FSU Prof punches down UF MBA claim

Colleges and Universities A-Z Florida State University
1

<p>This is a real hoot. An FSU College of Business professor illustrates UF exaggerations in a very public way. :D </p>

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[quote]
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<p>Professor Douglas E. Stevens is director of the MBA program at the Florida State University College of Business.</p>

<p>Doug Stevens
Written by
DOUGLAS E. STEVENS
My View</p>

<pre><code>Filed Under

Opinion
Opinion Columnist
</code></pre>

<p>In my role as director of the MBA program at the Florida State University College of Business, I have seen my share of shameless promotion and unsubstantiated “hype” in the advertising of MBA programs. One of my favorite examples came from the MBA director at a small private school near Orlando who stated at a conference that her MBA program was the best in the state. (She later clarified that her statement was based on an article in a local entrepreneurial magazine.)</p>

<p>However, I was still surprised when I saw the new billboard on the northeast side of our campus, advertising the University of Florida Internet MBA program. Strategically positioned at the bottom of the hill at Call and Macomb streets, blatantly placed in Seminole country, this billboard claims that the UF Internet MBA is the “World’s #1 Online MBA Program” and offers state employees special pricing.</p>

<p>My skeptical academic mind immediately began to question the ad. How could anyone claim to be the best in the world at anything? Based on whose criteria and whose ranking? What is the actual ranking of UF’s online MBA in well-respected outlets, and how does it compare with the ranking of our online MBA program here at FSU?</p>

<p>What is the price of UF’s online MBA, and how does it compare to the price of our online MBA program? Given that UF decided to advertise its online MBA program to state employees on our campus, I decided it was time to provide some answers.</p>

<p>Our sister institution is claiming best-in-the-world status because of a 2010 rating in The Economist, a global magazine based in London. The magazine notes the survey is a “rating” rather than a “ranking,” because it did not look at all MBA programs. UF’s online MBA received the top rating of “excellent,” along with the International Executive MBA at Spain’s IE Business School.</p>

<p>A more frequently cited and respected source of business school rankings, however, is published annually by U.S. News & World Report. The 2012 edition of Top Online Education Program rankings placed FSU’s online MBA program at No. 20 nationally in terms of faculty credentials, training and online teaching experience. No other university in Florida ranked in the top 20 (not UF, Miami, USF, UCF, or the small private school near Orlando). Thus, according to at least one respected source, we are ranked ahead of UF’s online MBA program...</p>

<p>How do the two online MBA programs stack up as far as price is concerned? UF’s 32-credit-hour online MBA program is estimated to cost $46,000. According to its admission office, UF offers state employees a 22-percent discount, which lowers the cost to $35,880. However, the cost of FSU’s 39-credit-hour online MBA program is $28,350. Even with the state employee discount, UF’s online MBA program is considerably more expensive than FSU’s. For state employees in Tallahassee who don’t need an online program because of their travel schedule, we have an even better deal: In our part-time, on-campus MBA program, students attend class two nights a week and pay the same tuition price as other on-campus graduate students: about $421 per credit hour or about $16,419.

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For the rest of the article, see: Douglas</a> E. Stevens: Facts support value of MBA</p>

2

<p>It’s a shame that the online MBAs are so much more expensive than brick-and-mortar versions. Most schools apparently see them as profit centers.</p>

3

<p>It’s also a shame that UF charges more for less. </p>

<p>Caveat emptor. ;)</p>

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<p>Why do you care to shoot down UF all the time…? On FSU’s CC page, a ton of UF vs FSU threads are created, usually by you, with the goal of talking about how FSU is so much better than UF. The same is not seen on the UF page…
They’re both okay schools, but as someone transferring out of state next year, no one really sees either as good universities. </p>

<p>UF gets a pretty good rep for engineering. For example, I was accepted to GT, and they regrded UF highly. Also, UF’s medical school has a pretty solid national reputation. If you go on Student Doctor Network forums list of best medical schools, only UF and U Miami show up. The truth is, this FSU vs UF feud that you love to have is almost based in fantasy… </p>

<p>FSU is not by any means a bad school, but overall, it is definitely not better than UF or U Miami. And UF and Miami aren’t even that great on a national scale. </p>

<p>In short, none of these schools are really relevant on a national scale.</p>

5

<p>

Well, I disagree with this premise and I think it is important to draw distinctions, particularly with UFla - the primary competitor with Florida State, with lest serious students in Florida be mislead. Such assertions virtually guarantee you are drinking the UF marketing KoolAid. </p>

<p>While I agree that UF has some good programs like engineering and has a mature med school the rest is quite debatable. So many come on here with these sweeping perceptions of Gainesville dominance it begs closer examination. As was done by the FSU College of Business professor, shown above.</p>

<p>And I actually do think FSU has quite a number of better programs than UF. I think any serious student would be interested in a closer look.</p>

