Do Schools Pay Accreditation Fees Etc For Their Concentrations?

[SweetSecret]

Technically I enrolled in a different MBA concentration than the one I really wanted due to the cost difference. I was figuring out how to get both concentrations covered though. As of last week I discovered that Walden dropped the "Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation" concentration. Apparently not enough people were enrolling, which I suspect has to do with the lack of advertising it and that one or two of the concentration requirements were pretty much opposite of the who idea of social entrepreneurship (specifically the course on grant writing). I still want this concentration, and if Walden is not going to bring it back then my whole plan is blown and I may as well consider a different university for the MBA. I am seriously debating writing their board of directors about my disappointment in them dropping the concentration, especially since they themselves are a social enterprise and certified B-corp. Before I go airing my grievances to their board of directors though, is there anything I should know about fees (possibly related to accreditation) that might have caused them to drop the concentration? 

Also, yes, I do realize they still have the "self-designed" concentration option... but then "Social Entrepreneurship" will not get listed on the degree or transcript.

[dfrecore]

Just because you're a social entrepreneur doesn't mean you can teach a course (or multiple courses) on how to do that. I'm going to guess they just couldn't come up with enough good material to make the concentration work.

[bluebooger]

" social entrepreneur "

is that like an instagram influencer / youtube celebrity

they should give kylie jenner an honorary degree in that LOL

[SweetSecret]

I really think it just was not marketed correctly. Anyhow, does anyone actually know the answer on accreditation fees? They haven't dropped the courses, and they are keeping this concentration for other programs such as the Masters of health administration and the Masters of public administration. I don't understand why they would just drop it for the MBA when it's the same concentration courses.

[allvia]

It isn't an issue of accreditation.  I suspect that enrollment was low in the major, so they are phasing it out.  The reason they are still offering the courses is that they have people who were already in the program and they are letting those already in it complete it. The school has the right to change majors as they wish, and they usually allow those already in it to complete it (within a certain time frame).  I would email them and let them know that it is your desire to enroll into the program now and see what they say (I would email multiple people, such as the department head for the program as well as advising etc).  Keep in mind if you are allowed to do so you will have to give up your current lower cost Tempo option; and you may have a limited window to complete the major specific courses.

[SweetSecret]

It isn't an issue of accreditation.  I suspect that enrollment was low in the major, so they are phasing it out.  The reason they are still offering the courses is that they have people who were already in the program and they are letting those already in it complete it. The school has the right to change majors as they wish, and they usually allow those already in it to complete it (within a certain time frame).  I would email them and let them know that it is your desire to enroll into the program now and see what they say (I would email multiple people, such as the department head for the program as well as advising etc).  Keep in mind if you are allowed to do so you will have to give up your current lower cost Tempo option; and you may have a limited window to complete the major specific courses.

Giving up the low cost for tempo is what worries me, especially since I wanted to do both concentrations. It seems so odd that they would keep this concentration for the MBA and MPA though. Even if only a few people enter the MBA version, why not just keep it?

[dfrecore]

It isn't an issue of accreditation.  I suspect that enrollment was low in the major, so they are phasing it out.  The reason they are still offering the courses is that they have people who were already in the program and they are letting those already in it complete it. The school has the right to change majors as they wish, and they usually allow those already in it to complete it (within a certain time frame).  I would email them and let them know that it is your desire to enroll into the program now and see what they say (I would email multiple people, such as the department head for the program as well as advising etc).  Keep in mind if you are allowed to do so you will have to give up your current lower cost Tempo option; and you may have a limited window to complete the major specific courses.

Giving up the low cost for tempo is what worries me, especially since I wanted to do both concentrations. It seems so odd that they would keep this concentration for the MBA and MPA though. Even if only a few people enter the MBA version, why not just keep it?

Because it's probably costing more to keep it than get rid of it.  You have to have enough people in to justify having an instructor available, and to make sure that everyone on staff knows enough about it to be able to speak about the major.

