I've effectively been eliminated from St. Joe's MBA, but not for academics

Check out Baker College as well

www.baker.edu

 

Fort Hays State University www.fhsu.edu offers an MBA in Leadership online. Of course, wherever you end up deciding to pursue your degree, always remember and never forget: they're taking your money, hence you are the customer, hence you are right!!!

 

Do you think you could get some student loans from the Student Loan Marketing Association www.salliemae.com , aka Sallie Mae Financial?

 

Hey guys, thanks for your continued support.

I looked at Chadron, loved the program, hated the 5 course prereq requirements.

I looked at WGU, their approach isn't broken down in traditional format making it difficult for my HR reps to get their head around, thus getting me my money. Additionally, I'm not sure if I care for that approach.

I also looked at TUI, I will call them tomorrow if I can.

Lastly I considered Ft. Hays and liked both the school and the program, but couldn’t get past the prereqs.

I googled Ashford and have seen the complaints against them.....they seem (the few and far between) to all be focused on the undergrad degrees regarding transfer credits and proprietary books. I personally don't mind the books since Ashworth kind of works that way too, though they supply them. Heck, books are expensive no matter where you go. My 2 USED books for my first St. Joe's class were almost $200.00, that's life.

 

I have to say that I've always really liked Bellevue's program. I also agree with the suggestion about Touro. My personal feeling is that I would take either one over Ashford.

You might also consider California State DH. This program has prerequisites but going from memory the whole degree is 10 coures plus 4 (2 credit) pre reqs. Also this is a school with name recognitiion, unlike most (or all) of the other schools being mentioned. GMAT is required but I would suggest that you strongly consider it.

 

Okay, here is the edit to that post:

I just checked and there are in fact 5 bridge courses, so if you have to do all of them it's 10 courses for the MBA plus 5 bridge courses (at 2 credits each) for a total of 40 credits. Tuition is now $400 per course (seems to have gone up, like everything except my paycheque) for a grand total of $16,000. These things are getting more expensive.

 

Friendorfoe, look at Baker College. Seriously. Unless there is a reason that you have already ruled it out, it seems to fit what you are looking for. At least to me.....

www.baker.edu

 

Baker looks like a solid program…but has more classes 12 to 14 which isn’t too much of a burden. I’ll research it more….but I do have a couple of questions for you guys.

1.) Would Baker, Touro or even Bellevue really have more name recognition than Ashford University?
2.) Would it really matter at this level? None of these are upper tier schools
3.) What is wrong with Ashford? Is there something I missed or do not yet know?
4.) Ashford is a combination of small school and for profit. This causes me to believe that I will receive a LOT of special attention that would normally not happen.
5.) Ashford is a relatively new name on a 100 year old school, it used to be the Franciscan University.

 

To give my opinions on the questions you've raised:

1- No
2- Probably not, except that a prospective employer researching your school might have less prejudice against a distance learning program from a non profit. Also a school with a physical campus might be preferred generally, but if I'm not mistaken all the schools mentioned (Baker, Ashford, Bellevue and Touro) offer on ground courses (With Touro the link is a bit tenuous though).
3- I seem to recall some negative posts, but it's probably okay. I believe that their MBA used to be an MA (could be wrong). I would find out how many students they have in the program, how long they've offered it for and ask to speak to a couple of their MBA students.

Ashford is probably a fine school with a very reasonable credit requirement for an MBA. Quite possibly a winner. I have to admit that I still quite like Bellevue and Baker, both of which are very well established as distance learning MBA providers, and Bellevue has received a personal thumbs up from Dr. Bear.

Final note. Is there a reason you're not considering APUS? 36 credits, RA and the price is relatively good.

 

I seem to recall APUS having prereq requirments. I can't remember though.

Also Ashford was a campus based school before it was online....but their online program grew faster from what I understand.

 

I'm quite sure not, just had a quick look and didn't see any.

Tuition is $275/credit and 36 credits for a total of $9900. Not too shabby.

 

You might also consider a new program, the Columbia College Online MBA.

No prerequisites, $290/hr, RA, and a Fort Worth satellite campus. Transfer credit is accepted.

EDIT: Ooops, my mistake, there are prereqs. Sorry.

 

Gosh, I'm blushing....it isn't often I'm accused of good judgement.

Seriously though, while I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either school, it really comes down to what friendorfoe wants. If you want the utility of an RA degree, either of these schools would be fine. If you're looking for name recognition, neither of these schools (or any DL schools in the same tier) are going to light the room on fire.

If this helps, let me share some recent anecdotal experiences. I'm retiring from the Air Force next month, and currently job hunting. My degrees (to include the M.S. in progress) are proudly listed on the resume, and I have three interviews scheduled over the next 10 days.

Not one prospective employer gave a damn HOW the degree(s) were earned, or cared really for anything other than accreditation and applicability to the position applied for.

Like most working adults, I have an extensive work history, other certifications, and positive factors such as a clearance, so the degrees alone weren't causing these folks to beat down my door. HOWEVER, to return to my original point, in spite of the fact that the respective schools are fourth tier, they were still an overwhelmingly positive factor.

I know how much soul searching you've put into this decision over the years, and it has to be disappointing to to have St. Joe's turn out not to be the answer you thought. I only wanted to throw a different perspective at you, and I sincerely hope it helped. Good luck friendorfoe -I really am rooting for you.

Dave

 

Thanks,

I'll talk to Touro on Monday.

Don

 

Starting a new thread with updated info.

 

My question is...is the school allowed, per federal lending laws, to make stipulations such as this? Any tuition reimbursement that is strictly between you and your employer is, frankly, none of their business and completely separate from any federal lending guidelines.

For them to not certify FAFSA based on this seems to me to be contrary to some federal policy...and if it isn't, it certainly should be.

 

Actually they believe that I wouldn't qualify for FAFSA because of the gross amount of the reimburssement regardless of whether I actually get it or not, or if it's prorated.

 

WPI's online MBA (part-time program) was Ranked #1 in Northeast by Business Week (Part-Time MBA) and #9 in the nation... they have a great program. Here's a review of what they are offering on my blog (Online College Blog): WPI's Top-Ranked Online Programs.

You may also be interested in my other posts about Online MBA programs:
Online MBA Programs - Top 25 Best Buys and Considering an Online MBA? Investigation into accreditation and pricing for 10 programs.

Hope that helps!

CollegeBlogger

 

Also, I forgot to mention, I am currently attending Columbia College... I'll get my BA in Business this May.

I reviewed the business pre-reqs required for the online MBA program. I have already taken the courses and they are a breeze. Undergrad tuition is only $205 and with their 8 week semesters, you can complete them in no time.

I have nothing but good to say about Columbia College and the 8 week terms will allow you to complete your MBA in no time.

 

And a distinct advantage over some of the other choices is that the University of Massachusetts is well-known no matter where you live. Yes, that can play well in interviews.

I say this having gone to both kinds of knowns -- well and not-so well.


Tom Nixon