MBA from USQ or Touro?

Yes, Ralf, that is a very important distinction you mention here. I also believe you noted earlier that in the US and Canada it isn't unusual to get accepted into a Ph.D. program with an MBA; not so in the UK and Australia.
By the way, did you also your MBA at the USQ? Somehow, I remember you talking about being in their DBA program.

Dennis

 

Indeed, the MBA is not meant to be academic but a professional degree. In the US or Canada, an MBA graduate can apply to a PhD program but not in Australia or UK where the M.Phil or M.Bus is the required degree.

Yes, I registered in the DBA as the PhD required an M.Phil and couldn't afford the extra year. I just finished the degree but still waiting for the actual degree paper.

 

Actually, this is not entirely true. Some universities in Canada do not accept MBA's as entry requirements to their Ph.D. programs unless they have a significant thesis/project component or the undergraduate degree was in business. If the undergraduate degree was not in business, an MBA would certainly be scrutinized as an entry requirement.

Also, Canadian undergraduate degrees are quite different than US undergraduate degrees. There is more concentration and, at the end of four years, more preparation for master's and doctoral study.

 

That might be true if you are comparing all Canadian universities to American 3rd or 4th Tier universities only. But many many of the best and most famous universities in the world are in the US. These schools far outnumber the top schools in Canada, and are much more famous. And my point is that very few Canadian universities (and their are not that many) come close to matching the preparation from the large number of Ivy league schools in the US.

-S

 

I know students who attented universities and colleges in china, turkey, lebananon, ejypt, japan, canada, africa, carribean, south america, russia, vietnam, spain, france, bulgaria, germany, south korea, philipines, indonesia and the united states of america. They are all talented in their individual strengths and doing very well at the masters and doctoral level. You will complete your legitimate and legal academic program if you are hungry, persistent, and ambitious enough to earn your degree, diploma, course, or certificate.

If you aquire an illegal degree at a degreemill through ambition and persistence, you may land in jail and then go to hell.

 

Sulla,

I agree. However, the difference between the best and worst is not as marked as in the US. If you take a course in the University of Toronto (top) and the same at Mcmaster (Not top), you will see that there is not such a big difference. The same in Australia, all the universities keep a minimum standard because they are goverment based.

The point is that Canadian residents have to be cautious about where they are getting their degrees. Not because is RA in the US, it will be accepted in Canada. The general rule is that US RA schools should be recognized but it is not always the case as it is up to the employer or the University to accept the foreign degree.

With advent of online degrees, it would be easier for a Canadian resident to bypass the MBA requirements of one and half to two years full time residence of the Canadian Universities to the one year part time required by some of the American online for profit.

However, when the holder of an online MBA from a year part time program tries to appy to a PhD at a Canadian University or a goverment job, they will have a hard time convincing the Canadian officials that their MBA is the same as a Canadian MBA even when RA in the US.

 

I agree wholeheartedly. Universities such as Toronto, McGill and Queens are world class institutions, but the difference in quality between those schools and lesser schools does not seem all that significant.

I did my undergraduate degree at Concordia in Montreal. In several cases my teachers were teaching both at Concordia and McGill. Students I talked to at McGill did not seem to be having a vastly different experience. Over almost 15 years in the workforce I have not really noticed a difference in competency between Concordia and McGill graduates.

 

I have been monitoring this thread for some years now. I am officially still registered at USQ, and have completed eight of the required MBA modules. I struggled, first it cost be around 22,000 euro, l was working part time, and l was desperate to get ahead. USQ did not make it easy. The work load, was intensive, the materials inadequate especially in the numeracy modules, and each module contained two essays, three to four online tests and a final exam. It was hard to do to concurrent modules, and each module lasted up to four months. I had a good pass rate, considering l was working by myself, without any real teaching support. I attempted eleven modules, and completed eight. Yes l also had to fork out for a tutor, who initially was very helpful, but then decided she could milk me, and stopped working. So l was again left to my own devices. To be honest the quality of the USQ course is excellent, you can't cheat they check rigerously, so it's essentially good quality for money. However, you can't talk to the teachers, they don't talk back, they don't help. Crunch time came when l was working on the accounting module, my tutor, who is a qualified accountant, did not help. The USQ support materials were laughable. I dropped the course, as l nearly had a nervous breakdown. It's expensive, as l was working in Cyprus on a part time basis, l was making about 1/2 of what it cost to pay for the cost of the course, the books, the petrol from and go Nicosia, and my tutors costs, which were for four hours once a week, in the weekends, each lesson cost me 60 euros. I got fed up, when l complained to the department head and got a harsh and pioaonous, blame filled letter

