Thread: NCU's MBA is now only 30CR!!

This means that I am 2 classes and almost $4k closer to finishing my MBA!

NCU's MBA is at your own pace with courses finishing in 12 weeks or less. This means that you could take 2 courses at a time and finish in as long as 60 weeks.
There are some courses that take more time than others, depending on your existing knowledge, writing ability, and skills. But I think most students could accelerate a little and finish in less than a year.

I am planning on finishing mine in this calendar year which would put me at about 9 months to complete 10 courses.

From the catalog.

As of August 15, 2011, all new students entering the MBA degree program are automatically enrolled in the 30 credit hour MBA degree program. Students whose MBA degree program was in progress as of August 15th, 2011 will continue to be enrolled in the 36 credit hour degree program. Students currently enrolled in the 36 credit hour MBA program can transfer to the 30 course credit program if they have 9 or more course credit hours needed to complete their MBA program.

Graduates of the Northcentral University program must complete 30 business credit hours with exposure to a variety of business disciplines while allowing the student to select a specialization of their interest. The program is designed to prepare students to advance to higher levels of leadership in business.

Northcentral University Catalog

Hey that's awesome Ryoder!!!

Is NCU RA or NA?

You've really sped through your MBA. What's your goal for completion? 2012?

NCU is regionally accredited by the Northcentral Association of Schools and Colleges and its business school is ACBSP accredited.
It is the first fully online school to be accredited to grant both masters and PhD degrees.

So for me, this school rocks. Every teacher I have had, save one, has had a PhD in some form of business. One teacher had an MBA and a CAGS (certificate of advanced graduate studies, a post-masters cert).

I am having a bit of a time in my HR course right now but am doing very well in my C# programming course.

In 2012 I will enroll into either a CAGS at NCU, a PhD or DBA at NCU or something else at another school. I do not intend to stop while I am on a learning roll

Originally Posted by ryoder

This means that I am 2 classes and almost $4k closer to finishing my MBA!

NCU's MBA is at your own pace with courses finishing in 12 weeks or less. This means that you could take 2 courses at a time and finish in as long as 60 weeks.
There are some courses that take more time than others, depending on your existing knowledge, writing ability, and skills. But I think most students could accelerate a little and finish in less than a year.

I am planning on finishing mine in this calendar year which would put me at about 9 months to complete 10 courses.

From the catalog.

As of August 15, 2011, all new students entering the MBA degree program are automatically enrolled in the 30 credit hour MBA degree program. Students whose MBA degree program was in progress as of August 15th, 2011 will continue to be enrolled in the 36 credit hour degree program. Students currently enrolled in the 36 credit hour MBA program can transfer to the 30 course credit program if they have 9 or more course credit hours needed to complete their MBA program.

Graduates of the Northcentral University program must complete 30 business credit hours with exposure to a variety of business disciplines while allowing the student to select a specialization of their interest. The program is designed to prepare students to advance to higher levels of leadership in business.

Northcentral University Catalog

This program is a little on the light side. Thirty hours with ANY bachelors degree? No prerequisites?

Most MBA programs require thirty to thirty-six hours in the program AFTER taking eight to fifteen hours of prerequisites or equivalent undergraduate coursework. The curriculum is much closer to a Master of Management or an MA in Management than an MBA.

Ok they have dropped the per course fee to $1400 per course! This is now more competitive with other schools.

And for the 30CR versus 36CR debate. I have looked at so many MBA and other graduate programs and there are quite a few 30CR programs out there.
I intend to enroll in the PhD or DBA next year anyway so I am not concerned about missing 2 courses.

From the catalog:

Master of Business Administration (MBA)*

Total Number of Credit Hours Required to Complete Program
30
Number of Courses at 3 credits per course
10
Number of Courses X MBA Course Rate ($1,400)
$14,000.00

Total Estimated Cost of the Program
$14,000.00

Yeah I know what you mean about the AFTER the prereq foundation course requirement.
There is a class in this MBA program SKS5000, Strategic Knowledge Studies that covers finance, accounting, law, mis and economics. It is a weed out class for those who do not have the required knowledge. The book is 1200 or so pages long and there are tests and papers.
For me, I already had the undergrad prereqs so it wasn't a concern.

Those other MBA programs allow you to waive the foundation courses if you take CLEP Management, Marketing, Statistics, Economics and Accounting tests. I know this for a fact because a friend of mine is doing an MBA at UT and he successfully "challenged out" of the marketing in one sitting without studying at UT's testing center. He could have taken the rest as CLEPs but decided to enroll anyway and take the rest of the foundation courses.

