MBA from USQ or Touro?

Hello Scott

"Touro is an RA-accredited purely online school with little history and no research tradition"

Touro College is not a pure online school. It has significant history. The college began offering courses in 1971 and was chartered in 1970. There is only a 3-4 year difference between what is now USQ and Touro. Touro University International is the branch campus of Touro College. TUI offers doctorate programs, so the online university is building a history of research tradition with a new twist.

Touro college and TUI will have no trouble with acceptance from countries like China, Japan, and in South America.

"Touro College is an established comprehensive University that was founded in 1970 in New York City. TUI is a branch campus of Touro College"


http://www.tourou.edu/university/index.htm

 

As Canadian resident, you would get more value for your money with a UNISA degree without question. We believe that goverment based institutions have more credibility than private for profit schools in the US.

I would think that a DEd from UNISA would be more respected than a DEd from NCU or Touro not because NCU or Touro are bad schools but because UNISA has a lot of history and it is goverment sponsored.

For the same reason, I did not go for an online private American school as it would raise many eyebrows and would not be respected by Academia or Industry.

American schools normally are regarded here on a case by case basis. American state schools have no issue with acceptability or those with big names like Harvard, Cornell etc. However, I wonder if a B.Sc from International Continental University could get acceptance to the University of Toronto or McGill University for a graduate degree. I would think an UNISA graduate wouldn't have a problem getting acceptance here.

 

Like I said before, if you compare Touro to other North American schools, I doubt if it is more expensive. For example, there are few schools in India that offer very rigorous programs entirely through DL, and in two words they are "dirt cheap"; however, these schools don't compare to North American schools in terms of reputation.

As for the rigor of the Touro MBA, I think you misunderstood 9Chris above. Each course requires 10 papers: 5 of the papers are at least 5 pages each (some more) and due every two weeks; the other five papers are at least 3 pages each on a "session long project" that you choose to apply the course module materials, which are also due every two weeks. I seem to recall that the 5th SLP paper could be 10 pages in some cases. In sum, not 5 pages, but 40 pages minimum in additional to interacting in the class threaded discussion.

Best wishes,

Dave

 

I am interested in the online Master of Education program with a concentration in educational technology at USQ. In combination with a Ph.D in psychology, will the masters be an asset if I wanted to teach as an adjunct or full time instructor in the United States?

http://www.usq.edu.au/handbook/current/MED1.html

-- Ray

 

USQ MBA program has also papers in addition to Exams. I personally did not get much from the papers although they took lots of time to complete.

I hate exams but I must admit that they force you to put the time to understand the material to the depeest level. Exams were never difficult though and you have previous exams to have an idea of what to expect.

I don't think that USQ is as rigorous as a top school like Harvard or University of Toronto but I don't think it is a walk in the park either.

USQ is just a decent school with decent reputation. If they get AACSB accreditation, it would be a good investment as tuition rates would increase when they get it.

They also have a small campus in the US or at least some kind of arrangement with a local school in the US.

 

I agree with RFValve. I too am a Canadian and have no doubt that UNISA and USQ would be more accepted here in industry and academia than Touro. By extension, I think European academia and industry would find UNISA and USQ more rigourous.

When a university is chartered by the government and runs with a not-for-profit model, it adds an element of credibility (especially in Canada and the European Union). UNISA and USQ are members of the Associaion of Commonwealth Universities which, in itself, gives a degree obtained in either one complete international recognition.

I could honestly say that a bachelor's or master's degree from an online American private university would NOT be accepted by any Canadian university to pursue the next higher degree. Period.

 

You don't know what you are talking about. I graded papers for 80 students per quarter under the supervision of a PhD. So after grading over 3,000 of those papers in the undergraduate and MBA programs, I can say that you are incorrect in your assessment.

Dave

 

Hello Amigo,

Yes, I still think that I did the right decision to enroll into the USQ MBA program.
Here are some reasons which helped me to decide in favor of the USQ:
-the program has a good cost/value ratio: one of the lowest cost MBA programs available and the USQ is a reputable, middle class university.

-the performance assessment structure is pretty predictable: most courses have one midterm assignment(around 2500 words) and a final 2-3 hours proctored exam(combination of multiple choice and essay questions); In my opinion the program is easier and more flexible than many US MBA courses where you are required to write papers every week, you will value that, especially, if you also hold a full-time job.

