New at TESC: An MBA

New at TESC: A Master of Business Administration.

Areas of Study and Prior Learning Assessment:
• Areas of Study are available in Data Analytics or Marketing (12 sh), or Finance or Healthcare Management (9 sh).
• "Students have the option of satisfying area of study requirements through prior learning assessment."

Format:
• All courses are offered in 8-week terms.
• Minimum completion time, 18 months.
• "MBA students can earn credit for what they already know." I assume this refers to the PLA option for the areas of study.
• I don't see information on graduate transfer credit.
• Delivered entirely online, with no on-campus requirements.

Prerequisites:
• Undergraduate Financial Accounting, Statistics and Microeconomics. Can be met entirely through credit-by-exam progrmas, albeit possibly at higher passing cut scores than required for undergraduate credit. Can be completed after application and provisional admission but must be
• RA Bachelor's degree, usual minimum GPA 3.0; a strong GRE or GMAT score may remedy a lower GPA.
• Two years' "professional, managerial or related experience," or a business bachelor's and some work experience.

Tuition:
• (And here's the rub.) USD 619 per credit. The program is 60 credits, which would make for a total of 37 140, but the site states "The program can be completed for approximately $31,000 (excluding books)." This would make sense if PLAs for the area of focus were offered at no additional per-credit cost.

 

Hat tips to rebel and sanantone on degreeforum.net for catching this –*the program seems to be 39 credits in total, which would make the tuition USD 24 141 if it applied to every credit. Yet the page on "How this MBA is unique" still says "The program can be completed for approximately $31,000 (excluding books)." They did introduce this program yesterday; let's give them time to iron out the kinks.

 

The data analytics concentration looks REALLY interesting. But $24K-$31K for a TESC MBA? Too rich for my blood. Still looks like a cool program.

 

Agreed. But I'm sure someone will defend the price (*rolling eyes*).

 

I don't know what the credit transfer policy is at the Masters level at TESC. I want to say it is rather liberal but don't recall for sure. If there is a way to bring in courses from an old false start, or cobble together a patchwork of cheap credit somewhere then this could be a viable option.

If one brought in 15-18 credits and could finish a RA MBA in an 8 week format I think there is a market for that...but I don't expect any of the usual MBA accreditors to endorse this.

TESC might be able to fill the program with affiliates (partners) and the military though. Even at $30K it's competitive with other available options. I wish it was cheaper but the program will find it's niche.

 

I like TESC but the last thing we needed was yet another DL MBA program. Aren't there already almost 200 of these spread around the USA (and some cheaper than TESC)?

 

One of my BA's is from TESC and I too like them a lot, but you are absolutely right. Not another DL MBA. Sheesh. These things must really be cash cows.

 

I am a fan of the Big 3 for a bachelors completion but not for a gradute degree. There are far to many choices out there from schools with a stronger reputation and history.

 

Agreed....unless they bring their specialty to the market. Most schools restrict the Graduate Level Transfer credit to 6 hours...if they provide a workaround to this there is a value, to some, in this new program.

But you guys are right...another run of the mill $600/credit distance MBA isn't really bringing much to the table. You can find better/cheaper/easier elsewhere most likely.

 

I tend to have little issue with graduate degrees earned by distance depending on the method of delivery, and depending on the field of study. A Master's in, say, Religious Studies would seem fine by distance and probably wouldn't be questioned, whereas a Master's in Mechanical Engineering would seem questionable by distance. Whether or not the thought is valid is a separate matter, because perception of such degrees is what ultimately carries weight when it comes to holding a grad degree in certain majors.

All of that said, I have no problem with MBA's earned by distance, but in this case the type of school combined with the cost raises my eyebrows. I'm just not sure about some schools offering grad degrees altogether. I feel the same way about places like Ashworth College offering Master's programs. The method's used are fine for Associate degrees and even Bachelor's degrees to a large extent, but grad degrees are something different entirely. Perhaps it's just perception, but I fail to believe I'm the only one who has this feeling on the matter.

 

Too bad there are no CLEP credits for graduate programs. If the College Board did what they do for AP and CLEP, the TESC MBA might be a lot more attractive. ACE approves of some graduate sources of credit but not much. If there were a CLEP for half of a graduate degree in history, for example, I'd probably take those courses. 5000 level economics, statistics, finance, management etc would be doable as well. Maybe some day.

 

If they had an EXTREMELY liberal transfer policy, it might be interesting. However, I'm talking about well over 50% of the credits being allowed to be transfered in. Does anyone have any idea of how many transfer credit hours they accept?