facebook. That's it. It was well worth it to take four courses for $500.
     
  15. J. Redman

    J. Redman New Member

    Thanks everyone, I have found what looks like the right program for me, I talked to them on the phone yesterday and even spoke to the university president, who has an MBA from the school that he got before taking over there.

    Thanks for your help and all the info, now comes the hard part and all the work!
     
  16. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member

    That sounds mighty familiar. If it is who I am thinking, it was a damn good choice.

    Abner :)
     
  17. lchemist

    lchemist New Member

    The University of South Dakota offers an online MBA regionally and AACSB accredited for $337.05 per credit hour. The program is 33 hours long, with 18 credit hours of foundation coursework, I think most of them can be fullfilled by CLEP/DSST.

    It is not clear if the online students have to pay the other hourly fees of $42.55
    $5.10
    $89.10
    $34.80

    If that is the case, it will add $171.55 per hour, bringing the actual cost per credit to $508.60.

    You will also have to go one time to campus for the required five-day residence.
     
  18. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    I'm assuming you mean the prerequisite courses can be covered by CLEP/DANTES exams? Those exams cannot be used for graduate-level credit.
     
  19. lchemist

    lchemist New Member

    Exactly, they call them foundation courses, It may be the case that the CLEP/DSST exams have to be accepted for credit by an undergraduate institution (i.e. appear in an Excelsior College transcrpt) , before the equivalent course could be waived by SDU.
     
  20. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Have you read the MBA Sticky? http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27695 :eek:
     

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