Jack Welch Moves His Online M.B.A. Program to Strayer U. - Wired Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education
On the other hand, it looks like they sold a division that held promise but wasn't driving their business overall as they'd hoped, and they're now - likely; details of the transaction are behind the WSJ paywall - sitting on millions of dollars in cash and pending royalties. Bold, flashy and high-profile isn't for everyone, especially if it comes with underperforming expectations, and perhaps being overleveraged.
Chancellor University can survive this if they engage in some strategic initiatives. For example, they can start offering an affordable doctorate in sought after fields, which could skyrocket enrollment at the school. There is huge demand for doctorates presently; however, one main reason why many are not enrolling at the big online schools is due to their high tuition. Any school that can take advantage of this niche by offering affordable doctorates (that accept substantial transfer credits from NA and RA schools) will succeed big time in the long term. The secret is offering doctorates in unique fields (not just business administration) at an affordable rate. Again, Chancellor University can survive, but they have to refuse to accept that Welch MBA was their only means for success. Online MBAs are becoming saturated anyway, and I don't think including "Jack Welch" in the degree name made a significant difference (IMO, a "Jack Welch" MBA would be more impactful if offered through a top tier university with an established name). I doubt it would make much difference now that Strayer University offers it.
The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association So how does a school with less than 250 full-time students + 500 part time students survive, especially when 200 of them were in the JWMI? OK Chancellor gets a $7M cash infusion + some royalty payments, at a cost of losing almost 40% of PT enrollment? (I'm going to assume the 200 JWMI students were PT). Can Chancellor survive? Cyber is correct, they can. Will they? Too many schools in the Cleveland metro, too small to have an regional/national online presence...and still working through issues with HLC: http://www.ncahlc.org/download/_PublicDisclosureNotices/PDN_1837.pdf I don't see how Chancellor survives... Shawn
It's just a silly pimping of the Jack Welch name that is little more than window-dressing. Yes, Jack Welch has been very successful. Yes, Jack Welch is taking advantage of his reputation here. I'm not so certain, however, that it makes much difference in the quality of the MBA. At the end of the day, it is going to be a Strayer MBA. What I vote for is a Charlie Sheen MBA.
I think so too. Many agree that DL programs from schools with physical campus are generally acceptable than those from online-only schools or ones with no physical campus. Chancellor can utilize the model used by Ashford University to offer an online doctorate program. While operating as a B & M school, Ashford's graduate degrees are structured mainly as online programs (in fact, over 90% of Ashford's graduate students are distance/online learners). A B & M school that offer online degrees this way (eventhough the school has zero on-site structure to support the programs) lends credibility/legitimacy to such programs than those offered by online-only schools. Chancellor's competitive advantage, over other doctoral granting online-only schools, would include their B & M status and most importantly, a substantially lower-cost alternative. At an initial tuition rate of $1,200 or less per class (realistically, $250 per credit would be too low for a school that has to maintain a physical campus, and sometimes hosts residencies. Also, they can raise the tuition to about $1500 or thereabout after the first wave of enrollment or after the first year), as well as acceptance of ample transfer credits from both RA and NA schools, the incentive for those currently attending NA schools to transfer into the program would increase significantly. Another reason why enrollment would spike is that many who cannot afford the "big" tuition currently charged by the "big" doctoral granting online schools, especially, folks in developing countries who crave "american degrees" (I know this first hand) and others (in the americas) would have an affordable alternative. Except HLC (their accreditor) gets in the way, this prescription for success is one that I'm sure would work big time.
That's my point. Adding "Jack Welch" to a MBA degree from a school with low reputation isn't going to do much. However, if the name is added to a MBA offered by a school with high reputation, then maybe something like a "Jack Welch Executive MBA" can have an impact. Otherwise, after a Charlie Sheen MBA, I would vote for a "Kardashian MBA" hehehe...
Cyber, Good points...I wonder if Chancellor "assisted" with the process for the cash infusion. If you look at the HLC monitoring report, HLC is very concerned about the finances of the University. Perhaps (pure speculation), Chancellor looked at the loss of the JWMI as a short-term cash solution to take care of exisiting financial issues (to keep the school open???) Since Chancellor is no longer on Probation or Show-Cause, they can issue new degrees, and they could go down a route of offering something different. Is the Chancellor leadership up to the paradigm shift, and just as important, can Chancellor U obtain the necessary capital to do so? I guess we'll see...but my bet is the school closes in 12 - 18 months. Shawn
Is there no adjunct in this forum that can reach out to the school's leadership/owners? We'll hate to see the school close, especially, considering that they have all structures already in place to offer online programs that will attract students. There are some "high-impact" programs that, in my opinion, would attract a lot of students looking for "next-generation" degrees, not just Business Administration degrees that have over-saturated the market, but with very questionable value to students. For example, degrees such as PhD in Systems Management with several high-demand specialization options, PhD in Security and Intelligence studies (or Military Studies) with several specializations (a program of this sort would complement the set of programs offered by APU/AMU), Doctor of Applied Science (DASc) in Information and Communications Technology (or DASc in Technical Studies) with several optional specialisms, would differentiate Chancellor from others. Packaging the degree specializations in chunks of 18 credits, with core courses that cover the business domain (economics, Accounting, marketing, operations, finance, etc.) for maximum utility (adjunct work in mind), would IMO attract students.
I originally attended Chancellor University when I first started taking MBA classes. I was able to view the syllabi of various courses prior to JWMI and the format was exactly the same. Only difference is that Dr. Welch added a few videos here and there, and had a one to two page outline for each week. Overall, prior to JWMI, Chancellor had a great format with eight modules and had the courses set up to where the students provided enough discussion that you built a good rapport with the other students. Only drawback is that I did not want an EMBA, but more on an MBA with a specialization, which Chancellor lacked. Besides that, everyone at the school was great, and the new CEO and other staff did take the time to listen to my reasons why I left. I don't see how the JWMI is going to increase its enrollment to Dr. Welch's expectations moving the program from one for-profit school to another. Sure, they will have more students enrolled in that program because Strayer already has a lot of students, but it will not open the flood gates of new enrollment. I hope Chancellor University does succeed because they have a great program in place if someone wants to obtain a general MBA. Especially if you're a military veteran because they also offered free book vouchers and 250 per unit.
I took a lot of my CLEP and DSST tests at the local Strayer, in addition to my TECEP and proctored midterm at Thomas Edison. I have to say that the facilities are top notch and the people are very kind and generous with their time.