Best AACSB/RA MBA that accepts NA bachelors

Hello Everybody,

I've been doing a lot of reading on these forums for the past couple of weeks and have learned a great deal about distance learning schools. Can anyone offer advice on the best AACSB or RA School that accepts NA accrediation with good name reputation that offers an online MBA for about 20k or less.

The schools I've narrowed down my search to are the following:

Southern New Hampshire - RA accrediated - 30K - too pricey
Walden University - RA accrediated - 25k - no name reputation
UMass - lowell - AACSB - 25k - good name reputation
Bellevue University - RA accrediated - 15k - not sure about name reputation
Walsh College - RA - 20k - not sure about name reputation
Excelsior - RA - 20k - decent name reputation
Capitol - doesn't accept my credits

My first choice that meets this criteria is UMass, can anyone advise on a better school that has the best name rep, around 20k, and AACSB or RA accrediated?

An MBA with a concentration in Information Assurance would be an added plus, since I'm in the IT Security field.

All comments and advice very much appreciated. Thanks

 

Don't know if Jacksonville State University accepts NA credits it is always worth asking them (not just looking at the website) and they are really cheap at $324 per credit.

 

Thanks, this looks like another option I can check out. Although, I do have to take the GMAT for this school. UMass is allowing me in on a conditional admission I will keep a 3.5 GPA for the foundation courses and not have to take the GMAT.

 

American Military University www.apus.edu and Western Governors University www.wgu.edu both hold both RA and NA, so they may be good bets to take your NA undergrad.

 

Any thoughts on Umass, is it a good repuatble school with name recognition?

 

Just looking at the GetEducated.com list of RA & AACSB programs ...
http://www.geteducated.com/online-college-ratings-and-rankings/best-buy-lists/best-buy-online-masters-mba-aacsb

One that seems to stand out is Western Kentucky University ... relatively cheap, listed as tier 1 by US News & World Report:
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/bowling-green-ky/western-kentucky-university-2002

I dunno what their rep is though. (FWIW Lowell is listed as tier 3 by US News.)

Neither Lowell or WKU is listed in the QS world university rankings:
http://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings

Neither are listed on ARWU's ranking of business schools either:
http://www.arwu.org/ARWUSubject2009EconomicsBusiness.jsp
Interestingly, "Texas A&M University - College Station" is on the list in position #39 ... is this the same as "Texas A & M University-Commerce" listed on GetEducated.com's site?

Anyways, depending how much weight you put into these rankings, this may not matter.

 

I suspect state schools may not be as lenient as other schools in accepting an NA degree. Sometimes you have to speak to a department head rather than an admissions office for waivers.

 

Liberty University-$18,000
http://www.luonline.com/index.cfm?PID=14407
Liberty accepts NA degrees and here is the proof.
Admission Requirements

 

I believe in your original post you mentioned UMass-Lowell. UMass-Amherst is the flagship state university here in Massachusetts and is nationally recognized. I think UMass-Boston, and to a lesser extent UMass-Lowell, would be known in the greater New England area but not as much outside the region.
All three are fine schools and you would get a solid education from any of them, but the only one with a national reputation is the campus in Amherst. I know they have a quality online MBA program, though I don't know about their policy on accepting NA degrees.

 

I would look in to HWU - in Edinburgh Scotland.

I don't think they have the specialization you would like.

http://www.ebsglobal.net/

Not AACSB accredited.

 

I've narrowed my search down between UMass-lowell and Bellevue. I live in the NY area, so I'm partial to more people knowing UMass, then Bellevue.

Although, Bellevue seems like a really good RA school, but its not AACSB or well known. It seems that anyone I talk to about UMass they have heard of the school. As far as the courses required, UMass seems to be much more challenging 44 credit hours vs. 36 credit hours. The price for UMass is about 24k vs. 16k for Bellevue.

If you had to chose between the two schools, which one would be a better choice? I'm leaning towards UMass.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, Edinburgh Scotland looks like a good school, although I live in NY and I think it would be better if the school was in the US.

 

I was looking at UMass Amherst but it is 15k more than UMass Lowell. I think as long as I went to a UMass school 3rd tier nationally I would be ok.

 

If you can get in to UMass Amherst the school's standing will more than make up for the cost differential in the job market.

 

As a current student of UMass Amherst's MBA program with awareness of UMass Lowell's program I can give you some advice. You may also benefit from knowing that we have similar career backgrounds. (Current CISSP and CISA with 15 years experience in service delivery and systems integration).

The Lowell program is not the same as the Amherst program. Where UMass is ranked well for its MBA program it's most often ranked for the program at Amherst. (Isenberg School of Management) While this doesn't mean the Lowell program is a bad program, it's not the top tier program at UMass. (Though it was recently ranked by Princeton) Both are online.

The Amherst MBA is a 37 credit hour program. The Lowell MBA is a 30 to 42 credit hour program. The differentiators are as follows:

1. The Amherst Online/Part time program is taught by the same faculty as the full-time program. The Lowell program due to size has a lot of adjunct faculty.

2. The Lowell program offers concentrations that Amherst doesn't. You can get that Information Technology concentration or Finance concentration. The Amherst program offers more than a few electives that cover the same material in different ways, but you're not getting a concentration on the diploma.

What's the same?

3. They're both AACSB accredited. They're both UMass. Truthfully, I'm more than a bit confused as to why they have two official business schools in the UMass system and no law school to speak of yet. Probably has to do with geography and state politics.

Why did I make my choice?

4. The faculty edge goes to Amherst.

5. Once I was past the BA in IT, my experience and certifications are worth more in the market than a Masters in anything IT would provide me as the certifications force me to do continuing ed, where the degree just proves I knew what I was doing at the time the degree was conferred. IT changes fast.

