Let's Talk Human Resource Management (HRM) Grad Programs!

[Nodaclu]

Hi all,

This thread is intended to be a "bridge" between my undergrad journey thread, and a future graduate journey thread.

I hope you'll jump in with your thoughts and ideas.

I'm a few weeks from completing all of the requirements for my BA in Psychology from TESU, and I'm already thinking about what's next.

I'm currently working as a Sr. Benefits Analyst for a large healthcare organization. Within the next 12-18 months, I'm going to start looking to become an HR Manager for the first time, likely in a smaller organization, and I want to already be well into a grad program in Human Resource Management (HRM) at that time.

There aren't a ton of affordable options out there (at least, not that I've been able to find), and from the searching I've been able to do, I've been primarily eyeballing these two programs:

• Fort Hays State University - Master of Professional Studies, Human Resource Management
  
• Colorado State University Global Campus - Master of Science, Human Resource Management
  

Both are appealing to me for various reasons.

FHSU is incredibly inexpensive all things considered (under $9,000). It's also short (30 units), and the coursework is very tightly related to my interests and field of study. However, the fact that it's an MPS, and not an MS, concerns me a bit. It's also on a traditional semester calendar, and I've always struggled with that. In addition, because of the timing of my BA completion, I may have to wait up to 9 months to start taking classes.

CSU-GC is longer (36 units) and pricier (about $16,000), but it's a regular Master of Science degree, there are available concentrations (i.e., Healthcare Management) that are highly appealing to me, and perhaps most importantly, CSU-GC offers courses in 8 week blocks, with rolling start dates.

I'd love to hear about additional options that others out there might be aware of. I'm trying to avoid MBA-HR programs, as the accounting/finance/math courses will slow me down dramatically, and at my age, I have to think about time to degree completion. 

That's all from me for now. What do y'all think?

---

I'm going to throw another quick thought out here as well...

I was just looking at my original thread, and noticed that it began on 12/7/17, which means I'll complete my BA degree requirements 12 months and 1 week after I started. If I were willing to pursue a MSML from WGU, there's a small chance that I actually *could* finish in the 20 month window I originally gave myself!! 

(Of course, that isn't the most important thing here, but the re-discovery of the timeline opened my mind to this new possibility.) 

But I'm not 100% sure how important it is for me to pursue an HRM degree. My undergrad is in Psychology, so one of my degrees should probably be directly HR-related. On the other hand, I have nearly 20 years of HR experience already, and if I want to be a manager, the MSML from WGU could potentially make sense.

It's also a degree I could likely finish in considerably less than 2 years, and as I've mentioned, time is of the essence for me.

What do you think?