Ashworth (PCDI) MBA Program

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by TomICAVols, Nov 24, 2004.

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  1. TomICAVols

    TomICAVols New Member

    I am strongly considering this MBA program due to the structure, format, and cost plans. Anyone in this program right now? Please share your insights with me. Thanks!
     
  2. DesElms

    DesElms New Member

    I'm not in the program -- nor have I been; nor is it likely likely that I will ever be -- but, I've always thought it was perfect fine if all you wanted to do was be able to put "MBA" on your business card and/or resume without getting arrested in places like Oregon; and/or if you just wanted a perfectly decent (and even respectable... or at least adequately respectable) accredited MBA education that doesn't ever need to compete with MBAs from AACSB-accredited schools.

    It's DETC-accredited -- which is still USDoE/CHEA-approved -- so it's perfectly legitimate in every rational sense (though others, here, will probably explain why DETC accreditation, alone, might be considered by some to be an impediment). Just know that if the quality of the degree were the only criteria; and/or all other things being equal between you and other job candidates (all of whom have MBAs from either regionally- and/or AACSB-accredited schools) except the degree, I believe you'd lose out to them rather quickly.

    That's just my opinion, however... with which others here, no doubt, will take strong issue.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 24, 2004
  3. cpaq

    cpaq New Member

    I am enrolled in the Ashworth MBA program, and have just completed the noncredit introductory course. As I have posted elsewhere, it appears to be a credible program and comparable. but slightly easier, than some of the other open admission MBA programs that are RA accredited. Again, I am only beginning. The next course appears to be Ethics, but it hasn't arrived yet.

    That said, DesElms is right. This is a credible program but not something that will elicit respect in a Fortune 1000 company, except maybe in retail sales. For someone in a different environment (home-based business, government or nonprofit manager, entrepreneur, etc.) it seems to give you the training and tools that you need in a graduate management program. But my sense is that it is built with same KISS philosophy that PCDI uses in its vocational AA and AS programs. For me, a mid-career senior manager in a nonprofit, this could be a plus. But it will never get me hired by any firm that has a cadre of MBAs from top 20 schools. Just like a law degree from Concord and a CA bar admission won't get you hired by many, if any, large law firms.

    An open question is if any of the RA doctorate programs that accept nationally accredited graduate work (Northcentral and Capella come to mind) will accept the Ashworth credits. Since the program is new, it is not even confirmed that other DETC MBA programs, such as Aspen, American Public University, etc., will accept the Ashworth credits. I hope the answer is yes, but no one has reported their experience yet.

    I have thought about another angle for this $5,000 business program. I wonder if the first 6-8 courses will fulfill the prerequisite requirement for non-business majors that most (but not all) RA MBA programs require. The majority of MBA programs either require undergraduate coursework or evidence of advanced standing in various business basics. I think it is possible that 1/2 or 2/3 of an Ashworth MBA would meet the requirement of some or most of the prerequisites, although none of the Ashworth credits will transfer to a RA school.
     
  4. dis.funk.sh.null

    dis.funk.sh.null New Member

    Cpaq is correct in his assessment regarding the degree utility... I'm glad I'm not living in the USA :D

    I think other DETC schools should theoretically accept Ashworth credits without any problems. It all depends how do the course material and subject matter for the comparable courses match up.

    For instance, the courses at Grantham University and Aspen are virtually identical as far as subject content is concerned. So transfer of credits between the two schools should be rather seemless.

    Do heed this warnig that most DETC schools including Aspen and Grantham do not allow the transfer of more than 9 credits. Andrew Jackson University allows up to 15 credits however of transfer.


     
  5. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    Re: Re: Ashworth (PCDI) MBA Program

    This DETC accredited MBA degree is acceptable in Oregon.
     
