She's Doing An Elite MBA For Under $1,000

She's Doing An Elite MBA For Under $1,000

 

She's Doing An Elite MBA For Under $1,000

Great, except for one thing: at the end of the process, she won't actually have an elite MBA.
In fact, she won't have any MBA.

She will have completed a bunch of MOOCs, and probably will have learned something in the process -- perhaps as much as some traditional MBA holders.
So she might be able to claim that she has the equivalent of an MBA.

But she will not have a diploma from an accredited school that says: "Master of Business Administration."
She will have a pile of transcripts or certificates, from different schools and companies, that indicate that she took various business MOOCs.
That's something -- but it's not an MBA.

 

In theory, there could be a credible and comprehensive examination that would test for MBA-equivalent knowledge. This approach is common enough in other fields, like the CPA exam for accountants, or the bar exam for lawyers, or the professional engineering exam for engineers. If you can pass an exam like this, no one will doubt your professional competency, regardless of how you were educated.

And a few years ago, a private company tried to do exactly that: they introduced the "Certified MBA" exam. But it never caught on (despite support from Western Governor's University), and is no longer available.

Incidentally, the concept of the "Certified MBA" exam was extremely unpopular here at degreeinfo. But I never understood why. For someone like Laurie Pickard, a comprehensive exam testing MBA-level knowledge would obviously be of great potential value. In theory, she could use the knowledge gained from MOOCs to pass the exam, and thereby earn some kind of certification that would document MBA-equivalent knowledge and skills.

A credential like this still wouldn't be an MBA degree. But if the certification is sufficiently respected, it wouldn't matter. If you can pass the CPA exam and earn a CPA certificate, for example, it doesn't matter whether or not you have a formal degree in accounting. The certificate alone is accepted as proof of professional competency.

 

Steve and Caldog are dead on.

You can get an education anywhere. You go to a university to get a degree.

As for the "Certified MBA," it was a dud because there wasn't a need. No one was questioning whether or not one's MBA taught you the requisite subjects.

The notion of a competency-based MBA (or any degree, for that matter) is compelling to me, but it is incomplete at the graduate level. In a master's and/or doctorate, the student should be creating, not just demonstrating competency.

 

Folks, you are right about that. Even though masterting all sort of courses, but nothing proves one has the credential. Only, I don't really like school, but that is the only way to tell me that I have the knowledge. I do not spend money on classes for certification, I study myself...then attempt for the exam to gain certification. Nowadays, I don't think schools still make money through non-credit courses...

 

But what if you studied business at the graduate level, but do not have an MBA ?
This is not a hypothetical question -- it's exactly what the subject of this thread is doing.
Would a certification exam have potential value in that case ?

I get what you're saying, and it is certainly true at the doctoral level. But isn't it possible to earn some master's degrees without a thesis or project ?

 

The Certified MBA program, as structured, was a VERY bad idea, according to me. The initial requirement was an MBA degree from anywhere - accredited, unaccredited or degree mill. A couple of their test-passers had sub-$100 "MBA's" from "AMBAI University" - a school which later had to re-name itself, as it wasn't a university of any kind. But their unreal degrees were "certified" into gold by the Certified MBA program.

Turning crap into gold was wrong -on so many levels!

Since when? Most states - degree required - at the VERY least! More cases than not: 150 credits required. BEFORE you can write the exam.

AIS How To Become A U.S. CPA: How To Apply

"The minimum educational requirement to sit for the U.S. CPA exam is generally a four year university degree. Most states require 150 university semester hours before you can sit for the CPA exam."

Johann

 

As per your quote, I stated: "it doesn't matter whether or not you have a formal degree in accounting".

It's true a degree of some kind is normally required for CPA licensure -- but it doesn't necessarily have to be an accounting degree.
And the quotes that you provided are consistent with that point.

Here in California, it is possible to become a CPA without an accounting degree, to pass the bar without a JD degree, and to become a licensed civil engineer without an engineering degree. Certainly those are not the most common or usual routes, but they are all possible -- if you can pass a comprehensive professional exam.

I'm only suggesting that perhaps one could demonstrate MBA-equivalent knowledge by passing a similar exam -- as accountants, lawyers, and engineers can do, at least in my state. Why is this unreasonable ?

 

I don't foresee - or even wish success, creditizing a free-of-charge hodge-podge into a Graduate degree. It gets up my nose that people have to pay serious money for tertiary education and then get stuff like this thrown in their faces.

Endorsing the academic certification of freebies is devaluing the degrees of thousands - no millions of people who expended a good deal of time, planning, effort and very onerous amounts of money on their education.

A free-of-charge hodgepodge is worth what it cost -and is what it is. I have drawers of lectures on DVD from the finest universities - all free. They're great -- but as a degree program, they're worth ZERO - and I'm fine with that.

Johann

 

Yes, they are. Sorry - I misinterpreted what you said. I was (wrongly) thinking you meant no degree at all.

 

And the subject of this thread, Laurie Pickard, will have no degree at all. She may not even get college credit for some or all of the MOOCs that she enrolls in.

But if she can pass a comprehensive examination, and turn those MOOC results into "gold", I have no objection. The point of certification testing is that your knowledge matters -- not where you got it.

If someone has gained sufficient knowledge to pass a comprehensive test, then it doesn't matter if that person was educated at an accredited school, or an unaccredited school, or an illegal school -- or never attended school at all.

