Good day my friends,

.I have just created the account to have more information, and am happy to come across this site.
please i need some direct answers in order to make decisions.

Am a petrochemical Engineer from Egypt, i have a Msc. degree in chemical engineering from an Egyptian university. currently i am looking for a global recognized online MBA program as i am not capable of attending classes physically due to career & famliy life.

I came through UoP - University of People & UNICAF university.
I visited both sites, but i didn't understand where is the online MBA program they offer accredited from?

so to simply list the questions.

1) Is UNICAF university ( https://unicafuniversity.com/ )online MBA program, accredited from South wales university,( yes, which i know is a bottom 15% universities in the UK)?

2) Is South Wales university accredited in the first place? what is its accreditation? is it recognized by the UK ministry of Education or have governmental approvals? is it a university (students,campus,enrollments..etc) or a company that calls itself a university?

3) Is the UNICAF MBA degree recognized world wide? I mean in terms of business market & global companies?

4) Does the UNICAF university qualifies me to enroll in a DBA (Doctoral of Business Administration) in any other university world wide? or will i have to restart allover again and be told it is not a credited MBA certificate?

5)Beside need for the certificate, i need the business knowledge as well, so what about the quality of the courses and instructors of the UNICAF university? have any of you tried a course and checked the quality of information given by there instructors?

6) what documents should i request from them in order to check there accreditation and creditability?

7) My average income is 350 USD/Month, so i don't have variety of options to choose from.
what are my alternatives for an online MBA program? knowing that the UNICAF will be paying up to 80% of my scholarship.

8) as i have a MSc. degree, i can join directly a PhD. degree in business administration in the UNICAF university. which will be accredited by the UNICAF solely, is that a wise decision to make? i understood that UNICAF university is accredited from the United nations, is that a reliable accreditation?

9) Is there another platform that can aid in the remaining part of cost that i will have to cover for the UNICAF MBA/PhD. degree?

10) i have 6 years of Experience, and i have taken the PMP preparation course, shall is join a PhD. in business administration directly or must i join MBA program first? as not to miss the basics? or will the PhD go through the basics again?

am so sorry for many questions, but i want to make my decision, and am glad that i found an active blog discussing the same topic

waiting for your recommendations.

Search the board for a recent discussion on unicaf. I don't see how it will help you get into a meaningful PhD. USW does not award all the Unicaf degrees but even if it did, I don't see what it added to your MSc. Read research. Write blogs and essays about what you write. Maybe try to coauthor with a local academic.

Hello Duncan,
yes i saw that discussion and saw your replies, and the opinions of other mates.
most local academics will lead me to in-country programs.

whats your opinion as an MBA coach? what are the alternatives, or best afforded online MBA program?

TIA

What are your goals? If you want to do a PhD, read academic research every day and write your summary of it or your thoughts about it. Prepare a research proposal. If you want management knowledge, then Illinois iMBA with Coursera or the University of the People MBA are good value, so is the LSE Graduate Diploma run through the London International programme.

1) As far as I can see, the MBA is awarded by USW. Unicaf is doing the delivery

2) It is a legit university. It may be at the bottom of UK list, but that is still higher than the majority of universities outside "the west"

3) No. But the degree (MBA) is not from them

4) A degree from USW is recognised. But you can probably join universities of around that quality, maybe a bit higher

5) I can't answer

6) You can contact USW to confirm the degree is from them

7) Unicaf will probably not be paying for other universities? Their partnership is specific?? Not sure about this.

8) It probably is not good idea

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Your budget seems to be very very low (no offence). With $350/month salary, at what price range are you looking?

Unicaf sometimes issues its own MBA, so not all of its graduates get the USW degree.

There's some more discussion on this MBA here:

https://find-mba.com/board/africa/online-mba-university-of-south-wales-through-unicaf-46882

The short answer is that it's probably worth finding a different MBA. You can find AACSB-accredited MBA programs that are delivered online for a relatively good price...

@Duncan, sorry for my late reply,
Thanks for your help, the point is, Incomes in the middle east countries is not that high. so -unfortunately- i dont have variety of options to choose from 'financially'. i am pretty sure you are correct on the point that there are much better online MBA programs, but for me it is, if it is not affordable then it is out of my options,, nothing i could do concerning this issue. even after the UNICAF university financial aid, the fraction i got to pay for the USW online MBA program is still a load, that's why i was asking.

if i confirm that, the MBA which be scholarship'd by UNICAF is a real USW MBA degree, will that be a good opportunity for my position? or do you recommend any other alternatives?

i need an MBA degree with recognition & knowledge , as you were asking for my goal.

@George,
Am very thankful for going trough my questions.
Yes my budget is pretty low,not offended. that's my case for the time being.

i can afford more or less a 1K USD, for an online MBA program.

I have a Msc. degree for Chemical engineering, and currently finalzing my PhD Thesis in Chemical engineering as well - Explosion Mitigation.

FYI
I have published a couple of researches, you can find them here:
https://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=57576
https://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=59815

i am curious for an MBA program to push my career as a chemical engineer, as i can manage time to attend the program online, but i want to have it from a university which is bit higher than local universities available in my country.

what do you recommend?

@MBA Hipster,

Thank you,Kindly, could you list some of the programs you are talking about?

Well I cannot think of anything close to 1000$ budget. Maybe try some local universities.

University of Iceland offers a free phd in business administration, with distance learning option. But even the free one is around $500 per year registration plus a trip to Iceland per year, should total more than $1000 per year easy :(
Still the university is good, (much much much much much much better than unicaf university) and it is the cheapest phd option out there

The graduate diploma Duncan mentioned is probably your best choice, it should be around 2800$ . Maybe if you take the courses spread over more years, it can be affordable. It is very flexible

If you can get USW MBA for $1000, I would consider it huge bargain and very good deal. I really think it will cost more though. Make sure to contact them to be certain you can afford it

Honestly, if you want knowledge for $1000 you won't find a better option than MOOCs,rather than focussing on a degree. I'd consider Wharton's foundations certificate www.coursera.org/specializations/wharton-business-foundations or one level of an accounting qualification like the CIMA certificate.

PS Link to the CIMA certificate: https://www.cimaglobal.com/Qualifications/cert-ba/

[Edited by Duncan on Nov 11, 2017]

@MBA Hipster,

Thank you,Kindly, could you list some of the programs you are talking about?

Unicaf sometimes issues its own MBA, so not all of its graduates get the USW degree.

If they told you that your degree will be from USW then that's almost certainly what you will get. But Unicaf has, I think, offered at least three different MBAs at the same time: USW, Unicaf University in Malawi and a US Catholic university whose name I can't recall.