Will an MBA from Strayer (or any online school) carry the same weight as a traditional MBA program?

Question

I am currently getting may MBA in marketing from Strayer. They offer traditional classes, but I prefer to take classes online because it's convenient. Strayer is mostly known as an online, distance education school. Will my MBA carry the same weight in the job market as someone who earned theirs the "old fashioned" way?

Answer 1

In simple terms, no it will not. However, you can get a good MBA online by attending a state university instead of a for-profit school like Strayer.

While the Strayer education may be perfectly valid, perceptions of for-profit institutions will tarnish the degree to some extent. My suggestion is for you to transfer to an online MBA program from a state university. While the three schools that I will link to later didn't make the top 50 MBA programs in the U.S. News report, they are both AACSB accredited. In case you are unfamiliar with AACSB accreditation, the AACSB is the premier accrediting agency for business programs. Strayer, while regionally accredited, does not have this additional accreditation. If an HR department is familiar with accreditation, they will know instantly that Strayer is not AACSB accredited. This means that your resume will be moved farther down in the stack of resumes applying for a position. The following three schools are the ones I recommend:

Mississippi State University - http://www.distance.msstate.edu/mba/
University of Wyoming - http://outreach.uwyo.edu/ocp/executivemba.asp
University of Nebraska - Lincoln - http://mba.unl.edu/distance.html

Mississippi State is $444 per semester credit hour.
University of Wyoming is $500 per semester credit hour.
University of Nebraska, I don't know their tuition rates.

Currently, at Strayer, their posted tuition rates are $1730 per course or $576.67 per semester credit hour. Strayer is on the quarter hour system. One course at Strayer is 4.5 quarter hours which is equal to 3 semester credit hours.

Therefore, not only will you get a more respected degree from Mississippi State or University of Wyoming, but you'll pay less too.

You can get an MBA that will be on par with Strayer or even slightly better by attending California State University at Dominquez Hills. CSU/DH has a ACBSP accredited business program which is considered to be less prestigious than AACSB, but is better than not having a business program accrediation. Also, the tuition is $400 per semester credit hour, which will save you more than $500 per course. http://mbaonline.csudh.edu/

Good luck

Answer 2

Hello,

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Answer 3

Online VS. "Tradtional" isn't the main issue, it's the reputation of the school (although many still prefer the "old fashioned" MBA). Lots (if not most) of reputable schools offer at least some web based MBA classes, with no way of telling that they are "online" to the outside world. There are notable exceptions (I very much doubt Harvard or Yale will roll out an "Online MBA" anytime this century).

You biggest problem is Strayer is a for-profit corporate "chain" school. Strayer isn't well known one way or the other, which is in you favor. The hiring manager MIGHT go to their website and say "oh, it's one of THOSE schools".

Odds are that won't happen and you whould be considered the same as any other person who got an MBA at a school that the hiring manager never heard of.

Answer 4

Reputation is incredibly important when getting an MBA. I wouldn't recommend getting an MBA from a school that is not ranked -- let alone one that is on-line.

The typical student with an MBA from a top 15 school is able to increase his salary by 50%-100%. He is also able to get a job in a new field and will have multiple offers.

Those who go to a ranked school will improve their salary and their options.

Students who go to a school that is not ranked may be able to improve their situation at their current companies -- but are unlikely to be able to change fields or dramatically increase their salaries.

Those who get an MBA from an on-line school are likely to have their resumes thrown in the trash. Many employers do not respect degrees from on-line universities.

See the following article for more information on why employers do not take these degrees seriously.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Hello,

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Best of Luck