  6. DesElms

    DesElms New Member

    Yes, that was my point. The Ashworth MBA is DETC accredited. DETC is a USDoE/CHEA-approved accreditor. Oregon makes all degrees which are not accredited by a USDoE/CHEA-approved agency illegal. Ergo, putting Ashworth's MBA on one's business card and/or resume in Oregon would be legal. My words in my original post, here, were:
    • "...but, I've always thought it was perfecty fine if all you wanted to do was be able to put 'MBA' on your business card and/or resume without getting arrested in places like Oregon..."
    So we are of one mind on this, no?
     
  7. dl_mba

    dl_mba Member

    Personally i would not attend PCDI(for not being regionally accredited). But it again depends on individual needs!
     
  8. TomICAVols

    TomICAVols New Member

    True, I would strongly prefer an RA program. But cost and convenience are paramount, and Ashworth seems to offer both better than any other program I've seen. If anyone knows of other MBA programs that offer a payment plan, I'd love to hear about it. Unless my socks get blown off or I hear many horror stories about Ashworth, Ashworth it is.
     
  9. cpaq

    cpaq New Member

    Many if not most of the DETC MBA programs offer a payment plan. I am not aware of any that allow a student to pay as little as the $99 a month that Ashworth does. Doing a search here for DETC and MBA will start you off, or go to www.detc.org and look at the list of accredited institutions for a complete one.

    I can't recall any RA schools that offer a no-interest monthly plan. But many if not most allowed deferred payment plans for a small fee--not including books.

    No doubt Ashworth is affordable. But you get what you pay for. I say that as an enrolled student.
     
  10. Guest

    Guest Guest

    Re: Re: Ashworth (PCDI) MBA Program

    Are you able to name even one person who has been arrested in Oregon for using a degree not approvd by the ODA?

    Thanks!
     
  11. Kit

    Kit New Member

    Not necessarily. Here's a list of schools that will accept completed (that's the key, and a good GPA as well) DETC degrees, including Ashworth's:

    Western Governor's University
    Kaplan University
    Jones International University
    University of Phoenix
    Colorado Technical University

    That said, I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with an Ashworth MBA other than:

    1. It's DETC acrredited, not RA and not AACSB. But there are much more expensive RA MBA programs that are also not accredited by AACSB.

    2. Ashworth doesn't mention if any of their individual courses are ACE-approved, which would certainly facilitate transfer of credit. But if they were ACE approved they would probably mention it on their site, and they don't. Education Direct's programs are ACE-approved, but as far as I know they don't offer anything beyond associate's degrees.

    3. "Ashworth College" has probably about zero name recognition, but so do many much more expensive RA schools offering MBAs.

    The Ashworth program is certainly very inexpensive though, which for many is essential. Granted, it's not Harvard but it's better than no MBA at all especially if the position you want requires one. Most HR departments have resume screeners, either human or electronic, and the initial weeding-out process is done by checking which desired degree letters are missing.

    An Ashworth MBA would probably be most useful to someone with several years experience in a particular field who is looking for advancement in that field or a move to another company in the same field. But I wouldn't recommend it to anyone just starting out or with little experience.

    Kit
     
  12. cpaq

    cpaq New Member

    Kit, All of the schools you list offer the MBA as a terminal degree in their business programs--none offer doctorates. So transferring a completed DETC MBA really wouldn't offer any utility with these schools, would it? One certainly doesn't want two MBAs--one DETC and one RA.

    Other RA schools, such as NCU, Argosy, Walden and perhaps Nova, offer doctorates and accept nationally accreditated graduate work on a case-by-case basis. Some of the DETC MBA programs, such as Aspen, have articulation agreements and track records in feeding graduates into RA doctorate programs. In this area, Ashworth is still a question mark, at best.
     
  13. Kit

    Kit New Member

    One does, the University of Phoenix offers a DBA.