-There is some hope that the USQ will achieve the AACSB accreditation in the near future, which, certainly is a good extra credential

-The admission process is pretty unbureaucratic: you don't need letters of recommendation, GMAT, or a high GPA.

-Since I live in continental Europe, an MBA from an English speaking country, such as Australia, may well help you to differentiate yourself from other prospective employees on the job market; this may not be true if you live in the US or another English speaking country, of course.

-You can switch to on-campus study modus any time.

There are also some features of the USQ MBA program to which some people may object:
-no finance among core courses(many think that finance is a very important topic in every MBA program)

-there is no option to do a thesis as part of your MBA program(many other Australian universities offer this option and this maybe an advantage if you want to do a Ph.D./DBA later)

-the program is also pretty basic; the courses don't require you to have previous knowledge of the subject and there is emphasis on general concepts instead of particulars. It was my impression from the Economics course which I have completed recently, so I can't, at this time, speak for other courses(of course, depending on your perspective, it may be also an advantage)

Hope you can get some food for your decision process from the above information,

Dennis

 

For what it's worth, I believe Lawrie Miller recommended USQ's program for it's flexibility regarding it's MBA/Law program. While the information is dated, I believe it is still possible to get a Masters in Law for only 4 additional courses (provided you did the MBA with Law concentration).

Of course, that presupposes you want a Masters in Australian Law in the first place

But still cool to know IMO.

Greg

 

Is your MBA also from CPU?

 

I earned my RA AACSB MBA from Santa Clara University. Why do you ask?

Best wishes,

Dave

 

Because you also have a DBA from CPU. Just curious, but what made you decide to get a doctorate from a state approved school? Clearly you are not going to make the claim that CPU is also rigurous, are you?

 

Dennis,

The MBA is not meant to be a degree to prepare PhD candidates. As a matter of fact, USQ won't accept you into their PhD program with an MBA degree unless you complete an MPhil first. The MBus is the degree that has a dissertation component but you are requred to have a first degree in business or to make up by taking extra courses.

The MBA degree is meant to be basic and generalistic as it is for non business graduates. The MBus is a more rigorous degree that requires normally two years full time to be completed due to the dissertation.

The MBA only gives you access to the DBA that has plenty of units to prepare you for a dissertation.

 

I agree with Dave. Although Touro might appear expensive, it is in fact really cheap compared to the average American University. A good MBA from a top tear school would cost you somewhere in the range of 50K to 90K just in tuition fees.

American education is more expensive than Canadian or Australian education.

 

I've posted extensively on this board about the Cal-Pacific DBA, including it's strengths and weaknesses, and why I earned it, etc.

It was a rigorous program in terms of process, but since one selects your own topic, the faculty can only suggest refinements to a point. I had the proposal accepted after two drafts and the final doctoral project after three drafts and a personal defense on-site.

I'm happy to answer any questions about it, but consider that you might make yourself look stupid if you ask someone about their credentials (i.e., it looks like an ad hominem attack), when it has nothing to do with the thread: were you expecting me to be ashamed of my achievement?

Actually, it was a significant achievement and I have no problem suffering fools gladly while explaining it.

Best wishes,

Dave

 

Hi Steve,

Yeah, good point. I was explaining my experience as a graduate assistant at Touro before I entered the dissertation phase. What that had to do with earning a DBA from California Pacific escapes me...

Best wishes,

Dave

 

Dave,

During my short experience at Touro's PhD program in Health Sciences, I can say that I've seen a bit of both worlds.
I had a great instructor for one of my classes and I have to say that I enjoyed my experience taking his class. The other class, well, I had an instructor that barely showed up and you could turn in a one page reaction paper and all you'd get in return is a "Good job. Improvement noted." I also noted that many of the final projects that I proof read were not very long (between 7 to 10 pages in some cases).

Overall I can't say that my experience at TUI was incredibly hard but it was fairly decent. However I felt somewhat disappointed that the requirements for some of their doctoral classes seemed to be more at masters level. This was back in 2002 so things might have changed since then.

-S

 

Hi Sulla,

I'm in the Ph.D. BA program, so I don't know about the Health Sciences program. The e-commerce marketing class I took was not very difficult for me, as that is my background, but other than that the coursework was very challenging. Lots of journal articles, etc. My proposal should be approved soon, but I've been working on it since Summer 2004. Overall, it's been challenging but rewarding.

Best wishes,

Dave