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Looking for an MBA program - need recommendations
#1
All,

I'm at the mid-point of my career in IT - 26 years in March.  During that time, i've managed organizations, been a team lead and task lead, managed projects, and had other management related assignments.

Three years ago, I took a new job with a new employer.  Even though I have plenty of management experience, in order to move into management with my new employer, I have to have a Master's Degree.  The only requirement is that it the degree granting school/college/university has to be accredited with the US Department of Education.  My employer will also pay for the Master's.  I honestly dread having to go back to school - my undergrad experience wasn't the greatest - but I will do what I need to do to get promoted.

I've looked at an MBA, but it can also be a master's in program management or something similar.  I have an undergrad degree in Management Information Systems, 3.77 GPA. My employer does not require a PhD for anything, and I really don't want one, so the master's would not be a stepping stone for a PhD.

So, i'm looking for a program to start in 2019.  I'm looking more for a self-paced (flexible) online program that I can complete quickly.  I would prefer to have a writing-based program, instead of one with proctored tests.  It would also be nice to find a program that would give me credit for work experience and the certifications that I have.

I've looked into Perdue Global and Strayer University, and I was wondering what other programs are out there that would be a good fit?

Thanks in advance!
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#2
Around here we love WGU (non-profit) for just your situation - https://www.wgu.edu/online-it-degrees.html  There are others here who can explain how it works with employer reimbursement.

Also, myself and a few others here are testing out Walden University (for profit) competency based program as well - I am 'test driving' the MBA - Project Management, that may be of interest to you as well.  I'm just getting started but it seems far more paper based than proctored exam so far, but as I said I'm just getting started so I can't yet confirm how it will progress.  https://www.waldenu.edu/online-masters-p...ency-based

Both schools are RA so accreditation will not be a problem with either I have listed. They have the same accreditation as those you listed; Perdue Global (non-profit) and Strayer University (for-profit).   Both Walden and WGU are also ACBSP Accredited for the MBAs; I'm not sure if the two schools you mentioned have additional accreditation for their offerings.

Edit: Also both WGU and the Walden program I mentioned are competency-based education, meaning work at your own pace - no traditional semesters.  For the most part, you set your own speed from start to finish.  I'm not sure they other school program you have looked at are competency-based education or not; so figured it would be a good idea to point this fact out Smile
Amberton University
- MS Human Relations and Business - 2022
Thomas Edison State University (TESU)
- BSBA General Management - 2018
- ASNSM Computer Science -2018

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#3
I think WGU has a lot of exams.

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#4
I was in a similar situation to yours. I decided to get the IT Management MBA from WGU. I started in September and will be finished by the end of January. Based on what I've accomplished in the program so far I've already been offered the promotion I was hoping for.

Here's the breakdown for WGU MBA IT Management with my total page counts for reference.
C200 Managing Organizations and Leading People - 2 papers - 24 total pages
MGT2 IT Project Management - 3 papers - 60 total pages
C202 Managing Human Capital - 1 test
C212 Marketing - 1 paper - 12 total pages
C213 Accounting for Decision Makers - 1 test
C206 Ethical Leadership - 3 papers - 25 total pages
C214 Financial Management - 1 test
C207 Data-Driven Decision Making - 2 papers & 1 test - 10 total pages
C211 Global Economics for Managers - 1 test
MMT2 IT Strategic Solutions - 4 papers – 64 pages
C218 MBA Capstone - 5 papers (Some are group papers) & 1 simulation - I haven't started this course yet

Good luck on whatever route you choose!
WGU MBA IT Management Feb. 2019
Excelsior BSLA April 2018
University of Indianapolis - 61 credits
Davar - Computer Lit, Org Behavior 
DSST - Principles Of Statistics, Intro to Business, Principles of Supervision,Substance Abuse 
Excelsior - Bioethics, Assoc Capstone, Bachelors Capstone 
Straighterline - Personal Fitness & Wellness, Cultural Anthropology, Student Success, Criminal Justice, Env Science, Medical Terminology, Pharmacology 1, Bus Ethics
Sophia.org - Effective Teams, Project Management, Intro to Info Tech

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  • Ideas
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#5
(12-28-2018, 12:20 PM)Ideas Wrote: I think WGU has a lot of exams.

I think WGU undergrad degrees are more test-based, while the MA degrees are 50/50 or paper-based, depending on which degree you go for.
TESU BSBA/HR 2018 - WVNCC BOG AAS 2017 - GGU Cert in Mgmt 2000
EXAMS: TECEP Tech Wrtg, Comp II, LA Math, PR, Computers  DSST Computers, Pers Fin  CLEP Mgmt, Mktg
COURSES: TESU Capstone  Study.com Pers Fin, Microecon, Stats  Ed4Credit Acct 2  PF Fin Mgmt  ALEKS Int & Coll Alg  Sophia Proj Mgmt The Institutes - Ins Ethics  Kaplan PLA
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#6
There are a lot of options really. You have competency based programs such as WGU and Walden or you could do an MBA in an accelerated format at a brick and mortar university but online. WGU and Walden will allow you finish the quickest whereas a brick and mortar accelerated program will take approximately 1 year.
Master of Science (M.S.) in Quantitative Management: Business Analytics (2023)
Duke University | The Fuqua School of Business

Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) in Management (2019)
Southeastern Oklahoma State University | The John Massey School of Business

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Biology (2015)
East Central University | The College of Health Sciences

Accumulated Credit: Undergraduate - 126 Hours, Graduate - 83 Hours
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#7
Cliff! I was looking into the schools you mentioned, I also looked at Capella/Strayer (and a few others too)!
For me (a frugal individual and lifelong learning fan) these are the three I placed into my "go to first" option.

