UIUC (Illinois) iMBA - is there a gotcha?

[ss20ts]

There definitely is. Some things in life arent about going after the cheapest/easiest thing possible. There are MANY MANY places where it matters but degreeforum is going to be biased considering the purpose of this board. Its a bizarre trope on here that the school you go to magically doesn't matter. Especially bizarre is this day and age of degreeflation. These top firms (or not even top) get flooded with apps, ALL with MBAs and solid experience. The job market is not easy. Spend a little time on the MBA subreddit and you'll get a decent picture.

Many of us are older and not searching for top firms in our fields as this junction in our career. An MBA from pretty much any RA college will suffice for many of us. If I was 25, I would say it does matter when it's from, but at 50, nope. I have decades of experience so just having the diploma i all that matters. There's thousands of colleges in this country. No one has heard of all of them. Unless they're local to you, Ivy, a big sports college, or a state school, chances are you've never heard of them. Doesn't mean that they're bad. It just means that you don't live near them. No news is good news quite often. 

People on here were not pro PUG when my husband started his bachelor's degree there as it was right after they bought it from Kaplan. His managers said otherwise. They said go to PUG over WGU. They never heard of WGU and they all know the Purdue name. This forum was super pro WGU at that time. He works in IT and was promoted soon after graduating with his bachelor's in analytics.

[Duneranger]

There definitely is. Some things in life arent about going after the cheapest/easiest thing possible. There are MANY MANY places where it matters but degreeforum is going to be biased considering the purpose of this board. Its a bizarre trope on here that the school you go to magically doesn't matter. Especially bizarre is this day and age of degreeflation. These top firms (or not even top) get flooded with apps, ALL with MBAs and solid experience. The job market is not easy. Spend a little time on the MBA subreddit and you'll get a decent picture.

Many of us are older and not searching for top firms in our fields as this junction in our career. An MBA from pretty much any RA college will suffice for many of us. If I was 25, I would say it does matter when it's from, but at 50, nope. I have decades of experience so just having the diploma i all that matters. There's thousands of colleges in this country. No one has heard of all of them. Unless they're local to you, Ivy, a big sports college, or a state school, chances are you've never heard of them. Doesn't mean that they're bad. It just means that you don't live near them. No news is good news quite often. 

People on here were not pro PUG when my husband started his bachelor's degree there as it was right after they bought it from Kaplan. His managers said otherwise. They said go to PUG over WGU. They never heard of WGU and they all know the Purdue name. This forum was super pro WGU at that time. He works in IT and was promoted soon after graduating with his bachelor's in analytics.

PUG is not Purdue; they only said that because they don't know any better. But yes sure, it deceptively sounds better.

There are TONS of young people on here who don't have tons of experience and are looking to get a MBA. They need to hear this, especially if they want to be making ahead of their peers.

[Kjnova]

It is and it isn't Purdue. It is a campus in the Purdue system. There are other campuses aside from the main one. For example, there are the Purdue Northwest Lions, a whole different university in the same system. Being admitted there does not get you into the Purdue everybody knows nationally. The chancellor is a different person and the accreditation is separate. Purdue Global is like that, not an arm of the main campus but its own campus in the Purdue system. But it is different from most state university systems in that I doubt most people know Purdue is a system, with multiple campuses. You expect that from "University of Texas" or "SUNY" but not from "Purdue." Being part of the Purdue system does mean something. I just think it's difficult to list it without confusing people. Or maybe irritating people who went to the main Purdue (Boilermakers) and know what that means. Just my opinion, though, which is worth what you paid for it.

[Duneranger]

It is and it isn't Purdue. It is a campus in the Purdue system. There are other campuses aside from the main one. For example, there are the Purdue Northwest Lions, a whole different university in the same system. Being admitted there does not get you into the Purdue everybody knows nationally. The chancellor is a different person and the accreditation is separate. Purdue Global is like that, not an arm of the main campus but its own campus in the Purdue system. But it is different from most state university systems in that I doubt most people know Purdue is a system, with multiple campuses. You expect that from "University of Texas" or "SUNY" but not from "Purdue." Being part of the Purdue system does mean something. I just think it's difficult to list it without confusing people. Or maybe irritating people who went to the main Purdue (Boilermakers) and know what that means. Just my opinion, though, which is worth what you paid for it.

It’s a for profit school bought out by Purdue with the name slapped on. No different than UA Global or the soon to be U Idaho Global.

