Earning your MBA

Earning your MBA


Online Learning: Getting Your MBA Your Way
By Karen Lawson
karen.lawson@MBA-business-schools.com
MBA-business-schools Columnist

In today’s fast-paced business environment, you rarely have time to grab a cup of coffee, let alone acquire an MBA degree. You want to advance your career, but don’t have time to attend college. After considering some facts about distance education, you may want to earn your MBA degree online!

Distance Learning: A Growth Trend
As US corporate culture continues to demand more from us, many people are getting graduate degrees and professional certifications through online or distance learning programs. Once the domain of career and business oriented post secondary institutions, MBA degrees are offered online by more than half of all two to four year institutions. During the 2001-02 academic year, 52% of institutions offering traditional graduate/professional degrees also offered distance learning programs.

Do You Have what it Takes to Earn Your MBA Degree Online?
If you want to earn your MBA degree online, your success will greatly depend upon your ability to work independently. Although a benefit of online degree programs is that you can do your coursework at home, you must be able to devote a certain amount of time to your MBA degree program without distraction and interruptions. Learning online provides a certain amount of flexibility, but procrastination can be your worst enemy. As most any college student can tell you, waiting until the last minute to complete assignments is not the best way to earn any degree, much less an MBA. It’s a good idea to regard your online degree courses with the same dedication that you apply to your career.

Choose an Accredited Online MBA Degree Program
When you start looking for a distance learning program, make sure that the program you select is accredited. You can contact the school’s admissions department or academic counselors for more information. Get started today and enjoy the rewards of earning your MBA degree online!

Source
National Center for Educational Statistics

About the Author
Karen Lawson is a freelance writer whose interests include career education and trends in academia. She earned an MA degree in English from the University of Nevada, Reno.



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Earn Your MBA Degree with Part Time Study Options
by Karen Lawson
klawson@mba-business-schools.com
MBA-business-schools Columnist

As more working adults enroll in colleges and universities, the popularity of part time attendance and online courses is increasing. It’s now possible to earn your MBA degree through several flexible options:

Part time MBA programs on campus or online
low residency MBA programs
MBA correspondence courses
MBA Degrees for Working Professionals
Today, most MBA programs are designed with working professionals in mind. In many cases, it’s possible to complete most of your degree online, although you may need to visit your college or school to take examinations or to meet minimal residency requirements. You can also attend courses at a career oriented business school, where classes are offered evenings and weekends. MBA programs can be tailored to your needs and interests, and if your MBA degree program is related to your work, your employer may cover all or part of your tuition.

A Part Time MBA Degree Online: Tips for Success
Online part time MBA programs can be very convenient when you work full time, but it’s still important to schedule plenty of time to study and complete your coursework. In general, you can expect to spend several hours a week completing assignments for your courses. If you’re taking MBA courses online, remember to make backup copies of your assignments, as computers can crash unexpectedly. Although instructors may be flexible about due dates for assignments, it’s a good idea to submit your work according to your course schedule. It’s easy to fall behind, but it can be difficult to catch up at the end of the course! Choosing a part time MBA program when you work full time can be challenging, but the time you invest will be well worth it when you receive your MBA degree.

About the Author
Karen Lawson is a freelance writer based in the Western US. She has successfully completed several online college courses, and earned her MA degree in English from the University of Nevada, Reno.



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Is a Joint MBA Program Right For You?
More and more people are combining their MBA programs with other types of degree programs. Joint MBA and J.D. programs have been common for years now, allowing students to earn their MBA and their law degree at the same time, but nowadays students are joining MBA programs with more surprising types of degrees like International Relations Master’s degrees and Master’s of Public Health degrees. But are joint degrees worth the extra time and effort?

There was a time when it was clear — you want to go into business, you get an MBA. Anything else, find yourself another type of graduate school. Nowadays, though, many people see MBA programs not just as training for future business leaders, but as training for leaders in a range of fields, from politics to the not-for-profit sector to healthcare. MBA programs have responded by offering a greater diversity of courses, but students have also begun to carve out niches for themselves by combining the management training of their MBA degrees with more field-specific training in other degree programs, like education or international development. With so many joint degree programs out there, is an MBA alone enough? Should you be considering doubling up?