 

So you would argue that it is impossible to obtain degree-level knowledge outside of a formal, degree-granting educational environment ?

Or that even if it is possible, such achievement should not be recognized ?

 

No I wouldn't. It is clearly possible. Anything is possible.

Not to a full-degree extent, as things presently stand in the US - and in Canada. Prior learning credit, certainly - not a full degree. France has the VAE procedure - a degree can be granted, by a proper University, if sufficient knowledge and skill can be demonstrated.

If we ever have VAE or its equivalent, OK. Till then -- no degree. If many people get freebies, won't those who previously earned degrees and paid the freight (big $) resent it and feel like chumps?

Johann

 

But that's not a full answer. I asked about "recognition". Recognition doesn't necessarily have to come in the form of a degree.

Consider a real-world example. The Hon. Marilyn Skoglund is a justice of the Supreme Court in the State of Vermont. She is (obviously) a member of the Vermont Bar, but has never graduated from (or even attended) law school. She qualified for the bar by apprenticeship, a common 19th-century practice that is still on the books in a few states (including Vermont and California).

So she does not have a JD degree. But she nonetheless has bar membership and the right to practice law (in fact, as a State Supreme Court Justice, her legal powers go well beyond that). So in this case:

- there was no attendance of law school (and no legal degree),
- legal knowledge was obtained instead at little or no financial cost (through work experience),
- that legal knowledge was validated through a comprehensive test (the Vermont Bar exam), and
- formal recognition was granted through bar membership (which is *better* than a JD degree, because it confers the right to practice).

Justice Skoglund is often cited as a hero by supporters of non-traditional education.
But according to your logic, people who obtain formal recognition of their knowledge without "paying their dues" through a proper university are villains.

 

Not at all -- unless they want degrees in exchange. If someone manages to practice law without a JD - good for them. And I know that's possible. However, if they claim a hodgepodge of stuff entitles them to a JD degree - then not so good.

If someone were to take free business courses and pass a certification exam of some kind and get a certificate - I'm OK with that. Not a degree.

If someone took these courses into a properly-constructed prior learning portfolio, and a University awarded a maximum of 25% of required degree credits for a program - I'm OK with that.

If someone wants full-degree credit for the knowledge obtained for some free business courses -- then I suggest a good command of French and a plane ticket would be required.

Johann

 

Your posts imply that there is something inherently "special" about degrees, as opposed to certifications. That's a curious attitude, because if a certification is sufficiently rigorous, it can clearly be more valuable than a degree.

For example, if you qualify for and pass the CPA exam without an accounting degree (which is possible), you will likely have a higher market value than someone who does have an accounting degree, but is not a CPA.

The late, unlamented "Certified MBA" credential may not have had such prestige. But in theory, there is nothing to stop anyone from creating a highly rigorous and respected certification exam on MBA-type knowledge, just as there already is for finance with the "Chartered Financial Analyst" (CFA) certification:

The CFA certification is a more valuable credential than many (not all) MBA degrees.

 

By all means, hire these prodigies who have learned so much for free. Just don't award them degrees. They probably don't need 'em anyway.

And no, I don't see it as an odd distinction. The certificate is valuable - and is earned by passing an exam. Perhaps the degree is less valuable in some circumstances, as you say - I don't know. But the process to earn it is different. A degree is a degree. A certificate is a certificate. Regardless of their respective values.

And no - there is nothing to stop the creation of the MBA-type certificate. But it is not a degree - regardless of value.

An CFA is a (valuable) designation that takes a lot to obtain. Again, it is a designation, not a degree, regardless of value. I believe a prior degree (Bachelor's) is required before undertaking the CFA program.

Summary - degrees are degrees. Certificates are certificates. Both can be extremely valuable.

Johann

 

They need some kind of external validation of their knowledge (like passing a certification exam). And if the process is sufficiently rigorous, then you will be right -- they won't need a degree. The market will value the certificate just as highly.

In practice, most people are not prodigies, and may not learn sufficiently outside of a structured school environment. For example, thousands of lawyers are admitted to the bar in California every year, but typically only one or two will lack a JD degree.

But I have no objection to providing that pathway to those who want to try it. Given the soaring costs of traditional college education, the need for alternatives is greater than ever.

 

I've no objection to people qualifying for most types of employment (exceptions like healthcare, etc.) without the usual degrees. If they can pass the certification - great. As for degrees, there are legit lower-cost alternate ways of earning credit - CLEP, PLAR, etc. It's just that degrees are awarded according to the set of rules that govern Colleges and Universities.- Certifications (of all kinds and values) are awarded according to the rules of the organizations that award them. Regardless of value, they are not interchangeable with degrees - even if deemed equivalent, e.g. UK-NARIC's assessment of the CFA credential.

Anyway - if we're talking high-value certificates, I wouldn't think free MOOCs were ideal preparation for the CPA exam. And for CFA I believe one has to take (and pay for) CFA's proprietary instruction and yearly exams during the program.

As I said, if someone gets a certificate from free MOOC studies - great, but not a University degree, regardless of their respective values. And I'd figure that as of right now, the chances of landing a really high-value business certificate of any kind, solely based on free MOOC-preparation, would be doubtful. I'd enjoy being proven wrong, though. :smile:

Johann