6. The PhD programs in Business are at Amherst, not Lowell. If I wanted to go for that PhD in Business at Amherst after building the reputation with the professors that would be the faculty advisors, then that just made sense.

Your choices will differ due to your location, but since you're in NY, I offer this last bit.

7. Amherst by most accounts of the compass is far closer to NY state than Lowell ever will be. If you chose to visit the campus, you'd shave 2-3 hours off the drive time.


Hope this helps. One last item to mention is the acceptance of National accreditation. I'll look this up and post as a follow up, but I wouldn't count on a Nationally accredited degree putting you in good competitive light at Amherst, regardless of whether or not it's officially accepted as a prerequisite. As stated, will look into this and post again.

Web site:
http://isenberg.umass.edu

 

Doesn't make a huge difference

Umass Lowell vs. Umass Amherst.


I always follow the return on investment when it comes to MBA programs.

Will one program get you that much more then the other in regards to dollars and cents, No I strongly doubt it.

In regards to rankings they really don't matter when applying for jobs, human resource departments don't have the rankings next to them when reviewing your degree. Some highly technical jobs may want to see your transcripts but as for rankings, meaningless.

However if you are invited to a tea party in Massachusetts with other MBA's and PHDs from all over the state that care more about their degrees then the results of their individual 1040's they may shun you for attending lower tier school. Other then that who cares?

Even if you wanted to enter a PHD program where the ranking of your program matters a lot less then how well you did.

If you've been accepted to both schools and can't make up your mind as to which is the better then refer to the rankings but otherwise I personally don't see how one program will get you further then the later.

Depending on your individual situation I would base my decision less on rankings but more on what a program has to offer in curriculum and program depth.

Umass Amherst is a top 60 business school and top part time MBA school but its still not a top 20, 30 or even top 50. So I can't imagine a general MBA from Umass Amherst would get you that much further than Umass Lowell. Both are under the same university umbrella system and both programs are regarded well in the state. Outside of the state of Mass I just don't see how it would make a difference. In fact most of the public officials that review your resume would probably not even know the difference between the two schools.

If I had to chose I'd go for Umass lowell because it offers a minor as to where Umass Amherst doesn't. Its also cheaper and would lighten any debt load. If you are from NY why not look at a NY school like SUNY or Syracuse?

I'm from Boston and personally the Umass system is not regarded as the top business programs in the state. If you live in the state of Mass and you don't want to spend 30 years paying off your graduate degree then you go to Umass because its cheap and they are all good programs. Schools like Boston U, Boston College, Bentley, Babson, Northeastern and MIT are regarded as the elite just under the Ivy league schools.

Again in regards to rankings they are more or less meaningless when comparing MBA's from the top 50 to the top 100 and tier 2 vs. tier 3 or even tier 4.

Example Rutgers is a Tier 2 business school in NJ and Seton Hall isn't even ranked, will Rutgers get you a higher salary, no not necessarily.

Fake profile

Accounting and Financial Manager with 13 years of work experience.

BS Northeastern

MBA Umass

MA Western New England College

CPA

Does it really matter where which Umass campus this person graduated from?

Na.

 

Agree with the above poster - I'm actually starting the UMass Lowell program in a couple of weeks. The actual degree says "University of Massachusetts" at the top, and Lowell is only mentioned in the small print at the bottom.

Bottom line is that my resume will say "MBA - University of Massachusetts".....and that's it. If someone asks, I will tell them it's the Lowell campus. 95% of the people that ever look at your information are going to know there's even a remote difference.

My ex-wife has an MSIS from Penn State. She did the entire thing at the Harrisburg campus. Not sure what her degree actually says on it, but AFAIC she has a Master's Degree from Penn State. What campus she earned it as it immaterial in my mind unless someone asks. Are there differences in the programs? Probably - who knows....the point is you have a master's degree from the major state university, end of story.

 

Employers don't just hire based on school name. They are screening for ethics as well.

When states run university systems, there are often significant differences between the different schools in the system. Different faculty, different admissions selectivity, different classes, different emphases, different research activities, different graduation requirements. The member schools in a state system aren't all freely exchangeable one for the other (or more to the point, less prestigious for more prestigious).

The U. of Texas system ranges from the Austin campus, which is a selective international-class research university, to some outlying units that accept everyone, 100% open-admissions. I don't think that it's ethical to attend one of the open-admissions units and then boast of being a "University of Texas" graduate, leaving off any reference to the branch actually attended, in hopes that people will just assume that it was the famous Austin. (And outside Texas, that's exactly what many people will assume, since they generally only hear about the U. of T. during football season.)

That being said, there's nothing wrong with U. of Massachusetts Lowell. It just isn't quite as nationally prominent as U. Massachusetts Amherst. It's like UCLA and UC Irvine, I guess. But there are doubtless many programs and specialties in which Irvine outshines UCLA, and I'd guess that the same thing is true of Lowell and Amherst. I'd be more impressed if a Lowell graduate unhesitatingly revealed where he/she earned a degree and then talked up the cool aspects of the Lowell program a little, displaying a some pride in it without embarrassment or defensiveness.

 

+1.

Case in point, I had a supervisor at my job before going to graduate school that made a point of telling everyone he went to the University of South Carolina. The assumption would be he went to the campus in Columbia, the flagship school. In all actuality he went to USC-Aiken, a school with much lower admission standards. He was quite good at his job but applied for a promotion and this came to light, because of his deliberate attempt to disguise where his degree came from not only was he passed over for the profession, he was let go.