Hello,

I am from France and I want to study in the USA. I prefer the west coast. I am interested in these programs, based mainly on BUDGET. My MBA would be paid for by my company but the budget including living expenses is rather limited.

CSU San Bernardino
George Fox
Concordia University - Portland
City University of Seattle
Western Washington University

I don't have any notions about staying in the US. I would just like to study for my MBA and then come back to France. In fact, I don't have much choice given my company's investment in this degree. I am partial to the programs in Oregon because cost of living is lower.

I can tell you that people on this board will ask you to try and define your goals for wanting an MBA. If you want to stay in France, an MBA on the west coast of the U.,S. from one of these schools is unlikely to do you much good in terms of network or name recognition when you're in France, so you'll mostly have the benefit of the credential and whatever you learn as part of the course. That's not nothing, but it isn't where most of the value tends to come from.

Beyond that, if you're thinking of this more as a chance to live in the U.S. for a time on your companies dime and get a credential while you're at it then a number of those schools would probably give you a good experience. I actually did my undergrad at Western Washington. When I was there the MBA wasn't regarded that highly (one of my professors taught there and told us that us Econ students wouldn't get any value from it). But Bellingham is a lovely town right on the water, with lots of outdoor activities nearby, a good music scene/nightlife for a smaller town, and is only about 90 minutes from both Seattle and Vancouver. So there are worse places to spend a couple of years. Cost of living should be considerably less than Seattle or San Bernadino, and probably Portland as well.

I just don't understand why these are the options you are considering. CSUSB and WWU are certainly the better two. Assuming you have a GMAT under 600, which is that those schools have in common, then consider....
- Willamette University Atkinson School of Management
- U of Washington Tacoma Milgard School of Business
- CSU Long Beach College of Business
- San Jose State U Lucas Graduate School of Business

If you could get your GMAT up to 610 then some much better schools come into play, like Utah Eccles and Pittsburgh Katz, which has a one-year MBA that's much more friendly for your budget. I know the ocean is wonderful, but with a better MBA you'll have a much higher salary, have better holidays and retire earlier.

What's your actual budget? Oregon State might be worth investigating: it's a tad more expensive than some of the other programs you mentioned, but it's AACSB accredited and in Corvallis, where cost of living will be lower than in Portland or another big city.

Plus, it can be finished in a year or less if time is a constraint.

Thanks to everybody for your nice responses. I have not taken my GMAT test yet but I am not confident about it.

I will investigate the other schools that have been suggested. To answer the question, my actual budget for tuition is $40,000. Anything higher than that and it would come out of my own pocket. I can negotiate an additional funding for living expenses, but I understand that there is not much here and I would have to support myself for the most part. That is why I was looking for schools in affordable places.

I think the UNCC/EGADE dual MBA is under $40,000. It's an unusual course, but an impressive experience at much better schools than the ones you are considering. As a European, I think you would be very interesting for them: http://egade.mx/en/mba-global-business-and-strategy#menu-gbs

I believe $1000/mo towards cost of living is a good ballpark estimate for most places. Of course if you choose to study at cities like SF/NYC then $1500 may cost you towards rent alone.

$400-$700 Rent (Depends if you want to stay alone or share room/house)
$300 Groceries
$300 Eating out
$50-70 Mobile phone
$50-$150 Utilities
$50 Wifi

One-time costs: $1000 air fare, $1000 laptop, $600 for books/course pack, $200 for Regalia, Degree frame. $800 for furniture/bed/ etc.

$5000-$8000 for a used car that may last you 2 years. [Unlike Europe, public transportation is not so good in US - other than popular cities like DC/NYC/Chicago/SF. Neither are most cities walk-able, so if you are in a small town- chances are you would need a car to save a solid 90 mins on your commute via university bus (if any)]

$400 deposit towards mobile phone (since you won't have a social security) you get the money back after 2 years [The $400 security deposit was back in 2013 for Verizon - not sure if things have changed now]

So Cost of living should easily be $25,000 for a 21 month program. (without the car). I also agree with the list of schools Duncan suggested.

I talked with Willamette, few years back. They usually attract a much younger crowd. But they are good on price and not so demanding on GMAT. Given that you are from EU, make sure you play your diversity card and bargain for a sweet deal to include scholarship & GA. GA would help you cover some of your costs. Just an example GA in a school at Virginia rakes about $10/hour, but at NYC it's $26/hour.

Great advice from Ayon. However, one small note: living in Portland or Seattle is definitely doable without a car. Both cities are well connected with public transportation and extremely bike and pedestrian friendly.

Some of the other places on your list (San Bernardino, Long Beach), not so much - however, LA has been building out its subway system and many parts of the city are well connected (there's a line going to downtown Long Beach for example) but many people still find it hard to get by in the Southland without a car.

LA also has an affordable bus network which is really reliable.

Thanks for all the good info!!