Help!!! A&M Commerce vs Liberty University

Discussion in 'Business and MBA degrees' started by Mashtag, Nov 19, 2015.

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  1. Mashtag

    Mashtag New Member

    I was wondering if Liberty University or A&M commerce would be more respected by employer both in the Dallas area and in the Arlington VA/DC area.

    Situation:

    Currently in TX and I have a 4.0 undergrad in business from local state univ. Both LU and TAMUC are lower ranked than the one I went to, so maybe this is a mistake to begin with.
    However,
    I want to do an MBA and my employer has a small amount tuition assistance. I want to stay out of debt, but either way, will have to contribute some amount.

    My wife wants to move to the DC area someday, probably in another 5-6 years.

    I like Liberty because I do share some of the values and would like a private education. On the other hand, I can attend tamuc in class at their dallas campus. I'm sure in the DC area neither would get much respect, so not sure it matters. Liberty is the most I could afford with tuition assistance at this time.

    Perhaps another choice would be best, I'm open to suggestions. So if anyone has any advice on my situation, it would be much appreciated!
     
  2. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Liberty is well known in the D.C. area, but in this political town that makes it pretty polarizing -- for some employers would be a big plus, for others it would be a big minus.

    Are those really your only choices?
     
  3. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Not even close. If you want to appeal to a very narrow bunch of people, Liberty will cause you to held in incredible regard. But if you want to be respected by the other 99.9% of the country, consider the alternative. Any alternative.
     
  4. Mashtag

    Mashtag New Member

    Any other ideas for something less than $1500 per course? Thanks for the advice. I'll stay away from liberty. I'd conaider any online program as well (not for profit and aacsb or acbsp only)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 20, 2015
  5. Mashtag

    Mashtag New Member

    Thanks for the heads up. Liberty is out. Any other schools you know of?
     
  6. nyvrem

    nyvrem Active Member

    A budget would be nice. There's alot of programs out there.
     
  7. Mashtag

    Mashtag New Member

    Approx $1500 per course max.
     
  8. TEKMAN

    TEKMAN Semper Fi!

    For that budget would be:

    - University of North Dakota
    - University of South Dakota
    - University of North Texas (Texas Resident)
    - University of Massachusetts-Lowell
     
  9. Mashtag

    Mashtag New Member

    Thanks! I've considered UNT as well. Will these have any name recognition in both Texas and DC?
     
  10. TEKMAN

    TEKMAN Semper Fi!

    Most of Texas universities/colleges do not have recognition in Washington D.C area. The most recognizable school in the National Capitol Region include: Rice University, Baylor University, University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University at College Station, Southern Methodist University, and Texas Christian University. Other schools just a check mark for the application requirement.... If you plan to use your UNT MBA to compete for executive or senior management job is out of question. Because you are up competing with Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Virginia, Harvard, Yale, NYU, Columiba, UPenn, and etc.

    If you want to use your UNIT MBA for regular job, you will be fine. Because nobody cares where is your degree from as long as it is accredited. I had my degree from Troy University when I first landed the job in Washington D.C area after leaving Marine Corps active duty. Nobody questioned about my degree.
     
  11. Mashtag

    Mashtag New Member

    Great advice. Thank you. This is what I needed to know. I work in commercial banking/auditing for community banks and intend to work into an audit management role, but certainly don't plan on anything at the executive level. With that said, an MBA is usually above and beyond what is required for the jobs I look at, so I think I will be OK. Thank you for the help.
     
  12. Phdtobe

    Phdtobe Well-Known Member

    As a liberty graduate, I am not sure about your 00.1% bunch thing. However,
    I also think A&M is the better choice because of its broader appeal. A good thing about Liberty is great customer service and excellent students in the online discussions.
     
  13. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    Not that anyone asked my non-MBA holding opinion, but, I think Liberty is an outstanding choice for an undergraduate degree. I don't think there are any weaknesses concerning conservative Christian position at the undergraduate level- many many many people choose undergraduate degrees that are affiliated with a religious denomination and when your undergraduate degree is your "terminal" degree then maybe, but that's not the case here.
    I think an MBA is different. An MBA is when you say "I have a foundation- but now I'm ready to swim with sharks" and stepping into the best program you can get into is where my money sits. MBAs are different from other master's degrees- graduate level business isn't about being fed information (passive), it's about growing and calculating your strategy for success-networking- infiltrating, dominating....ok, that might be too aggressive. But I think brand is pretty relevant in business, especially if you're young.
     
  14. major56

    major56 Active Member

    If you’re inclined toward the MBA within the Texas A & M University System (including TAMUC)—there are several additional options that fall within your budget as well as having AACSB or ACBSP accreditation.
    Universities

    You may also want to consider MBA options within the University of Texas System.
    University of Texas System | Nine Universities. Six Health Institutions. Unlimited Possibilities.
    UTOC · MBAO Program Information

    In that you’re considering the TAMUC satellite campus (Dallas) in class option … you may want to take a look-see at the UT Dallas MBA program with its several available /flexible program delivery choices The UT Dallas MBA Program | Naveen Jindal School of Management

    Jindal School of Management B-school rankings:
    Naveen Jindal School of Management Rankings | Naveen Jindal School of Management
     
  15. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    Some fabulous points here. Let me just add, another consideration is whether the school is known for religion or for the specific program. This is important. An atheist may very well choose an MBA program at Fordham, Loyola or Georgetown because those are very good business programs that happen to be offered by a religiously affiliated school.

