Grad School Plan (USAF-centric) - please help me evaluate it

[OfficerA]

Good evening all,

Not really sure how else to start this, so sorry for the awkward title. At this point, I'm about 11 courses away from my BSBA degree from TESC; just waiting to finish up on my last class through my current school, before devoting myself fully in the TESC residency requirements (I'm anticipating that I can knock out 3 of the 11 courses here through my last CLEP/DSST and a Penn Foster class). The rest of the 8 courses I plan on taking mostly through TECEP, and I'm fairly confident that I can knock out a good number of them.

While any relevant business degree will work for my goal of commissioning in the USAF, I'm looking at my long term goals of knocking out a master's degree next, while also making myself even more competitive for this commissioning program, in case my first try through my BSBA degree isn't considered good enough.

At this point I'm looking at Southeast Missouri State University: course requirements - Southeast Missouri State University

Thanks to a previous topic I had, from which someone posted a link from geteducated.com for a specific type of degree that I was looking for.

As to why, it's primarily because they're the cheapest online MBA program according to geteducated.com that's also AACSB accredited; while irrelevant for commissioning with a bachelor's degree, for my long-term goals in the USAF I will need this type of degree with this accreditation in order to receive service credit, and hopefully commission into a higher rank.

What are people's thoughts of the school though? They seem decently rated enough from the reviews I've read both at geteducated.com and other ranking websites (not including their food, which is a nonissue with me).

As well, for their core requirements here: admission - Southeast Missouri State University

Does it mean that I would be able to take a CLEP/DSST, and send my entire CLEP/DSST transcript to them for their consideration? At the rate I'm completing my degree I'll be missing out on Calculus and Management Information Systems, but I think this should be sufficient.

Lastly, what are people's experiences with grad school when it came to CBEs including TECEPs? How harshly do they judge credit/no credit courses?

Thanks all for any input; I've gotten as far as I have in a short amount of time thanks to this place, so even if this plan of mine isn't any good, I at least ran it by you all.

[heinleineken]

If cost is the issue, have you considered:
Air University--http://acsc.maxwell.af.mil/DistanceLearning/distance-learning_pg1.asp
American Military University--http://www.amu.apus.edu/academic/programs/degree/673/master-of-business-administration
allows significant credit transfer--finish the Air University Program and transfer significant credits to the AMU program

[sanantone]

I think OfficerA really wants AACSB accreditation. AMU is ACBSP accredited.

To OfficerA:

I'm assuming you'll be getting in-state tuition or that they have a special military rate? According to Geteducated.com, University of Louisiana at Monroe, University of North Dakota, and a few other schools are cheaper for non-residents.

[OfficerA]

heinleineken: Unfortunately it's not AACSB accredited, which is the only thing that counts (other than CAHME, but that's specific for medical degrees) for the program I'm going into for graduate degrees.

sanantone: Yeah, it's pretty much the main reason why as far as tuition (and possible other costs are concerned). What concerns me right now is that the advisor that contacted me wasn't fully aware of what the procedure was, as it seems like I have to establish that I'm military through a process, instead of anything straightforward; plus, they expect most people to have left the service already, so she wasn't able to assist with active duty inquiries. In any case, I'm waiting to hear back from their military specialists to see how I'm going to continue forward.

I at least confirmed though that CLEPs are sufficient for their prerequisites (I had thought that prior experience was separate from CLEPs/DSSTs), so this makes my path through them easier. Just have to finish my degree and keep that GPA up through TESC.

[zenurez]

I was looking at the Monroe website and it looks like its actually $10K per semester for out of state students!
http://ulm.edu/controller/documents/sas/...es2014.pdf

I think OfficerA really wants AACSB accreditation. AMU is ACBSP accredited.

To OfficerA:

I'm assuming you'll be getting in-state tuition or that they have a special military rate? According to Geteducated.com, University of Louisiana at Monroe, University of North Dakota, and a few other schools are cheaper for non-residents.

[sanantone]

I was looking at the Monroe website and it looks like its actually $10K per semester for out of state students!
http://ulm.edu/controller/documents/sas/...es2014.pdf

Tuition for courses offered online is the same as tuition for courses offered on campus. There is no out-of-state fee for a student seeking a degree online.

eULM Online Degree FAQ | ULM University of Louisiana at Monroe

[OfficerA]

So, I did a bit more searching and refining of the search criteria, and it turns out that as far as getting an in-residence rate is concerned, Texas A & M is pretty cheap too, if not currently the cheapest (two prices keep showing up for SEMO when I did my search; one below 10,000 and another well above it).

On the other hand, just reading the prerequisites for it (on top of the expectation of 2-year completion) makes my eyes hurt. I'm starting to realize now why all my lieutenants are pursuing MBAs despite having no business background in their undergrad program.

I'm currently waiting to hear back from the veteran's group from SEMO, to see what I can get cheaper out of it exactly; in the mean time, I'm still shopping around and studying so I can actually finish my bachelor's.

Thanks all again, and I'm always open to better plans.

[zenurez]

Can you please explain why all your lieutenants are getting an MBA?

.
On the other hand, just reading the prerequisites for it (on top of the expectation of 2-year completion) makes my eyes hurt. I'm starting to realize now why all my lieutenants are pursuing MBAs despite having no business background in their undergrad program.

[OfficerA]

Can you please explain why all your lieutenants are getting an MBA?

MBAs as of late seem to be one of the few graduate degrees that's a) fairly versatile and b) has some good reputation behind it (Gawker.com reported that it's the only graduate degree that had a positive ROI recently).

Essentially for my lieutenants, even though apparently our MAJCOM's trying to downplay the need for graduate degrees until a member has had 10 years time in service in order to make rank after captain our officers need good degrees, and not just any of the "random" bachelor degrees most of them came in with, especially since in our career field as an officer you're expected to master a LOT of different subjects. I'm guessing an MBA fits the bill perfectly for it.

As an enlisted man, I already started with a business AS degree, and am just naturally continuing on; the main reason I'm looking for the kind I am now is how specific the degree has to be for the commissioning program I'm trying to get into.

[Dr John]

So how much transfer credit does AMU give you for completion of ACSC?