AJU or Liberty MBA

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by CCBapt, Oct 9, 2008.

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  1. rtongue

    rtongue New Member

    I am very happy with the ROI of my Liberty MBA. I work as an IT business analyst for a top investment management firm that usually shows up on the list of best places to work in IT. I believe the Liberty MBA was instrumental in my being offered the position. Many of my co-workers have an MBA, MS in IT, or MS in Engineering. We are not only expected to be professionals in our IT discipline but to have a solid understanding of finance and the investment business. Also, many of the employees that I interact with on the business side have an MBA or CFA.
     
  2. DBA_Curious

    DBA_Curious New Member

    No, I think it's possible. For instance, if you want to pursue entrepreneurial studies, take a look at http://drlockwoodentrepreneurship.com/

    That's a program I'm considering. It's all about entrepreneurship and has dedicated full-time faculty and courses.

    I'm not knocking AJU but let's not get silly. Anyone taking it is doing it first and foremost because of their tuition savings program. If the certification they offer works for you, that's great and who can knock it but I'd doubtful that you're going to gain any more knowledge from a program like that than you would a period of moderate self-study and maybe less than you would from an active networking program through local organizations.

    But you do get a certification of sorts that you wouldn't from the above options so it could be worth it. As Vinipink says "Maybe it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it" or something like that. For reasons similar to that, I earned my CPA. I wanted to formalize what I already knew and give myself the benefit of a resume blurb.

    I just get edgy when people flip the script from "Hey it's cheap! Could it work for me?" to "I'm on a sacred wisdom-quest!" but hey, I'm an edgy guy!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 11, 2008
  3. Ding

    Ding New Member

    AMU/APU has an MBA with an Entreprenuership concentration that would cost about $10,000.
     
  4. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    Another option would be to get the MBA from AJU, and then get the doctorate from a school in the UK, or South Africa. They don't have the same RA/NA issues over there (thankfully) and some UK programs will allow you to study for a masters with no bachelor degree at all. Even with the currency conversion, some UK programs are still just as reasonable or even cheaper than many U.S. programs.
     
  5. CCBapt

    CCBapt New Member

    First, let me thank EVERYONE for the lively discussion!!!

    I appreciate the challenges and the insightful comments of all.

    I feel more UNDECIDED than I was before

    I am getting a more BALANCED view of this because - I will admit, I have been leaning heavily toward AJU - BECAUSE OF the tuition vouchers. I realize this now this is only one, isolated issue that has to be taken in consideration with many more complex issues.

    It sounds like:
    1. Self learning is just as good as getting an MBA for the reasons of knowledge alone.
    2. An MBA is valuable for the marketability and hiring.

    Then- How well does an MBA prepare one for gaining a lucrative career?

    Yes, I DO study extensively on my own and I desire an intensive emersion in the disciplines of business so that I can begin a company- or two. I feel an MBA will give me a broader introduction into business, as opposed to my specific interests in quality, new venture, and organizational management.

    I wanted the Doctorate to THEN specialize in my greater interests.

    As of now, I have new options and a lot to process, but no firm decision.

    rtounge - thanks for follow up. Don't mean to knock LU but am desiring info.

    Thanks for the help, more is welcomed.


    CCBapt
     
  6. Clapper

    Clapper New Member

    In favor of getting the degree . . .

    It's probably the (very) rare serious self-learner that is going to undertake the replication of a graduate program curriculum and "complete" it within the same time frame as his/her student counterpart. And even if that self-learner was to do every reading assignment what's the likelihood that he/she would assign themself 10-20 page papers to write? Arguably it's the writing that contributes most to focusing the mind and developing depth of thought.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 12, 2008
  7. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    From Good Will Hunting (the movie):

    "One day you'll realize you wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda gotten at the public library for $1.50 in late charges."

    "Yes, but I'll have a degree, and your kids will be serving my kids french fries."
     
  8. CCBapt

    CCBapt New Member

    GOOD ONE TCord1964!!!

    CCBapt
     
  9. DBA_Curious

    DBA_Curious New Member

    I may be guilty of being an a**hole here but if you don't have the prerequisite experience, an MBA from AJU is unlikely to get you into that lucrative career you're speaking of. If you've already got something going, this could help...of course, it could hurt too. When I pulled up www.aju.edu, it said 'FREE TUITION'. How would a HR person react to that as your alma mater?

    In other words, if you have a good career going with the experience that could already land you a good gig, the MBA may not hurt. If you don't, I don't think this is going to do it for you. Usually, MBAs help people find the big gig specifically because of recruiters.

    You're going to a distance school with no real track record or even a campus so you're not going to be recruited. In other words, if you couldn't get the interview now, this isn't going to get you there either.

    What are your interests? Are you saying you want to work in organizational development and quality? If so, you may be better off joining ASQ, doing some real local networking and earning some quality-related certifications like the Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence.

    And let me clarify. I'm not saying that self-study is as good AS ANY MBA, but I do think it's as sufficient as what you're going to get from AJU.

    One last thing to think about. Birds of a feather flock together. There are a number of people who will tell you that programs like AJU are worthwhile. I'd ask you to ask them what their current income is like. From my reading on this very board, there doesn't seem to be a correlation between 'Going to AJU' and 'Making a good income already'

    That's not the case with many MBA programs. Get me?
     
  10. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    You're basing this upon...what? Will someone become an investment banker on Wall Street with an MBA from AJU? Perhaps not. Is having an MBA from AJU better than no MBA at all? I would suggest that it is, just as having a BA from a NA school is better than no BA at all. As for searching school web sites for information about a school, I would suggest most employers would simply check with their HR department to ensure the school is accredited. For the "high level" jobs you are talking about, those employers would likely take a dim view of ANY distance learning MBA program.

