DETC vs. RA for military

Discussion in 'Military-related education topics' started by jcush, Apr 23, 2011.

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  1. jcush

    jcush New Member

    I am active duty military and am pursuing an MBA with Columbia Southern. My goal is to obtain this degree and then begin the quest for online adjunct positions. My question is, and any advice will be greatly appreciated--will the fact that CSU is DETC accredited and not RA hurt me? My military career has me all over the world...and finding the right RA program was difficult...or did I take the easy route the will hurt me in the end?

    Thanks!
     
  2. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Based upon everything I've heard and read it's difficult to get an adjunct teaching job with just an MBA. There are many people who say that even an RA degree will not suffice if it's not also AASCB accredited. With that in mind it would seem that your chances of getting hired as an adjunct with a DETC degree approach zero. The good news is that there are many people who have blazed a trail ahead of you. Read through our thread on MBA degrees:

    http://www.degreeinfo.com/distance-learning-discussions/27695-best-mba-degree.html

    Also, you are fortunate in that MBA degrees are without doubt the most common grad degree available through distance learning. It would be more than a little surprising if you couldn't find a suitable alternative. Our friend Jonnie has compiled the best list anywhere:

    DL MBA - U.S. Regionally Accredited - AggieTechie

    Read through these and come back with questions. Best of luck in yout quest.
     
  3. dlady

    dlady Active Member

    Hi jcush:

    If your goal is to be an online adjunct you need to look at two things, making sure you have 18 graduate credit hours in a specialization field, and getting a degree that is one tier higher than the school you want to teach at. So, a nationally accredited MBA is probably the absolute worst combination, because an MBA is a generalist degree, and there are fewer nationally accredited schools.

    So, for example, if you want to teach say Management online at an unranked state university, you should get a Masters in Management from a tier IV university. If you want to teach Leadership at a good tier III business school with AACSB accreditation, you should get a degree in Leadership from an AACSB accredited tier II school. This gives you the best chance.

    I was the president of a nationally accredited school, and I helped a few students get teaching gigs at other peer schools, but it is just a much smaller market with a lot of competition.

    An MBA is a good program for nationally accredited schools to offer because it is a generalist’s business degree, very valuable in business markets, but it really is not an academic credential. It doesn’t mean it is impossible to teach with it, however all other things equal I would have a Harvard MS Management grad teach my management courses before a Harvard MBA because the person with the concentration in the field will always win from an academic standpoint.
     
  4. jcush

    jcush New Member

    dlady,
    Thanks for the great info! This is the kind of advice I need. My undergrad is a B.A. in Org. Mgmt. I would like to instruct management/leadership courses. My military background gives me great experience in these areas. Knowing that...I would greatly appreciate any further advice you may have.

    Thanks again!
     
  5. Jonathan Liu

    Jonathan Liu Member

    If you have choice, better to get a degree from RA school, which is more financially stable. Don't need to worry that your school closes its door after you graduate. Since there are so many RA schools with online MBA, why go to a non-RA school?

     
  6. bpreachers

    bpreachers New Member

    As others have already pointed out there are tons of options for online Regionally accredited MBAs. You will be highly unlikely to get a adjunct position with a MBA let alone a DETC MBA. You need to talk to your local educational counseling office (college office for your branch such as navy college, go army ed, etc) and get info from them as a place to start. Just off the top of my head you could look at american military university, national university, try university, ashford university, and a few hundred others
     
  7. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    That's a new one to me. Is there an actual study that shows that DETC accredited schools close down more often than regionally accredited equivalents?
     
  8. Cyber

    Cyber New Member


    You stand a much better chance if you get your degree from a RA school. Otherwise, your options after getting your CSU MBA will be limited to either pursuing another master degree from a RA school (after CSU) or pursue a doctorate degree that is RA. If you decide to go for a doctorate, as more and more schools only hire adjuncts with it now, your options will be limited to mostly RA doctorates from other online schools. Best of luck, as you decide.
     

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