Certificate vs. Degree

Discussion in 'Business and MBA degrees' started by fidelitas, Nov 6, 2013.

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  1. fidelitas

    fidelitas New Member

    In searching for options to accentuate my resume and business acumen, I have come across many top tier institutions offering "Executive Education" with titles such as executive certificate in Business Admin, Master Certificate in Business Admin, Executive Certificate in Management, Leadership, etc. Some of the programs are attached to outstanding institutions such as Cornell, Notre Dame, Michigan State and Florida U.
    As a mid career professional looking to progress and make myself a more desirable hire, is specific education such as this more desirable? Does the MBA, which takes much longer and costs much more, really outperform these types of qualifications in today's market? The answers seems like a yes to me, but then again, with so many institution granting MBA's, and the ROI on a MBA degree staying static (or even reducing due to inflation), are certificates from top tier schools better to have than an MBA from a seemingly lower tiered institution?
    Any educated and informed responses are appreciated. Thank you.
     
  2. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    For what I see, an MBA from a low tier no name school has little impact in your resume. However, it still can help as many HRs use software too look for keywords when filtering resumes.
    To answer your question, the best would be to get both. An MBA from a low tier institution will help your resume to pass the filter but it won't help you to compete with people with better MBAs. However, if you have a low tier MBA coupled with a certificate from a top institution then you will stand a better chance against people with better MBAs.

    Some companies are very picky and won't interview anyone with a low tier MBA but they might change their mind if the see that you have an MBA from Mickey Mouse state university with a graduate certificate from Cornell or Stanford.
     
  3. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I'm not sure that I can argue with what RF has said but I have a slightly different answer to the original question. It almost seems like there's been some "degree inflation" in the business world and having an MBA isn't as impressive as it used to be. Well if a cert program is only a fraction of the coursework of an MBA then wouldn't it be even less impressive still?
     
  4. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    I agree - I topped off my MS-ITM from Touro University International (known for their B&M presence in NYC with Touro College) with a graduate certificate from the University of Florida. It was a 9 credit certificate and cost $2,400. Well worth the year it took and the recognition gained from it.
     
  5. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    I agree, but there is the cost issue. A good MBA is not going to cost less than 60K. A middle ground would be an MBA from a decent school that might cost 10-15K coupled with a graduate certificate from Stanford that might cost 5 to 10K. It will still cost you 25K total but you will still be able to hold the Stanford name in your resume but at less cost.

    The reality is that you might spend the 80K for your MBA at Stanford and still not be able to find a good job. I noticed few people teaching at UoP or Walden with Stanford degrees so things might not be that great even for top tier graduates.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 13, 2013
  6. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    I guess you were one of the few lucky ones that got their TUI degree before the school sold to a private company and became an online degree.

    It is a bit like Excelsior College graduates that have their "member of the University of New York" in their diplomas. This makes a huge difference as it gives credibility to a school.
     
  7. NWLearner

    NWLearner Member

    I also did a 9-credit grad certificate at UF. My official reason was that I wanted to test if distance learning was for me before committing to a master's program. (My real main reason was that I am a huge Gators fan and wanted some a piece of paper from UF. ;)). I did roll those credits into a graduate program, so it was a good move.

    However, I also signed up for info on their exec non-credit certificate when they were rolling them out, and found them to be a much lesser value than the credit-bearing certificates. As you probably know, the administration and teaching of the courses are actually done by a third-party organization, and not by the university that gives you the certificate. That is not necessarily a bad thing, of course, but UF in this case is just very obviously milking the business executive cow. I forgot how much the certificates are, but they are ridiculously expensive.
     
  8. Phdtobe

    Phdtobe Well-Known Member

  9. RFValve

    RFValve Well-Known Member

    Kind of silly advice, I read the article and have few problems with this advice. First, how can you verify that an individual was accepted to a top school? Schools do not offer verification service for acceptance but only for degrees, in short, anyone can put in their resume "accepted to Stanford" and you have no way of probing it but with a letter of acceptance that can be easily fabricated with Photoshop.

    The other issue is that many business schools require a deposit before a letter of acceptance is issued, this means that I will need to put some money before I can obtain a letter that can probe that I was accepted into a top school.

    The idea is that the real value of the top MBA is that you were screened to be a successful person and you will be successful with or without the degree. If you have a winning mentality, you will be successful with or without the MBA.

    My take is that MBAs are not that useful for pure managerial careers, they seem to be more useful for quantitative careers such as Finance and Accounting that require technical knowledge but not so useful for managerial careers that rely more on industry experience.
     
  10. morganski

    morganski New Member

    I completed the Executive Certificate in Business Administration from Notre Dame last year (2013) for personal and professional development. Yes, the cost was high for a piece of resume candy, but the content I learned is quite valuable. Many students were attending the certificate program as preparation for an MBA degree. My current occupation involves a significant amount of travel, so it was convenient to download Notre Dame's lectures and listen to them while aboard planes, trains, and automobiles. The methodology went well beyond a weekly reading assignment and discussion board posts. In my view the certificate and MBA serve two different purposes: Certificate - mastery of understanding to make informed decisions; MBA - mastery of development and deployment of business components. Therefore, it really depends on your desired path in life. Being involved in the interview and selection process for a couple companies, when I review a resume an MBA is an MBA unless it is from a top 10 school with high name recognition or a locally well respected university. I am inclined to look at what the prospective employee has accomplished post MBA.
     

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