My employer is willing to completely pay for an MBA, but it’s from a rather unimpressive school. To give you an idea, the program is not accredited (they’re working on IACBE), the overall university is ranked something like 11th for regional universities, and it’s undergrad admit rate is around 80%. It’s not a diploma mill, but it’s just a small, private school.
As far as my career goes, I’m in STEM research management and I have no interest in, nor would I be good at, a high-powered job. I’m not going to be making $400k+/yr. My employer is truly giving me the option and there are no repercussions if I do not do this. However, I do not plan on staying with my current employer forever. If you were in this situation, what would you do?
If your employer wants you to enroll, then it is probably wise to do so.
I know several employees who held on to their management positions by earning an online MBA from University of Phoenix.
To be clear, it’s not a diploma mill or for profit. The university does not advertise aggressively or nationally (advertising consists of visiting local high schools mostly). They have a very minimal online presence. By two-bit, I mean it’s small.
My employer does not want me to do anything either way. It is truly an offer.
My SIL has an MBA from U of Phoenix and she has a high income executive position with a fortune 500 company.
If all your employer is asking from you is your time, you have to decide if it is worth it.
I’ve heard U of Phoenix was a degree mill (not that I would know either way), but good for your SIL that is worked out nicely.
Yeah, I guess I would have to decide if it’s worth it. That would be helpful in deciding to enroll or not.
Time is $$. At least get one from an accredited program.
Have you examined the course offerings ?
What types of students does the school attract ?
Most importantly, @learnerscholar, how long have you been working since you received your undergraduate degree ?
I ask because if you have significantly more work experience than do the other students in the class, you might not get much from the MBA program, and questions asked by other students with little or no post undergraduate work experience might be annoying.
I’m sure that you’ll learn plenty there – Econ (macro and micro); accounting principals (financial and maybe some managerial); human-relations / human-management / human-interaction classes (extremely helpful); marketing, etc.-- this is a great opportunity to get solid information from an accredited source.
I have an MBA from a top school and it seemed that what I was paying for was 1) basic information as described above and 2) signalling to employers that I got a high GPA and high GMAT score because I was attending a name-brand school.
The better BUSINESS decision would have been to pick up the skills at a cheaper place. The name of the school really isn’t important.
@learnerscholar: Would your employer pay for an online MBA program from an accredited school ?
Several online accredited MBA programs do not require any standardized admissions test such as the GMAT or GRE.
Also, consider an online specialty masters degree program that may be a better fit for you & your employer’s needs.
Thanks everyone for the insights. Much appreciated.
The university is regionally accredited. The business program is not, but will be shortly by IACBE. The course offerings are very typical of most MBA programs. A GRE or GMAT is required.
Most, but not all of the students have some work experience. I probably have a few more years than the average student there, but I don’t think it would make a huge difference. The school primarily attracts students working in banking, non-profits, or entrepreneurs.
Upon reflecting on everyone’s responses, it seems my idea of a “two-bit” school and others is different. It seems some people immediately went to degree mill, non-accredited, for-profit type of institution. Perhaps my thinking is skewed and I should re-consider. I just generally thought that if the business program isn’t in the top 50, it’s not really worth much.
Why not identify the school in order to get more meaningful comments ?
Well after basically calling the school subpar, it doesn’t seem right, particularly to my employer.
One thing to remember is that you can only get one MBA (though multiple master’s).
This really only matters if you decide on different career goals in the future. The top MBA programs do open doors in some industries (and tend to cost a lot). You would be paying for the network and recruiting opportunities. Not for the education.
“Well after basically calling the school subpar, it doesn’t seem right, particularly to my employer”
Since we won’t know your employer, does that really matter?