What’s so Great about Joint Degree Programs?
Let’s say you want to work in finance, but you also want to make sure you understand tax law and litigation so you can handle the legal side of business as well. Most joint J.D./MBA programs will allow you to earn your MBA and your law degree in four years instead of five. Joint degrees allow you to double count coursework, so you’ll save money and time, and come out with skills that could take you years to learn on the job.

Be Aware of the Sacrifices of Joint Programs
Joint MBA programs can give you the credentials to soar in your profession, but they’re not without tradeoffs. You may feel socially adrift, not quite part of your business school class, not quite part of your public health school class. And if you choose an uncommon joint degree, for instance a Master’s of Social Work degree and an MBA, you may find yourself feeling academically adrift too, working with professors at two different schools who aren’t quite sure what to do with you.

Know Your Purpose Before Jumping into a Joint MBA Program
Joint programs make a lot of sense if you know you want to work in a very specific field. For instance, a joint master’s of public policy and MBA degree will take you great places if you know you want to work for an economic development agency with a strong political advocacy bent. If the purpose of a joint degree isn’t clear to you, however, you may be unnecessarily saddling yourself with a lot of extra work and the extra expense of another year or two of school. You’re likely to be better off exploring your interests through courses within your MBA program or through on-the-job experiences.

Joint MBA degrees are worth a look, but don’t forget that an MBA degree on its own is still an outstanding credential.




A Look at the Nation's Top Ten Business Schools
Each year in October, Business Week prepares a list of the top business schools in the nation. The schools are selected based on a myriad of attributes. They represent the most sought after programs among MBA candidates. One commonality is that the universities listed all focus on providing diverse teaching methods applicable to today’s business.

Usually in first place, Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Business is celebrated for its innovative, real world approach to educating future business leaders. Their target students are mid-level executives, with some experience in the working work seeking a higher level of global business awareness. Recently opening a branch in Miami Florida, the University offers an EMBA (Executive MBA) program directed at diversity.

Other schools on the Business Week top business school list (in order of 2004 standings) include:

University of Chicago Graduate School of Business
Penn’s Wharton School of Business
Stanford University Graduate School of Business
Harvard University Graduate School of Business
University of Michigan Ross School of Business
Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management
Columbia University Graduate school of Business
MIT Sloan School of Management
Dartmouth Tuck School of Business
The University of Chicago GSB, offers a global program taught in their new International MBA building. While focusing on student needs for flexibility, they offer a 22 month program, full time, evening /weekend and an Executive MBA directed at the future career path of the experienced management candidate. Limited to only 80 students per year, the program is taught in Chicago, London and Singapore.

The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania has one of the fastest MBA programs in the country. Topping out at 18 months, this program is focused on a ‘rigorous general management’ curriculum, according to their website and students can expect an intense, real business experience. Wharton has been in the MBA business since 1921. In the last twenty years Wharton has developed and refined their distinguished Lauder Community (named for Joseph Lauder, founder of the Estee-Lauder Companies) to develop global business leaders. With a focus on fluent development of culture, language and politics of world business, this program was started to groom the world’s future business leaders.

Stanford University has long been heralded as a trend setting institution. Marketing their program as the ultimate in Organizational Leadership, they offer a standard two-year MBA program and a one- year Sloan Fellowship. The Sloan fellowship is a fully sponsored program in which a company enrolls their future leaders while maintaining their position at the company. The program is meant to test the limits of students and instructors. Sloan graduates are rewarded with a Masters of Science in Management in just twelve months.

Harvard Business School, HBS as it is referred to by staff and students attacks an MBA with a five pronged program. Integrating General Management, Case Study, Global Reaching, Community involvement and Harvard’s outstanding campus, they bring MBA students a new lease on their world.

The University of Michigan offers three types of programs for Students. At the Eli Broad School of Management located on the main campus, the university provides a state of the art financial analysis laboratory. Its design is modeled after the floor of the actual stock exchange including free flow workstations, a ticker board and large plasma display screens. They also offer a 17 month weekend program at their new James B. Henry Center for Executive Development. This program revolving around term learning and advancement for working executives brings future leaders to the forefront. The University also taunts the second oldest EMBA program in the nation lasting 21 months which is taught on the campus at Troy.