    From your previous post I kind of got the impression that you really want your MBA from somewhere other than Ashworth. It's possible to transfer a DETC MBA to an RA MBA program, have partial credit accepted or all credits accepted with further requirements, then have the MBA from an RA institution at a greatly reduced cost. It is two MBAs but since the accreditation is different it could be a situation where only the RA MBA would be listed thereafter, sort like how many people don't list their completed associate's degrees after earning their bachelor's. Obtaining an MBA with a higher and more generally accepted accreditation is a legitimate reason to want that 'second' MBA.


    Kit
     
  14. TomICAVols

    TomICAVols New Member

    I can't see the need for two MBAs unless you're talking about different disciplines or concentrations.

    So anyone else have any experience with Ashworth's MBA program?
     
  15. DesElms

    DesElms New Member

    No. Yet.

    And your point is?
     
  16. dis.funk.sh.null

    dis.funk.sh.null New Member

    Name one RA university that would take all credits from an NA university towards an MBA... Isn't there a limit on how many units can be transferred?? It is only logical to assume that there is a limit, but if I'm wrong I'd sure like to know!


     
  17. Guest

    Guest Guest

    Re: Re: Ashworth (PCDI) MBA Program

    You just made it.
     
  18. DesElms

    DesElms New Member

    So, pardon me for taking this all the way to its logical conclusion before, perhaps, you were ready for its untimely arrival; but do you mean to suggest, here, by not-so-thinly-veiled inference, that because Oregon has, to date, proceeded with due and appropriate caution and has not rushed-in to a policy of widespread criminal enforcement until it is absolutely certain that all of its fledgling law's i's have been dotted and t's have been crossed and some of its rough edges have been polished a bit, that a potential student making decisions today about whether or not his/her degree intended for future use in Oregon should be accredited by a USDoE/CHEA-approved agency should just ignore the law and enter the state with a degree from an unaccredited institution with confidence that, based on past performance, it will never circle back to bite him/her in the proverbial ass?

    Whew! Hold on a minute... I gotta' sit down. I think all the oxygen got sucked out of my brain by my having made the above just one, big, honkin' sentence... er... in this case, one big question. It's quite possible that I now hold the official DegreeInfo run-on prize... and I ain't proud of it, lemmee tell ya'!
     
  19. Kit

    Kit New Member

    There was a list in a previous post to this thread:


    There are surely others, I'm not aware of a complete list. All RA schools, all claim to accept completed DETC degrees.

    Does that mean in every case? Probably not, there are no absolutes. It's always up to individual school, the particular program, and the GPA of the applying student. If an applicant's completed DETC degree had a 2.00 average it would likely lessen chances of full acceptance, a completed DETC degree with a 4.00 average would be considered differently.

    Some schools might have limits on the amount of credits accepted, others accept completed degrees. If the DETC degree is not completed then the student would certainly be subjected to credit-by-credit evaluations. It's always up to the school but it's not as if there are no RA schools that accept completed DETC degrees. Many, if not most won't any DETC credits, but some will. Someone once posted an approximate ratio, something like 2/3 will not and 1/3 will. That's why it's wrong to assume that a DETC degree is always a dead-end, it's not. It certainly limits options but it's not useless. If a DETC school was the most accessible to any potential student than an RA program for whatever the reason, I would certainly encourage that person to go for it, rather than telling them not to bother at all just because their degree will be NA instead of RA.

    As far as numerical limits on credit transfers, in many cases DETC schools tend to have stricter limitations than RA schools, whether any particular RA school accepts DETC credits or not. Some DETC schools even limit the amount of RA credits they will accept, but it's strictly a numerical limitation rather than a reflection on the quality of the RA credits.

    Kit
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 5, 2004
  20. DaveHayden

    DaveHayden New Member

    Hi Kit

    I think dis was atalking about transfer into the MBA program. Most grad schools have a limit of 6 or 9 credits total they will accept as transfer towards the degree. Even then it is likely that NA credits would not be accepted IF it were a selective school. If we are talking U of P, AIU, or other non-selective program then they likely would be accepted. I agree with you that DETC degrees should not be considered a dead end.
     

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