NCU's MBA is now only 30CR!!

[motuterry]

It is fairly routine for AACSB-accredited schools to count CLEP exams toward foundation requirements. MBA foundation requirements often include courses such as economics, business law and accounting that are more often than not offered as lower level courses in an undergraduate degree program.

Foundation courses are typically waived for students that have taken the corresponding undergraduate course with what the program considers to be an acceptable grade. Many schools will accept grades of C for this purpose.

While some schools will only waive foundation courses if the courses were taken at an AACSB institution, it is common for a school not to care where foundation courses come from.

Please note that foundation courses are not usually transferred into an MBA program - it's a check the box sort of thing. While such courses carry graduate credit they do not usually count toward the 30-to-36 graduate credit minimum for the degree.

Just so that I'm on the same page. Your saying that it is common for many schools to waive the requirement to take the core foundation MBA course work for those who have completed CLEP exams in the corresponding subject areas. This is an interesting revelation for me. Can you post a list of MBA schools that accept CLEP testing for foundation courses in marketing, finance, quantitative analysis, and organizational behavior. Thank you. I appreciate your time with this.

[ryoder]

Yes it is common practice. They usually list the foundation courses as remedial courses for anyone who has no bachelors in business and state that they can be waived for individuals who have taken one or two of them in undergrad. If the school's undergrad program accepts CLEP then you just have to take the CLEP tests to satisfy their requirements. Most of these schools also have CLEP-lite challenge exams you can take to demonstrate undergrad proficiency also.

This is similar to a MS Computer Science requiring 6 basic undergrad courses in computer science and forcing grad students to take them prior to enrolling in real graduate courses.

Of course I do not have an exhaustive list, but this is common in the 50+ MBA programs I looked at months ago.
Here is one that lets a BSBA undergrad wave all foundation courses.
Masters of Business Administration -- MBA(Graduate) | Extended Programs and Educational Outreach
Foundation Courses (18 credit hours)*

ACC 501 Accounting Principles (3)
DS 501 Intro to Probability and Business Statistics (3)
ECON 500 Foundations of Economic Analysis (3)
FIN 502 Financial Principles (3)
MKTG 510 Marketing Management (3)
MGMT 505 Organizational Theory and Behavior (3)
*Students with an undergraduate degree in business from an AACSB accredited institution may waive the foundation courses (non-AACSB courses require waiver request and faculty evaluation)


You will see that after the foundation courses are met, the student will be allowed to take real MBA courses which start in the 600s at this school.
Core Courses (18 credit hours)

MGMT 604 Strategic Communication and Ethics (3)
ACC 605 Administrative Controls (3)
FIN 620 Financial Administrative Policies (3)
MKTG 610 Marketing Policies and Problems (3)
IB 610 Globalization and Business Environment (3)
MGMT 696 Strategic Management (3)


The Georgia WebMBA realizes that these undergrad level foundation courses are a waste of money at graduate tuition levels so they offer a cheap way to satisfy them via CD-ROM.

Many online MBA programs require students to take a "pre-program" sequence of courses with tuition rates as high as regular core courses. Students whose undergraduate degree is not in business are most vulnerable to the requirement to take that sequence.

The Georgia WebMBA offers a pre-program service to help you obtain the equivalent of pre-requisites, should you need them

Georgia WebMBAÂ : Admissions

[motuterry]

Thanks for the info. I appreciate your research and your taking the time to post.

Regards,

[ryoder]

Bad news about costs.
The $1400 per course MBA pricing was an IT mistake according to the finance dept. NCU has revised the tuition back to $1850 per course
They did give me a break on two of my classes though and gave me them at the $1400 rate as a courtesy But I really wanted to see the MBA program priced at $14K. Now its coming out at $18.5K all said and done.

[fiveninerzero]

There is a class in this MBA program SKS5000, Strategic Knowledge Studies that covers finance, accounting, law, mis and economics. It is a weed out class for those who do not have the required knowledge. The book is 1200 or so pages long and there are tests and papers.
For me, I already had the undergrad prereqs so it wasn't a concern.

This program was looking rather attractive to me due to its lack of required prerequisites and self-paced nature. I did notice, however, your mention of this course. I have no real background in accounting or finance. Would you see me having an issue with this class given the 8 week format? Would you recommend that I CLEP these even though not required in order to get some background in these subjects?

Thanks

[ryoder]

Yes I would recommend CLEPing these subjects prior to enrolling in SKS5000.
I can send you the syllabus and you can determine for yourself if you are ready for the course. The problem is that you are asked to write papers, powerpoints and take some online unproctored but timed tests on a variety of subjects.
Having the basics of financial accounting behind you is important or you will end up spending too much time trying to learn during the course.
The point of this course is to prove that you know the foundation material.
Now the course does come with a 1200 page book that should give you the basics but I used it as a reference instead of as a learning guide.

I would recommend cleping business law, financial accounting, macro and microeconomics, management, marketing and statistics to have a full background.

Or you could just read these REA books beforehand and acquaint yourself with the material prior to enrolling.

I actually learned alot about business by studying for the CLEPs. The NCU MBA teaches you how to be a scholar by doing research on business topics. Its a little different than an undergrad degree where you spend time learning material and answering questions on tests.

[fiveninerzero]

That's exactly what I was looking for in an answer. I think I'll look into another non-MBA program to pursue such as generic management.

I have taken a few basic business courses such as management and marketing, but don't have the quantitative background in finance and accounting and would rather not play catch up during a short 8 week course.

I don't really need a master's, let alone an MBA, but I do want to take advantage of a TA benefit and some down time that I have at work.

Thanks once again.

[ryoder]

Don't let me scare you away. You just need to get through this one course plus stats for the quantitative element depending on your concentration.