http://www.jonesinternational.edu/aboutJIU/press/prelease3.php When Nalene Khan of Plantation wanted to advance beyond her healthcare underwriting job, getting an MBA seemed the right strategy. ''You need that second degree to move up,'' said Khan, who now has a master's in business from Florida Atlantic University and is a certified public accountant to boot. Deborah Brown, a Deerfield Beach clinical psychologist, grew frustrated when insurance, rather than her patients' needs, seemed to dictate her practice. Deciding to change careers, she enrolled in an online MBA program with Jones International University. She's now a management consultant and trainer at a bank. ''I heard I wouldn't have got the job if I didn't have the MBA,'' she said. MBAs are more popular than ever these days, especially among those seeking to enhance or switch careers. And there's no shortage of local universities and distance-learning programs willing to confer degrees. The plethora of programs means that the schools vie intensely for the area's limited pool of students. ''The competition for students is brutal,'' said Jack Scarborough, dean of Barry's Andreas School of Business. Nationwide, both enrollment and the number of schools offering MBAs have soared. The number of graduate business degrees awarded annually climbed from 84,600 in 1992 to some 117,000 in 2001, according to the U.S. Department of Education, while the number of institutions offering them swelled from 600 to 750. The Herald found about 3,500 students enrolled in South Florida's array of graduate-level business programs. There are private, independent schools like the University of Miami and Nova Southeastern University, Catholic schools like St. Thomas University and Barry University, state-run Florida International University and Florida Atlantic University and lesser-known for-profits like Florida Metropolitan University and DeVry University. UM, FIU, FAU and Barry are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International, considered the gold standard of business-education accreditation. Universities big and small like MBA programs, because such programs are generally moneymakers. ''Business schools contribute a great deal of income to the university,'' Scarborough said. ``Graduate business programs don't require expensive trappings like big labs or law libraries. The faculty is paid more than liberal arts but not as much as law or medical faculties. Universities want to be in the MBA business.'' For B schools outside the prestige tier, however, the competition for students is getting tougher. Local universities are going up against distance-learning programs from elite schools like the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and from virtual schools like the University of Phoenix Online. ...............