Schools do this all the time - they have limited budgets, so they offer the degrees that get the the most bang for their buck.  All of the Big 3 have discarded majors and added new ones in the last few years.  Otherwise, think about what would happen if they never got rid of old majors, and just added new ones!  I mean, I just looked at someone's transcripts who had courses in shorthand and typing - which were required in their major at the time (70's or 80's).  There comes a point when it's just not worth offering a major, and schools phase them out (and if you wanted to take that major in the other programs, they probably wouldn't let you - the major is still there for the few finishing, but it's not being offered for new students).  Not sure I'm right there, but I've seen it happen many times.

[SweetSecret]

It isn't an issue of accreditation.  I suspect that enrollment was low in the major, so they are phasing it out.  The reason they are still offering the courses is that they have people who were already in the program and they are letting those already in it complete it. The school has the right to change majors as they wish, and they usually allow those already in it to complete it (within a certain time frame).  I would email them and let them know that it is your desire to enroll into the program now and see what they say (I would email multiple people, such as the department head for the program as well as advising etc).  Keep in mind if you are allowed to do so you will have to give up your current lower cost Tempo option; and you may have a limited window to complete the major specific courses.

Giving up the low cost for tempo is what worries me, especially since I wanted to do both concentrations. It seems so odd that they would keep this concentration for the MBA and MPA though. Even if only a few people enter the MBA version, why not just keep it?

Because it's probably costing more to keep it than get rid of it.  You have to have enough people in to justify having an instructor available, and to make sure that everyone on staff knows enough about it to be able to speak about the major.

Schools do this all the time - they have limited budgets, so they offer the degrees that get the the most bang for their buck.  All of the Big 3 have discarded majors and added new ones in the last few years.  Otherwise, think about what would happen if they never got rid of old majors, and just added new ones!  I mean, I just looked at someone's transcripts who had courses in shorthand and typing - which were required in their major at the time (70's or 80's).  There comes a point when it's just not worth offering a major, and schools phase them out (and if you wanted to take that major in the other programs, they probably wouldn't let you - the major is still there for the few finishing, but it's not being offered for new students).  Not sure I'm right there, but I've seen it happen many times.

It's looking like I will just have to write them. The concentration courses were: social entrepreneurship, grant writing, and initiating and managing change. All of the courses are still being offered, likely because they are still used in the MPA & MHA social entrepreneurship concentrations. Seems like given that, it would make more sense to keep the program. Otherwise, why not phase the concentration out across the whole school?

[dfrecore]

Because it's probably costing more to keep it than get rid of it.  You have to have enough people in to justify having an instructor available, and to make sure that everyone on staff knows enough about it to be able to speak about the major.

Schools do this all the time - they have limited budgets, so they offer the degrees that get the the most bang for their buck.  All of the Big 3 have discarded majors and added new ones in the last few years.  Otherwise, think about what would happen if they never got rid of old majors, and just added new ones!  I mean, I just looked at someone's transcripts who had courses in shorthand and typing - which were required in their major at the time (70's or 80's).  There comes a point when it's just not worth offering a major, and schools phase them out (and if you wanted to take that major in the other programs, they probably wouldn't let you - the major is still there for the few finishing, but it's not being offered for new students).  Not sure I'm right there, but I've seen it happen many times.

All of the courses are still being offered, likely because they are still used in the MPA & MHA social entrepreneurship concentrations. Seems like given that, it would make more sense to keep the program. Otherwise, why not phase the concentration out across the whole school?

That's what I said - they are still being offered because people that enrolled in them get to complete their degrees; but for anyone new, they aren't offering them because they're being phased out.  Once all of the people in the current programs complete the courses, they will be removed; and then once they finish their degrees, those concentrations will be removed as well.

If you want another example, you can look all over the country at the BS in Athletic Training; it will still be on their website, as people are still completing the program, but it's being phased out, and no new applicants are being accepted into the programs.  The courses are still listed as available for those students who are still in the program; but as soon as everyone's done, they start disappearing.

https://ens.sdsu.edu/academic-programs/u.../overview/

https://catalog.csun.edu/academics/kin/p...-training/

http://www.sjsu.edu/kinesiology/programs..._training/