Hello,
I'm based in a rather remote place in terms of universities and I'm at a point in my carreer (consultant in IT) where I feel the need to get a recognised education in business and/or management topics. Hence my looking for an online program.
Can anyone help me with these questions:
- better an MBA or an MSc/MA ?
- better in management or in business ?
- what do you think of these uni:
Leicester (UK, MSc & MBA)
Durham (UK, MA)
Aberdeen (UK, MSc)
Swiss management center (MBA)
Educatis (online university in Swizerland, MBA)
I also heard about the U21 Global but it's not clear how serious this could be....
Of course I'm open to any suggestion as long as it's mostly online (with maybe a couple of onsite teaching or conferences) with a reasonable cost...

Many thanks

Hi,

The most important thing is to be REALLY careful when selecting an online mba. While there are now many decent options, there are also lots of less reputable ones appearing, in fact there are now more fake online MBA programs in the U.S. than real ones! Thus, you must make sure the mba is properly accredited and recognised.
Arguably you do miss something of the team building and networking skills with an online mba, and this might be something considered by future employers.
Educatis is accredited and seems to have a fairly solid reputation.
Of the institutions you mention - Leicester, Durham and Aberdeen - all have pretty good business schools, but it really depends what you want to specialise in.

Educatis degrees are not recognized in Germany:

http://www.anabin.de
http://87.106.9.54/scripts/frmInstitution1.asp?ID=19831

Thanks for your answers.
Indeed I heard of the many fake online MBA's in the US, and that's partly why I'm focusing on Europe. I'm based in Africa for the next 2 years and I should be able to spare some time to study, that's why I'm looking for online studies. Hopefully seminars should allow me to do a bit of networking...
York you say Educatis is not recognized in Germany (can't read German), but their german and english MBA is FIBAA accredited ?
Also anyone knows about U21 Global ? They have an EFMB-CEL accreditation (although I'm not sure if it applies to the contents of the course).

U21Global was formed in June 2001 at Singapore as a Joint Venture between Universitas21 and Thomson Learning (which later became Cengage Learning). Now U21Global has over 4,000 students from 60 different countries.
U21Global's MBA program is accredited by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) for teChnology-Enhanced Learning (CEL).
However, its MBA program is not accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which happens to be one of two accrediting organizations of business schools recognized by the US Department of Education. The University website mentions that they are an International Member of the AACSB but there is no explicit mention of its accreditation from them.

York you say Educatis is not recognized in Germany (can't read German), but their german and english MBA is FIBAA accredited ?

certainly not, and arguably the accreditation of the mba itself is more important.

Developping a bit more this idea, what can be infered of a university that offers an MBA in 3 different languages with only 2 accredited? That 3rd has certainly the same contents as the first 2, but without official accreditation is it worth trying it?

Hi - if I may shamelessly self-promote. Our MBA program is AACSB accredited and fully online. We are based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. Many of the same professors who teach in our on-campus classes also teach online. The content of our on-campus and online classes are identical. The only difference is the delivery method (in the classroom vs. on the web). The MBA is delivered through two univerisites, The University of Baltimore and Towson University.

I'd be happy to speak with you. The website is www.ubtowsonmba.com. My email is rdesi at towson dot ubalt dot edu. Email me and we can talk via Skype.

Ron
Director, The UB/Towson MBA
Blog: The UB/Towson MBA Blog

Hi Thierry,
this is interesting case you mention, which school are you talking about?
As we should see accreditation as the first criteria for a certain quality and a help to distinguish fake MBAs mentioned above from serious programs, I think you can take this 3rd program into considaration.

But as I always say accreditation is just the first condition, there are many other factors to be taken into account such as ranking, internationality of the program and international reputation, career aspects (networking, career center, alumni). Costs may also be relevant.
Keeping in mind your personal career goals, you should have a look at all this before taking the final decision for 2 or 3 DL MABs to which you want to apply.

Hi

check 3 more good programs:
1. IE - institute de emprezia - top 10 school with DL program.
2. Thunderbird and Indiana University - have a joint DL program - both good amerecian schools (top30-20)

I think these are the best ranked schools giving accredited programs you can find out there

good luck

Ron

Talking about the best schools offering a DL MBA, to mention also Imperial College Tanaka and Cass B-School London, as well as other good schools in the UK such as Strathclyde..

I ignore if those DL MBAs keep the promise given by the name of the school. But good news: generally speaking on the diploma the fact won't be mentioned that you did an online degree - you will be able to fully benefit of the effect of "brand" the schools have internationally.

Hi,

great value and accredited programmes are: Manchester Business School and Bradford University.

Only that Manchester does not have any Distance Learning MBA ..

Only that Manchester does not have any Distance Learning MBA ..

TopMBA sucks. Try businesweek or FT or check independent student websites.

check independent student websites.

Hi Friends

MBA is not just another degree that you will do for putting it into your resume. It is a program that should be able to change your mindset and personality for ever.

There are many parameters that you should look into before choosing an MBA program. Some of the parameters are::

* Your background (Family, Educational, Economical etc),
* Areas of interest (Finance, Marketing, IT, Operations etc),
* Your objective of doing MBA (to get job or to enhance career prospects)
* Your location (Urban or Rural)
* Current demand in the corporate world,
* Brand name of the institute (Very important in getting better jobs during initial stage of your career),
* Course offered by the college (whether MBA or any diploma or certificate?),
* Number of Centres of examination provided by the college,
* Syllabus,
* Course content,
* Areas of Specialisation,
* Post-enrolment support like delivery of study material,
* Ease of communication with institute,
* Methodology of instructions,
* e-Learning modules,
* Web support,
* Placement services, and many more.

I have myself done MBA from ICFAI Bangalore and I was Gold Medallist for being topper of my MBA batch (
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4291642699164204155&hl=en ). As I have myself done MBA hence I can give you better ins & outs of this program.

Feel free to contact me at my contact number or email address give below.


With Best Regards

Manoj Banshilal Pachouri
[email protected]
Bangalore, India
+91 98862 88806
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4291642699164204155&hl=en
http://www.niitstudent.com/content/eperf_intermediate.asp