WGU Grad - enroll before TESU BA degree conferred?

[Thorne]

Okay, that's twice now that there are better or comparable options to WGU that have been mentioned but no schools listed. Care to share @jsd or @Thorne? Looking for an MBA program but my question still stands about enrolling before a physical degree is in hand but proof from undergrad school can be provided.

University of Texas of the Permian Basin: MBA or MBA Finance. GMAT is waived if you have an UG GPA of 3.25 or better. For those with a business degree, the MBA is 30 credits and the MBA Finance is 33. Without a business degree, the MBA is 36 credits and the MBA Finance is 42. AACSB Accredited. Total cost for either program is around $10,000.

Amberton University - MBA Strategic Management: . No GMAT last I checked. 36 credits for business majors, 48 for non-business majors. In theory, you could take 12 credits via a VESi provider (EDUC courses) at $90/credit and transfer them in, cutting your MBA down to 24 credits. Not AACSB accredited, sort of a no-name outside of Texas. If you did have to take all 48 credits at Amberton, you're looking at $12,600. If you knock out the prerequisites elsewhere and get the 12 VESi credits transferred in, you're total cost is around $90*12 (VESi) + 8*$795 (Courses@Course Cost) for a grand total of $7,440.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign iMBA: According to the pamphlet, this results in an actual MBA, not an iMBA. Top-50 business program, AACSB accredited, costs around $22,000 for the whole degree. Obvious downside is cost, but you also have to be aware that you might need to submit GMAT scores (they want GMAT scores if you don't have the necessary 3 years of experience). 72 credits, all online through Coursera, taking 2-3 years on average.

Depending on where you live, you can also check your local state universities. As a Texas resident, I could go to about a third of all state universities for an MBA and come away under $15k. Many of the A&M schools offer around $400/credit for out-of-state tuition if you want to go with one of those. You'll have to do some research, as this is obviously not a comprehensive list. I've got a personal spreadsheet of programs I'm interested in (these are included), but it is only really accurate for Texas residents.