Choosing between RA, brick ad mortar MBA or AACSB distance MBA

Hey everyone,

First, I would like to thank everyone here for all the information posted.

I'm trying to choose an MBA program to start while I am on active duty in the Navy. I have a year and six months left on my current contract (then I will separate) and I am stationed in Pearl Harbor. My choices in Oahu are to attend Hawaii Pacific University or start a distance program.

Hawaii Pacific University is a private, Regionally Accredited school that offers campus based classes as well as online classes. Since I will be leaving Hawaii before I would finish the program, this would be a good option for me. I would be able to attend most of the classes in person and could complete the program wherever I live after I separate. My only concern with this program is that the school is not AACSB accredited. (University of Hawaii is AACSB, but does not have a distance program).

In your experiences, would I benefit more from attending a regionally accredited school in class? Is it more beneficial to have AACSB, even if it is distance learning?

Also, I have a BS in Nuclear Engineering Technology from Excelsior. I want to obtain an MBA for two reasons: 1) I enjoy learning. 2) I eventually want a management position in a utility/energy company.

I am leaning towards attending the brick and mortar school because after taking both types of classes, I found that really enjoy going to class. But, before I invest time and effort into a program, I want to make sure that I do not regret doing an AACSB program in the future.

Any advice or past experiences would be appreciated.
Thanks!

 

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My opinion: Anything that is AACSB is going to trump all other business degrees, no contest.

 

It's a clear point of contention: how important is the AACSB accreditation. My opinion is that while it's easy to say that professional accreditation is preferred, no one (to my knowledge) has been able to show that it actually makes any difference in the job market. There's some evidence that a degree from an AACSB program might make a difference if you want to teach at the college level but in general I think that's descriptive of the minority of people. I think your plan is fine, especially if you're planning on sticking around the Pacific Rim. Go Navy!

 

If you ever plan on teaching I would go with the AACSB program as 1. some schools have it as a requirement and 2. it may put you in front of another applicant that doesn't have it. In regard to a job, I think it depends on the job and the person doing the hiring - as Kizmet wrote, many people probably don't know what AACSB is -- but then you could get the employer who has an MBA from an AACSB school - it's a tough decision.... I chose an AACSB program after agonizing over where to spend my money and felt that if I was going to make the investment, I wanted to be able to keep the door open to maybe teach in the future.....


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Sullivan University, PhD Management - accepted but pondering decision
Texas A&M-Commerce, MS Management in progress
Pepperdine University, MA Clinical Psychology (75% completed)
Springfield College, MS Industrial/Organizational Psych
Springfield College, BS Human Services

 

The main question I would look at for you is where are you moving after you get out? Is there a RA school where you are moving with a AACSB MBA? If so, do they have any online courses you could make use of? I say this because if you are moving to the area that the job market you are applying to is located then a degree from a more local university may serve you better

 

Based on your assessment to pursue the MBA, AACSB doesn’t really appear all that relevant. There are so many RA online MBA choices, countless via B&M colleges /universities, available. Don’t get me wrong, AACSB is the upper acknowledged business programmatic accreditation; however, there are also numerous lower tier ranked university colleges of business that additionally have AACSB accreditation that are available in online and /or traditional mode. And not having AACSB accreditation doesn’t make a competitor MBA program substandard even though The AACSB International and its accredited institutions might steer us to believe so, e.g., effective marketing strategy (?).

My suggestion would be to enroll in the MBA program that is relevant to your requirements, be it with AACSB or ACBSP accreditation or neither. For example, if Hawaii Pacific’s MBA with its Military Campus Program FlexTrack is advantageous toward your need /motivation … then go for it. Even if the University of Hawaii, via residence, with its AACSB program is chosen … your MBA from UH’s Hilo or Manoa campuses wouldn’t, in my view, reasonably demand a soaring MBA program ranking from industry outside Hawaii. Nonetheless, my reference is primarily based on the 2-reasons you've posted for pursuing the MBA: 1) I enjoy learning. 2) I eventually want a management position in a utility/energy company.

 

In my opinion your technology degree plus any RA degree probably trumps someone with a BSBA and an AACSB MBA - why Because you have some knowledge on the main purpose of the utility. Maybe you can do even better by earning a masters in the energy field. Check out the credentials of upper management in several utilities and see what their academic quals are.

 

Thank you everyone for the inputs. I will still think about my choices, but I am sure that either option will serve me well.

 

navy24,

If you're serious about targeting a senior management position at an energy company, you need to think like someone from the Air Force and Aim High. At my program at Fuqua, close to 10% of our class was made up of folks from different parts of the energy industry, including petroleum exploration, power generation, public utilities, and energy trading. These were some of the sharpest people I went to school with, and when they talked about the folks they worked with, it is obvious that pedigree matters in the energy biz.

Although I don't work in the energy industry directly, I do work in a senior position in a company that serves about 1000 for-profit utility companies, municipal electric providers, and rural electric cooperatives in all 50 states. In my experience, the management folks I've worked with who have gone the MBA route have an AACSB-accredited degree, usually from a top-50 program. Many energy companies have MBA-specific recruiting programs and rotational management programs designed to attract and retain the best and the brightest. Your competition is going to be folks who have MIT undergrads and Wharton MBA degrees. You do have an advantage in that many of the senior folks I've worked with are ex-military themselves, and they love working with other people who have served.

My advice to you is to consider serving out your contract and then doing the best residential MBA program you can get into. You'll have the advantage of being able to work with your school's recruiting office to target a summer internship in the energy industry, and you can parlay that experience into a position in a management rotational program. Over the next year and a half, it's going to be your job to become the best MBA applicant you can be - you'll need kick-ass GMAT scores, you'll need to get great letters of recommendation from your superiors, you'll need to learn to write a fantastic essay, etc, etc...

You're going to be doing a lot of applications. If you do well on the GMAT, you will get application fee waiver offers from many schools. Take advantage of these - it will save you a bundle, and if a school offers to waive its app fee, it's likely to be generous with financial aid as well. If your Excelsior degree was granted magna cum lucky instead of magna cum laude, you'll also want to start building an alternative transcript. Take some undergraduate business (accounting I and II would be good choices) and math courses (calculus I and II if you can handle it) and make A's in them. If you have a 3.5+ undergrad GPA, this is probably unnecessary.

I know it seems like waiting to do the MBA is a waste of time, but you are targeting a very competitive industry. Since 2011 MBA admission season is starting to wind down now, you can get ahead of the competition for 2012 admits. I'd recommend heading over to the Businessweek MBA forums and reading up instead of slumming it over here at DegreeInfo (just kidding, guys!).

Best of luck to you!