Northcentral Univ MBA / MHA DL Question

I believe I have seen several here that have attended or are currently attending NCU and I'm seriously considering enrolling in their MBA/MHA program in the next few months. My question is how are the courses set up? What is the work demand? Do they do a lot of team projects, discussion threads or just papers? I'm wondering just how many classes I can take while teaching 9 classes and taking a class to finish my BSHS degree. I know some DL courses are set up with 2-3 weeks to complete a module, while others have do a new module each week with a paper or two due for each module with discussion threads and lots of reading or research. I want to make sure I have enough time to properly commit to the work. Will they provide the course syllabi for review prior to signing up for the classes? That would help a lot if I can get that info. I'm hoping that some of you here can offer some info and suggestions. Also if anyone has taken this program and has suggestions on the best order in which to take the classes I would appreciate that info too. Thanks in advance for your help.
Fritzy

 

I'm in my first class at NCU and I'm loving it. I teach Jr. high full-time and run a small business, as well. The cool thing about NCU is the fact that there are no due dates that are cast in stone; only suggested due dates. Your only requirement is that you get everything done by the end of the session, which is about 10 weeks, I think. The good side of that is the flexibility; the bad side is the possibility that, like my laundry, you can get so far behind that you are hard-pressed to catch up. There are none of those discussion board postings, at least in this class. I always saw those as a waste of time. There is a lot of reading and a lot of paper writing.

My first class, SKS7000, has quite a healthy workload but the class is extremely well-designed. It's a general business class that is almost an MBA in one shot. It includes custom designed text books and proprietary software that quizzes you as you go. It's one of the best designed classes I have ever taken.

Randell1234 is our resident expert on NCU and is almost done with his PdD there. I have learned a great deal from him. I'm sure he would be willing to tell you more than I know. Kind regards, Mike

 

Oops, I meant Phd, sorry Randell

 

Thanks Mike! That is very reassuring. I have had a few good classes at Excelsior with very dedicated instructors, and I have had a few bad classes. I guess because I have taught online classes for so long I'm very sensitive to course design issues, poor content and lousy non-responsive instructors. I even had one instructor who didn't even know the course syllabus or course content! It was a very painful 8 weeks. It's bad when you have to email the course designer for blatant exam errors, non-functioning course links, missing course content etc. They thanked me for all my assistance, but it makes me wonder why I'm paying $1000 for the class and books? The experience at NCU sounds much more professional and educational. I'm hoping Randall can provide some more insight, as well as anyone else that may have taken their classes. I'm glad to know I should feel as though I'm getting the education I'm paying to get.

Thanks!

 

I had that experience with one class getting my master's online at National University. There were a number of faulty exam questions on the final and it was obvious that the instructor hadn't even read the exam that was grandfathered in by an earlier instructor. I was in danger of ruining my perfect, 4.0 GPA because of it and I finally had to threaten to take it to the dean to get the issue resolved. National was a great experience other than that.

I'm paying about $1500 per class at NCU in the PhD program. The text for this class was $330, so it ain't cheap! Their PhD is only 51 units though, so that is going to keep the cost around $40K, maybe a little under that. That is, unless they raise their tuition again before I graduate.

By the way, what kind of classes do you teach online? Which school? I might try to do that once I get my PhD. Too busy right now.

 

Mike summed it up pretty well. I have had my share of non-responsive instructors from many schools and I don't think that means the school is bad - just that instructor. Overall I am happy with NCU but the costs are getting a bit high. I suggest you check out a few other schools before making a decision on an MBA program. There are a lot of other options that are cheaper. They might not meet all your other needs but it is worth a look.

Heck, TUI is only $345 per graduate credit compared to NCU's $560. That is a savings of about $5K. You could do the MBA / MSHS at TUI for about $2K more then the NCU MBA program.

TUI Joint Degree Program
The College of Business Administration and the College of Health Sciences have joined forces to offer a Dual MS-MBA program that result in conferral of a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree and a Master of Science in Health Sciences with a concentration in Health Care Management (MSHS) degree.

The MS/MBA degree requires total of 64 credit hours, 32 credits from each program. The
student may choose which program he/she completes first.

While I am a fan of NCU's PhD/DBA program, I think there are some cheaper MBA programs out there that could be explored. You should also look at this thread on MBAs if you have not already. There is a lot of great information. Sorry if that is not what you were looking for.