 

I am not finished yet, error... So l decided enough was enough. It took me four years, l did not have any free time, l sunk my money and effort into a diploma. I got real, l said, if you want to distance learning, focus on the certificate, and not the diploma. I am not considering to return to USQ as it was too much, in my effort, cost and time. I could have gone to a normal school for a lot less and finished. If Australia wants to promote distance learning, it has to stop only thinking of making a profit, pushing students over the edge without really providing a proper learning environment. At two thousand euros per module, it's really expensive if your mother is a widow, and you are working on minimum wage. I did learn a lot, about me, but l also invested a great deal of me. If you want to distance learning don't be foolish, think carefully what you want to achieve. However having said that, many normal schools are just the same at making money from you, and wasting your time, as online schools.

 

So the moral of the story is . . . 1) grad school is lots of work and 2) check the price tag before you buy.

 

Non profit schools are very interested in making money. Money drives the whole works.

 

I completed a doctoral program at USQ. It is not a walk in the park but not more challenging that other schools that I have attended.
I have used the USQ degree for faculty positions, government grants, professional jobs, etc and never been questioned about the degree because this is a government Australian school that is listed as a recognized school in all the listings the I have needed it to be for jobs that I have applied for.
Yes, one can get a degree with less effort and less money from other schools but the price to pay is that you wouldn't get the same recognition.
The OP is upset because he was not able to graduate and blames the school, perhaps the root of the problem is not the school but the student as the school has thousands of graduates. USQ tuition policy is actually a lot better than other schools as Capella that do not charge per credit but charge per semester regardless of the number of credits that you take, with USQ you can take one course at the time and pay only for one course.
Two thousand dollars per course is the standard price for a typical graduate school in Canada, Australia or UK so I wonder what kind of price range the OP is looking for. Perhaps a DEAC degree with online multiple choice open book exams might be the best option if price and effort is a concern but then do not complain if the recognition is low.

 

@RFValve, Just saw the tuition for a USQ degree, it's over $20k/year.

Was it that much when you did it ?

 

I completed a DBA, it cost me around 22K AUD. Tuition fees have almost doubled since I started my DBA. I started in 2000 and completed 2008. My other option was Argosy University and quoted me at the time 25K USD.
It took me that long because I was paying the degree with my employer's tuition assistance that only gave me a max of 3K per year so I was doing it really slow for this reason.

Few people in Canada have completed education, accounting and engineering degrees with USQ and have been able to practice here as Australian degrees are recognized by professional associations.

 

Hi,
I understand your problem now. My suggestion would be to use the 8 modules completed at USQ and try to switch to a top up MBA from UK school. This means that you will be required to complete a dissertation only if you are accepted and prices are reasonable.
Try few of the schools below:
Online MBA Top Up | University of Derby Online Learning | UDOL
Master of Business Administration Top-Up | The University of Northampton
Courses MBA Advanced Entry Programme (MBA Top Up)

This could be a solution, dissertations are not easy to complete but they are less stressful than exams that require tutors, time, etc.

 

Commenting on things you clearly know little about doesn't actually make you look as smart as you might imagine.

