Is An Online Masters Degree Worth Anything?
The worth of an Online masters degree for an MBA depends entirely upon the online school’s reputation. An MBA from the University of Phoenix probably isn’t much but an MBA from Thunderbird is something that a potential employer will recognize and hold in high esteem.
The point to keep in mind is that many MBA employers are highly education sensitive. They do very much care about the reputation of the school you attended. The school should at least be decent, if you really want to use the MBA to advance your career. It doesn’t have to be elite (although that’d be lovely, wouldn’t it?) but it must be reputable. No matter where you get your MBA, make sure that it is AACSB accredited, or some employers will refuse to look at you, and make sure it has a good name even beyond that.
So some decent MBA programs that do offer MBAs online include:
Duke University
Drexel
Carnegie Mellon
Penn State
Ball State
U Nebraska – Lincoln
Thunderbird (really intriguing program, and well ranked)
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic (an up and coming program)
I’m sure there are others as well. The easiest way to find them is not to search for “online MBA” as most of the ones that come up are crappy for profit schools. Instead, find an MBA program that you like, offline (perhaps use US News & World Report’s MBA rankings lists as a starter) and then check each of their websites to see if they also offer the MBA online. And don’t forget to check schools in Florida – going to a fairly localish school online can be a nice way to blur that “online” bit on your resume. From a glance, an employer need not know that you did it online at all, if it’s in any sort of commutable distance.
Another option for you may be to find an in-person weekend MBA program, such as the ones offered by Kellogg, Michigan State, Johns Hopkins, and U Cal Berkeley. Perhaps U of F offers one? Or even your current school? If not, and you have the cash and time, people actually fly to, say, Berkeley for the weekend, take their courses, then fly back. Shocking, but true; but when you consider the very strong rep of that school, Kellogg, and Michigan State, I can understand it.
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No. Even online undergraduate degrees aren’t worth very much. Most of graduate school consists of small seminar classes with intensive discussion and focused, mentored writing and research. I’m not convinced you can get that from a web site.
HECK YES IT IS! It doesn’t come with experience of COOP but my Sister in Law got hers on line and YES it is the same. There is nothing different!!!!!! Her Salary went up about 15000 more due to her Masters Degree.
Adam is right about the small discussion stuff BUT when an employee looks at your status WHO FREAKIN CARES where it came from, if your grades were A’s which in Grad school they should all be A’s. It really has no bearing.
Many people are in your situation, and it counts 100%
Grades will make a HUGE difference though. Grad students usually pull straight A’s.
Not only does an online MBA not help you — I believe that it will hurt you.
Employers who may have considered interviewing you with just a bachelor’s degree may toss your resume when they see you have an Online MBA.
I would.
There are some legitimate MBA programs that have distance learning components. Duke is the best.
Thank you for the information, Its good to see such quality posts.
What are we talking about here. So if it’s an online MBA people recruiters wont look at you?? there are several great programs such as ASU UofF , Duke, just to name a few, their degree doesn’t say ONLINE because the faculty teaches the same material and it’s the same education. ONLINE programs are here to stay and there are just many people that are narrow minded and are resistant to change, but it’s going to happen. Go for the online program if ACCSB, if it is a brick and mortar school and if your diploma wont say that is online period. DOn’t worry about other people talking here what they don’t know anything about.
Ranto,
You’re a moron!!!!
If you put the effort and dedication into your degree, online or not, you’ll be better off than not doing anything at all. People can talk as much crap as they want, but at the end of the day, a degree is a degree; period!!
Outside the corporate world, it has moved beyond the idea of credentials and genuinely hope that you ‘know what you know’ through proven track records like evaluation reports, project team recognition, publications, referrals, etc. Mainly because master degree holders can be an ‘expensive hire’. Companies want talent on the cheap nowadays. Years ago, I recieved job offers that require masters degrees when I’ve told them that I ‘plan on getting one’ which is the truth, but they hired me anyway because they realized I knew what I was doing, and I told them I’ll work cheaper than the other guy. I basically haggled my way in, and I’m sure it can be done today because job recruiters want to find people, not reject everyone. In retrospect, it is valuable to get ANY degree with major/title that does not create questions. Stick to traditional degree titles, not the trendy ones.