For most of use on this forum, we would simply CLEP out of the foundation courses anyway.

Originally Posted by ryoder

Those other MBA programs allow you to waive the foundation courses if you take CLEP Management, Marketing, Statistics, Economics and Accounting tests. I know this for a fact because a friend of mine is doing an MBA at UT and he successfully "challenged out" of the marketing in one sitting without studying at UT's testing center. He could have taken the rest as CLEPs but decided to enroll anyway and take the rest of the foundation courses.

For most of use on this forum, we would simply CLEP out of the foundation courses anyway.

It's my understanding that waving graduate level foundation course work with previous undergraduate credit requires upper level credits. The course work must be graded at least a B. I would question any MBA program that would allow CLEP testing to replace graduate level courses. The ACE recommends lower level credit for all CLEPS. Using CLEPS to meet grad requirements would be similar to saying, for example, that a first year marketing course equals a graduate level course. Some schools do offer challenge exams however they are not on a par with CLEPS. Further CLEPS are graded pass/fail. CLEPS are great for earning lower level credits for undergraduate degrees but they are not equal to graduate level work. I would think any school that permitted this would be in danger of losing it's accredidation.

Foundation courses are not graduate level courses.
They are courses that you are forced to take if you have no undergrad micro, macro, financial accounting, management, marketing or statistics courses.

My friend didn't take my advice about CLEPing all of those prior to entering UT. He only had time to read the CLEP marketing book. He showed up and passed the challenge exam in 15 minutes. It was about 40 questions and he said it was super easy. He did not take the 5 other challenge exams that they had or do CLEPs so now he has to do foundation courses. These courses do not apply to the MBA. They only grant you the ability to get into the MBA. If you wanted to, you could just take those courses at the undergrad level.

And those undergrad courses are certainly not upper level. Economics is not, statsistics is not and marketing and management are intro courses that a 2nd year business major would be taking.

Once he has all the foundation courses done, he will still have to take the actual MBA courses that a person with an undergrad BSBA would have to take.

Originally Posted by motuterry

It's my understanding that waving graduate level foundation course work with previous undergraduate credit requires upper level credits. The course work must be graded at least a B. I would question any MBA program that would allow CLEP testing to replace graduate level courses. The ACE recommends lower level credit for all CLEPS. Using CLEPS to meet grad requirements would be similar to saying, for example, that a first year marketing course equals a graduate level course. Some schools do offer challenge exams however they are not on a par with CLEPS. Further CLEPS are graded pass/fail. CLEPS are great for earning lower level credits for undergraduate degrees but they are not equal to graduate level work. I would think any school that permitted this would be in danger of losing it's accredidation.

It is fairly routine for AACSB-accredited schools to count CLEP exams toward foundation requirements. MBA foundation requirements often include courses such as economics, business law and accounting that are more often than not offered as lower level courses in an undergraduate degree program.

Foundation courses are typically waived for students that have taken the corresponding undergraduate course with what the program considers to be an acceptable grade. Many schools will accept grades of C for this purpose.

While some schools will only waive foundation courses if the courses were taken at an AACSB institution, it is common for a school not to care where foundation courses come from.

Please note that foundation courses are not usually transferred into an MBA program - it's a check the box sort of thing. While such courses carry graduate credit they do not usually count toward the 30-to-36 graduate credit minimum for the degree.

Originally Posted by ryoder

Foundation courses are not graduate level courses.
They are courses that you are forced to take if you have no undergrad micro, macro, financial accounting, management, marketing or statistics courses.

My friend didn't take my advice about CLEPing all of those prior to entering UT. He only had time to read the CLEP marketing book. He showed up and passed the challenge exam in 15 minutes. It was about 40 questions and he said it was super easy. He did not take the 5 other challenge exams that they had or do CLEPs so now he has to do foundation courses. These courses do not apply to the MBA. They only grant you the ability to get into the MBA. If you wanted to, you could just take those courses at the undergrad level.

And those undergrad courses are certainly not upper level. Economics is not, statsistics is not and marketing and management are intro courses that a 2nd year business major would be taking.

Once he has all the foundation courses done, he will still have to take the actual MBA courses that a person with an undergrad BSBA would have to take.

Thanks for clarifying and sorry for my misunderstanding.