 

someone that criticizes with little knowledge about the person who is criticizing is not a sign of intelligence but anger.
Yes, I have completed several courses at DEAC schools and many have been with online exams straight from the text book, one is also allowed to perform multiple attempts to improve grades. I have taken several courses at Penn foster, I have taken them there not because the quality but because the price and easiness. These courses have been used to fulfill continuing education requirements.
Yes, there is a huge difference between a course at a DEAC school like Penn foster and USQ. The latter requires probably 3 or 4 times more work for the same 3 credits based on my experience.
Also, there are plenty test banks online for sell for Penn foster courses that makes even easier to take these classes. The same can be said about many online DEAC schools. Many people just register for an online class, buy the exams and get the credit, not exactly ethical but it happens.

I hope that I didn't touch a nerve but I am talking based on my experience.

 

That doesn't mean that anything you said of "DEAC schools" so broadly is accurate. For the record, I'm not angry. I'm simply highlighting how personal experience and formal education, both of which you clearly have, does not prevent a person from making a series of ignorant pronouncements, as you have.

I'm going to venture a guess that the amount of coursework offered by the two schools doesn't cross over that much. Does USQ offer all of the programs offered by PF? And how many have you sampled? What levels are they? People routinely take courses at community colleges to meet the requirements at a four year school to save time. I've heard some people argue that the courses are easier though this is a very subjective observation. Does that mean that community college degrees are worthless?

Just because something is "more difficult" doesn't mean you're actually learning anything new or learning anything better. I had very little difficulty in my English Comp course. Others did. My professor was very friendly and helpful. Others had a woman we called "Attila the Nun" (she was an IHM Sister). Her course was significantly "harder" but I would wager that you didn't leave the course with any greater skills or knowledge. She didn't teach with more rigor she just made you hate going to class and made you really sweat out whether you would pass with a grade of your liking.

You can pay a person to take your in-person or online classes at any school. You clearly know how to cheat at Penn Foster. Are you saying that USQ is cheat-proof? Because if the ability to cheat in a course is a measure that a course isn't rigorous then I think you might be hard pressed to find a school that meets your standards.

For credit bearing courses there is also typically a proctor requirement. While I'm certain it's possible to fraudulently get your friend, or a fictional person, designated as a proctor I fail to see how that differs from the countless in-person exams I've taken with fill-in proctors who never checked IDs.

I don't object to your talking from person experience but to the fact that you've decided to take that personal experience and use it to paint a picture of all DEAC schools. I have exactly one multiple choice exam for my MSM, the comprehensive. Everything else was a written assignment. Were those assignments "easy?" Like in any school it depended largely upon the professor and the subject matter. There was one course that I, admittedly, got a bit lazy in. My first three assignments did not come back with good grades and I had to really step it up.

Were I to then turn around and say that all DEAC schools are rigorous, based upon my personal experience, I'm sure you would heartily jump in to disagree with me. So no, you didn't "touch a nerve" I just didn't want to leave your statement unchallenged.

Incidentally, since we're talking about personal experience, I also use my MSM (from a DEAC accredited school) to teach on the business faculty of a regionally accredited community college.

The funny thing about basing all statements on our "personal experience" is that my experience is no more or less valid than your own. So my point isn't to dismantle your experience but rather the conclusion you derived from it.

 

Granted, I shouldn't have generalized. Bottom line is that you get what you pay for. The OP is upset because the 2,000 euros per course at USQ but my point is that he or she is getting a quality education with controls that guarantee the credibility of the degree.

Not all DEAC schools but some are known to be low cost and flexible. IF the OP only needs an accredited degree that is compatible with his or her schedule, I recommend a DEAC degree because its low cost and flexibility but the price to pay is lower recognition.

I did not want to insult anyone here. I realized that my tone was not appropriate and that some students like you are getting something from a DEAC school and perhaps this meets your needs and you worked hard for this.

I personally have taken courses at different schools during my life, some DEAC, RA, non accredited, etc. I don't see nothing wrong with any of my choices but I was always aware of the limitations and needs of my education.

My point is that there is no free lunch, if you want recognition and quality, you need to pay the price in terms of effort and cost.

 

With this statement I would say we are in complete agreement.

I apologize if I misread your tone or if my challenge came across snarkier than it was intended.