    Fordham offers many religious programs but they are well known for their top notch business program and their MBA is pretty well received in the NYC area (and throughout NYS). The same can be said about Drexel, Villanova and Philadelphia.

    It would be odd for that same atheist to choose a program at Liberty. You can be an atheist at the University of Scranton (Jesuit) and, besides having to take two religion courses, move throughout your problem without drawing any attention to yourself. If you were a proud atheist at Liberty you might do fine but I suspect you would draw a bit more attention than you would at the other schools I've mentioned here.

    For better or worse, Liberty is known as a sanctuary of conservative Christians in the world of higher education. That's fine. But is their MBA particularly well regarded? I believe school reputation falls into this sort of rough hierarchy:

    1. Program or school is known for being amazing
    2. School is known because of sports (may be a good school or may be an average school but the sports thing keeps them well known)
    3. School is unknown
    4. School is known because the program is subpar
    5. The school itself is thought of very poorly overall

    At the one end of the spectrum you have things like Harvard Business and the exact opposite end you have places like the university of Phoenix. In the middle you have a weird mix where opinions vary. I do not like Liberty University. I would never discriminate against a candidate with a degree from Liberty, though. But I can also imagine a situation where that might not be the case. I can't imagine it simply "wouldn't come up" that you had a degree from Falwell's white paradise if you were applying for a job as, say, a diversity officer at a non-sectarian school up north or if you wanted a job on the business side of an organization that dealt with, say, gay rights.

    For the typical employer you're likely to score points with a conservative Christian whose values are aligned to Liberty. If your potential boss isn't that (and has opinions about conservative religion in our society today) you might not develop that rapport with the interviewer. For the bulk of employers, however, the degree from Liberty is likely "fine."

    A professional HR person or hiring manager would set aside those personal biases when interviewing someone with a degree from a place where the values clash with their own. Not everyone is professional, unfortunately. But I can't see a Liberty grad being wildly discriminated against in the broader (outside of their geographic sphere of influence) job market.
     
  16. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    While true, I think it's different here. Liberty isn't just "affiliated" with a religion. It stands--along with Regent, Bob Jones, and Oral Roberts Universities--as symbols of their founders. Holding degrees from these schools sends a message. If that's the message one wants to send, fine. But if not?

    Compare it to, say, St Francis U. Putting a degree from there on your resume doesn't scream "FRANCISCAN!" even though it's right in the title of the school. But a degree from Liberty yells "evangelical" or "born again Christian" big time. Again, if that's one's message, fine.
     
  17. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    To my thinking this is more true now than ever before if for no other reason than the fact that there are so many of the little buggers. There are probably over 200 DL MBA programs at this point. My assumption would be that the student made the choice they made based on several factors, one of them being brand name. I can concede that the Liberty program is pretty good but at the same time I wouldn't make that choice because I don't want to be associated with the brand. I'd be waaaay more likely to choose a state uni like UMass.
     
  18. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    You're right, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that not "everyone" knows that. I think it's possible that we overestimate the average Joe's educational insight. I'd probably never heard of Liberty until last year or the year before; and I pay attention. When in doubt, I always use my husband as a litmus test. He's a mid-career adult, worked in industry for a good while, teaches at a large university, pursuing his MBA online, and follows popular culture a bit more than I do (magazines,etc). For sure he doesn't edu-obsess on forums like I do. :)

    So, for fun.
    Me: have you ever heard of Liberty University?
    Tom: yeah, sure
    Me: who are they?
    Tom: they advertise on the tv I think. Aren't they a regional school? I think I've heard of them, but I don't know anything about them.

    I rest my case.
     
  19. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    A case rested after a sample of one, a convenience sample at that, isn't much of a case. But your point is still well-taken. I'd love to see some research on this.
     
  20. novadar

    novadar Member

    Yes, Rich. To bolster this point, I went to Virginia Tech as an undergraduate (Go Hokies, Thanks Coach Beamer, Welcome Coach Fuentes) and a guy living in my residence hall my sophomore year transferred from Liberty to Tech after only 1 year there. I was floored when he told me they had a mandatory University-wide convocation (a typically religious sermon oriented speech) three times per week. They only were allowed ONE unexcused absence from convocation per semester.

    While obviously you cannot force an online student to attend such a gathering it speaks volumes about how 'important' it is for the school.

    Scrolling Google results on this very topic, I found one that said "Liberty University students faced $10 fine if they skipped Ted Cruz presidential speech".

    You make the call (no,not that Alcoa NFL football referring call challenge commercial thingy from the 70's and 80's)
     

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