    For the record, I have no degree at all, and I currently make more money now than I ever have, and I'm the sole breadwinner in my family. I am one of the top performers in my department and I hold a management position. Everyone that works under me has a degree of some kind. I suppose you could say that I am self-taught, I read voraciously, but at the same time a lack of a degree has definitely held me back in the past. I anticipate that my degree from AJU will only increase my opportunities to go for jobs in the future that would otherwise not be open to me after I do complete it. If I find otherwise, I am perfectly willing to post those results here, as I have with my other cheers and jeers for NA schools. All of my distance learning has been done at NA schools, although I have no problem with RA schools. I have just found the programs that best suit my needs at NA schools. I am currently looking at Edinburgh or Durham Business School for my graduate degree.

    I have never relied upon a recruiter to find work for me. I find job opportunities on my own, and I've only been unemployed for any significant length of time once in the past 25 years, during the recession of 1991.

    A degree is merely a starting point or a means of advancing one's career. It's what the individual brings to the table that counts the most.
     
  11. Vinipink

    Vinipink Accounting Monster

    DBA_Curious;285871]
    I don't have any idea where your are coming with this analysis other than you want to deviate from what is the fact the AJU is Accredited and provides individuals an opportunity to get educated from relative small fee, granted is not Harvard or Yale. Can you define what is lucrative from your point of view? Even if you have something going on, is not the what you know that count is who you know thing. When I open the website of AJU I see opportunity, vision, and common sense, but that is just me.


    Not necessarily, but sure the MBA helps, most federal jobs require you to have an MBA from an Accredited institution period.

    What your trying to say here that because there is no record of according to your logic you can't get a job, that is not a correct analysis. Universities at one point experience this situation. Same goes with accreditation new university do not start accredited unless they get it by acquisition from another accredited university.
    This is good advice.

    I would like to see from what you base this from.
    So what is your point here, are you making a correlation that because someone goes to X school and not a tier school, their income is inferior. Your income should be what you can have according to what the market can offer not from where you went to school. This country is run by a bunch of idiots that went to top schools and look at the mess we are. Common sense is the best school any one could have and that one is free!!!!!

    If a person has to work very hard to make a living, then that person is not living at all, and if you live beyond your means, does not matter how much money you make, your are broke, get it? It is about survival when things goes bad, get me?
     
  12. DBA_Curious

    DBA_Curious New Member

    Read what I wrote again and you'll see that I said pretty much that.

    And to be fair, I think you're being a little disingenuous when you write that perhaps an AJU MBA will not get him an investment banker job (not that he should want it) but that answer is 'It definitely will not'

    And look, I'm not knocking your experience but are you really saying that the income of MBA graduates has nothing to do with recruiting from that MBA school? If you are, you're showing a real lack of how MBA graduates earn their high income. That's not a 'dis' by the way, but ask around. Your ethic is to be commended but that's not what the guy was asking.

    He asked (specifically) could this degree help him earn a lucrative position. It's my opinion, based on what I know about hiring practices, that it's doubtful. If you think HR people stop at 'Oh, it's accredited', we'll have to agree to disagree.
     
  13. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    First of all, I was responding to your post, not the original poster's. I'll go along with the whole "we'll have to agree to disagree", because I get the feeling you're disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing. You obviously have some kind of axe to grind with either distance learning or NA schools, but that's fine. We're all entitled to our own opinions.

    It's not Wall Street, but this California Coast University MBA became the president and CEO of a $208 million asset mutual savings institution in Seattle. Not bad for someone with lowly little NA degree. It's just one of many such articles I found with a little Googling, and it didn't take long to find.

    http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5344/is_/ai_n21395306

    Bottom line: make sure any degree program you enroll in will meet your current and future needs. That applies to ANY school someone might be considering.
     
  14. CCBapt

    CCBapt New Member

    WOW! Real discussion - but not necessarily on topic.

    Let me help.

    I have a BS in Psych/ Manage which equates to a Business Psychology degree ( all state accredited). I have the basic classes to get into an MBA program. I NEED a basic - meaning broad - business education degree ( read MBA) to help me. I WANT to start three companies that I have been envisioning for some time. My interests are - operations, quality management ( and I see TQM as a broad field).

    I would like to have a doctorate to not necessarily to teach but to give me the ability to focus my learning and application for more expertise and future development of the field.

    The only reason I included the whole " lucrative career" idea was to gauge the usefulness of the MBA from a monetary standpoint - outside of the knowledge and skills I hope to develop with the degree.

    Thanks,

    CCBapt
     
  15. TCord1964

    TCord1964 New Member

    In that case, I believe Bellevue University has an MBA with a concentration in Supply Chain Management. Kaplan University has a similar MBA. Both schools are RA, and would present no challenges to you eventually getting a doctorate.
     
  16. DBA_Curious

    DBA_Curious New Member

    Not at all but I do think that you and Vini have this tendency to try to drown out criticism of AJU because you're both involved with it. Just my take on it.

    My question to anyone trumpeting AJU from the loudest roof-top is this.

    Would you go IF they didn't have their tuition program.

    If the answer is 'No', what does that tell you.
     
  17. DBA_Curious

    DBA_Curious New Member

    The University of Arkansas has a MS degree in Operations Management. Tuition is very reasonable and it would help you with a lot of your career interests -> http://www.opnsmgmt.uark.edu/

    Tuition is $240 per credit. That's a steal!
     
  18. airtorn

    airtorn Moderator

    One of the guys who works for me just enrolled in this program. Barring something unforeseen, I will be able to tell you a lot about this program in a few months.
     
  19. CCBapt

    CCBapt New Member

    Thanks airtorn.

    CCBapt
     
  20. -kevin-

    -kevin- Resident Redneck

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