South Africa MBA

Are their any South African Universities that offer an MBA entirely by DL?

 

Potchefstroom does (and, in a true six degrees of separation moment, designed it in collaboration with....California State University, Dominguez Hills). UNISA also offers one, but calls it an MBL (Master of Business Leadership).


Cheers,

 

South African MBA

There is also the Graduate School of Business at the University of Natal. Their website www.gsb.nu.ac.za.

 

U of Natal

Correction to the above...its www.gsb.co.za

 

Natal was discussed in a previous thread. Note in particular triggersoft's post from 3/27/2002.

 

U of Natal

Interesting.

I emailed my Canadian address to this school and advised them that I was Canadian. I specifically asked them if I could complete their MBA programme completely by DL. They confirmed that I could. In fact, they sent me a colorful information package for the MBA programme by regular post.

As with any foreign/overseas school...its always a good idea to have the school respond to ALL your questions in writing, especially when it comes to residency issues.

 

I'm curious why anyone outside SA would focus their search for DL MBAs on South African schools.

Given the multitude of DL MBAs, the entire world is the DL student's oyster.

 

SA Universities

I agree with you Mr. Dayson. There are many DL schools in North America and around the world offering DL MBAs.

However, the majority of MBA programs are quite expensive. I suspect that some look to SA schools in an effort to get the best bang for one's buck. U of Natal, for example, offers their MBA programme for around $7,000 CDN or about $4,500 US. This particular school also has a very good reputation. I think the same can be said for UNISA and others in SA.

 

South African MBAs

Actually, since Kane started this thread...he may want to respond to Mr. Dayson's question.

 

Answer

Cost efficiency is the main reason, I also spend a lot of time in Europe and SA so it serves me better to have degrees from those areas.

 

Re: Answer

Kane,

Glad your sig line was a joke

Good luck with your MBA Program. PUCHE looked interesting.

North

 

The weird part is

I am also pursuing a U of L LLB. Most of the feedback I have received about the University of Natal MAP, MBA, DBA is that the time constraints are flexible and their programs are not as rigourous as most MBA's are.

I have the available time, I think pursuing both may be a good idea.

 

Worthingco

"I emailed my Canadian address to this school and advised them that I was Canadian. I specifically asked them if I could complete their MBA programme completely by DL. They confirmed that I could. In fact, they sent me a colorful information package for the MBA programme by regular post."

MY RESPONSE: Natals website says the following regarding DL MBA study:

"Supported Distance Learning’: Students are required to attend special ‘block release’ study schools, as follows: Durban and Harare: three schools per semester, each lasting three week-days; Johannesburg: four schools per semester, each lasting two week-days. "

 

Kane - University of Natal, RSA

Yes...I know. I'm only reporting this school's e-mail response to my query.

As indicated in the above thread, if you are seriously thinking about doing your MBA at this school, make sure that you get something, in writing, PRIOR to registration with this institution confirming that they won't require you to do residencies in South Africa.

Their DL MBA programme is done through their Durban campus according to the info package they sent to me.

I found the tuition reasonable but there extra fees for int'l students and overseas shipping charges - caveat emptor.

BTW, how are the LLB studies going? I'm now fully registered as a graduate entry student and currently waiting for course materials/books from U of L.

 

hi all.

don´t you find it totally strange that they emailed me it was NOT possible to do their program as a non-south-african, and just a few weeks later other persons of the staff emailed you guys it WOULD be possible?

sorry, but i would certainly get me a written confirmation before trying to get into the program in your case, friends.

greets,

trigger

 

Hey Worthingco

"BTW, how are the LLB studies going? I'm now fully registered as a graduate entry student and currently waiting for course materials/books from U of L."

It is a long story but things did not work out with U of L, so I am searching elsewhere. However, they are a great school and I think you will enjoy it.

 

University of Natal

You might want to check out what the programmes will be like at Natal before registering since they will be merging with the University of Durban-Westville soon. There may be new or better programmes listed when this happens.

Unisa's MBL is completely DL and you would find the price pretty good. I believe you are in Canada in which case you should talk to IACI Canada in Vancouver who are the licenced agents for Unisa in Canada. Their web site shows the current tuition fees in Canadian dollars and has links to the departments and programmes

Another site is Study SA which lists links and descriptions to all universities and technikons in RSA.

There is also a new site I have set up for Unisa students in Canada at MSN.ca communities: Unisa-Canada

 

UNISA

I have contacted Dr. Esselsen and spoke with him numerous times, he is quite efficient in responding and providing info.

The one thing about UNISA I am sure about is the "postal levy" are you charged the levy per module or semester? I have heard contradictory statements about this.

 

Postal Levy

I am not sure about the cost per semester since I only pay on a yearly basis. The doctoral programmes are thesis only and therefore need only one fee. However, I pay this yearly fee and believe it covers the cost of return postage for corrections to the thesis chapters I forward for review by my promoter. If there were modules I would suspect that they might want the money each semester to defray the cost of postage since you would be forwarding and receiving a number of times per year.

 

Re: Postal Levy

Brad:

If you haven't done so already, would you share some of your experiences with UNISA?

What were/are your costs?

Did you go through the Canadian agent, Dr. Esselen? What was required for acceptance?

What do you have to do to earn your degree?

Are you required to go to South Africa at some point?

What is your understanding regarding the requirements for your thesis?

Do you have to do any other coursework besides the thesis?

How long is the program? (Realizing that there might be a wide variance here.)

Sorry to be so inquisitive. I've exchanged e-mails with Esselen; he was cordial, prompt, and informative. We had a person in the U.S. in a similar role, Jim Craparo, but he seems to have fallen off the face of the Earth. (Or, at least, beyond this community's radar.) It would help quite a few people to hear from your experiences. Thanks.