1) WGU MBA (MBA ITM & MSML) - I am thinking of finishing both, one after the other!
Non-Profit, Cheap/Easy/Fast degree can be completed within 1 term or less (6 months).
The total cost would be under $4000 for the entire degree, there are no extra charges.

2) Purdue Global MBA - Non Profit, Big Name, 60 credits (2 courses at 4 credits each)
There are 52 essays with a few powerpoint presentations, cost $1550/term + $150/term fees.
Each term is 6 weeks, the fastest I could finish would be 4 terms or 6 months at $6,800 total

3) Walden Tempo MBA - For Profit, the degree can be completed in 3 terms (9 months).
There are no extra fees and each term is $2250, the total cost would be $6,750 all inclusive.
In Progress: Walden MBA | TESU BA Biology & Computer Science
Graduate Certificate: Global Management & Entrepreneurship, ASU (Freebie)

Completed: TESU ASNSM Biology, BSBA (ACBSP Accredited 2017)
Universidad Isabel I: ENEB MBA, Big Data & BI, Digital Marketing & E-Commerce
Certs: 6Sigma/Lean/Scrum, ITIL | Cisco/CompTIA/MTA | Coursera/Edx/Udacity

The Basic Approach | Plans | DegreeForum Community Supported Wiki
~Note~ Read/Review forum posts & Wiki Links to Sample Degree Plans
Degree Planning Advice | New To DegreeForum? How This Area Works

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#8
(12-28-2018, 07:23 PM)bjcheung77 Wrote: [...]
1) WGU MBA (MBA ITM & MSML) - I am thinking of finishing both, one after the other!  
Non-Profit, Cheap/Easy/Fast degree can be completed within 1 term or less (6 months).  
The total cost would be under $4000 for the entire degree, there are no extra charges.
[...]

The annoying thing here is that if you want to pursue both degrees back to back and accelerate through both, you should be able to complete both in a single term, but WGU won't let you. Even if you complete the first degree quickly (say in 3 months, which means you have 3 months left in the term) you are only allowed to take two additional courses towards the second degree during the first term. You can probably work ahead, but the balance of courses will need to be completed in the following term.

So for two degrees, you're looking at a minimum of two terms, or $3,945 x 2 = $7,890 for both degrees. Doing the MBA+MSML was my original plan as well, but given that, and some other negatives, I've lost interest in pursuing both degrees now. Price-wise its still a great deal, but having to sit around for 3 months or so before "officially" starting on the second degree would be painful.
Working on: Debating whether I want to pursue a doctoral program or maybe another master's degree in 2022-23

Complete:
MBA (IT Management), 2019, Western Governors University
BSBA (Computer Information Systems), 2019, Thomas Edison State University
ASNSM (Computer Science), 2019, Thomas Edison State University

ScholarMatch College & Career Coach
WGU Ambassador
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#9
(12-28-2018, 07:23 PM)bjcheung77 Wrote: 3) Walden Tempo MBA - For Profit, the degree can be completed in 3 terms (9 months).
There are no extra fees and each term is $2250, the total cost would be $6,750 all inclusive.

Walden still seems to have their free term offer, so it might be $4500 for someone starting soon. I thought I heard about at least one extra fee.

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#10
I have been reading so much on this forum about MBA @ WGU, and how affordable it is. But I am disappointed that this route is currently not open for international students like me. What other options are open for students like me? I am aiming for a September 2019 graduation @ TESU, and would like to jump into a Masters immediately. My ultimate goal is to do a Ph.D. Please suggest me some quality pathways like WGU that are affordable and self-paced.
TESU BALS-Psych. + ASNSM(Math) 

TEEX(6): Cybersec. 101/201/301
The Institutes(2): Ethics
Sophia(2): Ess. Of Managing Conflict, Dev. Effective Teams
NFA(1): Comm. Safety Edu.
GED(10): NAS-131, SOC-273, MAT-121, HUM-101 (1)
Study.com(75): Intro to Psych., Soc. Psych.-1, Growth & Dev. Psych., Personality Psych., History & Systems of Psych., Org. Theory, Library Science, Comm. at Workplace, Intro to World Religion, I/O Psych., Ethics in Soc. Sc., Org. Comm., Eng. 104, Eng. 105, History of Vietnam war, Sp. Ed. History & Law, Diff. Ed., Classroom Mgmt., Foundations of Ed., Abnormal Psych., Rsch. methods in Psych., College Math, Intro. to Geometry., Calculus (6).
Saylor (15): Intro. to Mol. & Cellular Bio., Comp. Politics, Corporate Comm., Env. Ethics, Principles of Comm. 
TESU (1): Cornerstone, Lib. 495 Capstone.
CSM (3): Quant. reasoning. 
Aleks (6): Trigonometry, Intro to Statistics. 

MS-Psychology; Walden University 
GPA: 4/4
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