<p>As an actual FSU grad from the late 1970s I come from the time when we looked at UF as really nothing special and you only went there to study agriculture or wanted to be not so far from home.</p>

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<p>Yeah, but that was the 1970s… UF has made great strides since then. And UF is better than FSU in medicine, engineering, business, and in the sciences in general. Yes, FSU has more NSF funding, but UF is getting more per year than FSU, and soon it’ll surpass FSU. UF has more NIH funding, as well… </p>

<p>And don’t get me wrong, I hate it here. I’m actually going to Emory next year, but still, I don’t think one can truly deny UF’s superiority in medicine, engineering, business, and the sciences. With law, of course FSU has an edge, as it does with various different programs and the liberal arts. But bottom line, UF has the bigger endowment, stronger applicants, and overall, it offers a great education. I’m leaving for personal reasons, but were it not for those reasons, I would stay at UF.</p>

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<p>Business and the sciences (especially physics) - FSU is better or at least as good. Engineering, not as much. Medicine - very arguable.</p>

<p>Endowments don’t mean you get a better education. Look at New College - scant research dollars, little endowment, no or little sports, but a great school.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>I apologize for any hostility. FSU is a great school, as is UF. I don’t really like either, but I do hope they improve, and maybe one day, they can both become top twenty schools.</p>

<p>As for now, I’ve got my heart set on Emory, so that is my main focus, even with my current username.</p>

9

<p>Have fun in Atlanta, EmoryIsCool. :)</p>

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<p>To be fair, UF bought a billboard, within site of the FSU campus, advertising their MBA. This is a provocative move that inevitably triggered a response from FSU. If University of Arizona did the same thing at Arizona State, I’m sure people would be talking about it there.</p>

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<p>It’s amazing FSU students and frats have let that display persist. Back in the day it would have been “improved”.</p>

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<p>UF had to do something with their stupid Tallahassee billboard. The internet MBA nonsense slopped on the billboard was probably a rush job by UF after they finally realized they lost their last two football games against the Seminoles. FSU did improve the billboard by whipping the gators in 2010 and 2011. </p>

<p>…just a friendly reminder from the folks at FSU! Go 'Noles!!!</p>

<p>[FSU</a> Billboard | Gator Tailgating](<a href=“http://www.gatortailgating.com/billboard]FSU”>http://www.gatortailgating.com/billboard)</p>

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<p>Note the date. Maybe the Football Gods were moved by this act of hubris.</p>

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<p>The amusing aspects continue - one has to wonder if this UF administrator got lost on the way to the Gainesville newspaper:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20121019/OPINION05/310190005/C-David-Brown-II-matters-who-next-guide-UF?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|frontpage|s&nclick_check=1[/url]”>http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20121019/OPINION05/310190005/C-David-Brown-II-matters-who-next-guide-UF?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|frontpage|s&nclick_check=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Oops. That puff piece was supposed to go into the local Gainesville paper…and not the paper of the other Florida flagship university. :)</p>

<p>Unless he’s trying to recruit FSU faculty for the job opening? That’s been done before.</p>

15

<p>Maybe they should try Craigslist.</p>

16

<p>Honestly, they should really give it up. It looks silly. What are they trying to prove?</p>

17

<p>UF needs to keep its priorities in mind in selecting a new president. Hiring Steve Spurrier as UF’s next president and Tim Tebow as UF’s new provost would make Gator Nation very happy.</p>

18

<p>Yeah. I saw that article the other day. I also noticed that he refers to UF as “their flagship university.” I think the use of the divisive term “flagship” was settled via legislation a few years ago, to include both UF and FSU.</p>

19

<p>^That doesn’t end it. The UF people tried several times before to be declared “flagship” in law. They will try again. </p>

<p>They feel entitled to a title they actually can only ever have half of - never the whole title. </p>

<p>They also forget that Florida also only has one National Laboratory in Florida - at Florida State University in Tallahassee, which is the only state university with the highest total NSF investment of all universities in Florida. They also overlook that FSU won the first chapter of [Phi</a> Beta Kappa](<a href=“https://www.pbk.org/home/index.aspx]Phi”>https://www.pbk.org/home/index.aspx) in Florida - in 1933.</p>

<p>They like to crow about being the only AAU school to date in Florida, yet they conveniently overlook the statement by the former head of the AAU ([Robert</a> M. Berdahl, PhD](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_M._Berdahl]Robert”>Robert M. Berdahl - Wikipedia)) that clearly shows Florida has TWO flagship universities:

Reference:
[The</a> Future of Flagship Universities](<a href=“http://cio.chance.berkeley.edu/chancellor/sp/flagship.htm]The”>http://cio.chance.berkeley.edu/chancellor/sp/flagship.htm)
Robert M. Berdahl
Chancellor,
University of California, Berkeley</p>

20

<p>UF’s rankings have improved, and UF’s capital campaign was the most successful this year than it has ever been. Plus, we beat FSU this year. It’s great to be a Florida Gator!</p>