I live an hour from Purdue. No alumni I know or anyone associated with Purdue thinks it’s Purdue. Purdue NW is an entirely different story. 

The issue is that most people are ignorant to all of this, so it just “sounds good” at the end of the day.

[Kjnova]

Yes, it used to be Kaplan, but I am sure when the Purdue system bought it, they changed it to non-profit, along with other changes. Most likely, they wanted the software and program structure. My opinion is that it's almost deliberately misleading, or at least a bit careless, to name it the way they did. Part of why I did not choose it is that I imagined myself either allowing people to believe it's the main Purdue to benefit myself, or else, spending a lot of time explaining why it's not the main Purdue. Neither idea appealed to me. Again, though, everybody has an opinion and if PUG works for somebody, that's great. That is just my thought process about it.

[ss20ts]

PUG is not Purdue; they only said that because they don't know any better. But yes sure, it deceptively sounds better.

There are TONS of young people on here who don't have tons of experience and are looking to get a MBA. They need to hear this, especially if they want to be making ahead of their peers.

My point was most people don't know any difference. Sure locals do, but the vast majority of the country isn't anywhere near the main campus. And PUG graduates are alumni of Purdue. It's the same alumni association.

[Duneranger]

PUG is not Purdue; they only said that because they don't know any better. But yes sure, it deceptively sounds better.

There are TONS of young people on here who don't have tons of experience and are looking to get a MBA. They need to hear this, especially if they want to be making ahead of their peers.

My point was most people don't know any difference. Sure locals do, but the vast majority of the country isn't anywhere near the main campus. And PUG graduates are alumni of Purdue. It's the same alumni association.

Again, no one except PUG grads think this though. Maybe they are in the alumni “network” but it’s not the same.

Global is an entirely different animal. You know Purdue has its own online programs right? Just like UA has their online degrees that aren’t global. The global school is just a for profit with a recognizable name slapped on. The school knew this and made the merger to turn up profit. That’s it. 

People don’t know because it’s intentionally deceptive.

---

Yes, it used to be Kaplan, but I am sure when the Purdue system bought it, they changed it to non-profit, along with other changes. Most likely, they wanted the software and program structure. My opinion is that it's almost deliberately misleading, or at least a bit careless, to name it the way they did. Part of why I did not choose it is that I imagined myself either allowing people to believe it's the main Purdue to benefit myself, or else, spending a lot of time explaining why it's not the main Purdue. Neither idea appealed to me. Again, though, everybody has an opinion and if PUG works for somebody, that's great. That is just my thought process about it.

It’s 100% misleading and tons of actual Purdue grads were steamed about it. That’s why there has been so much push back with U of Idaho and U of Phoenix.

[Kjnova]

I have mixed feelings about it. I say this as somebody who considered attending. I don't really have much of a stake in it. My opinion is just one person's opinion and means nothing beyond that.

But my opinion is, the Purdue system - which I suppose is who decided to buy and rebrand Kaplan - *is* Purdue. They decide what the name means. They decided to apply it to PUG. That is their choice. It is legitimate. It isn't like some other university took advantage of a legal loophole to have a similar name. The people who made this decision had the proper authority to make it.

But, I do not think they should have made it, because I do not think "Purdue" is viewed the same way as "University of [insert state here]." Maybe some people assume that the University of Maryland Global Campus is the Maryland Terrapins, but I think anybody who knows much about higher education is aware it is separate. But with Purdue, since there is such strong identification with that one specific major university, I think 95% of people or more would assume Purdue University Global is the Boilermakers' online program, the way Penn State has an online campus. Of course, it is not like that. Purdue is selective. PUG is open admission or close to that. They have different missions and really very little in common other than the name, and the system governance.

If I was an actual Purdue graduate, I would be very irked by the branding confusion.

Since I am not, I would just say, I chose to steer clear of it because I think it is beneficial only when people misunderstand it, and maybe negative when people do understand it. I would not want to get a job because somebody made a bad assumption in my favor and I would not want to feel like I had to explain it to avoid bad assumptions every time. The name seems designed to invite incorrect assumptions, so much that I think that is part of the selling point of the university.

Again, that is just me ... my opinion is no better than anybody else's.

[ss20ts]

PUG has been working on redoing the classes so they're not from Kaplan.

PUG graduates are in the same alumni association. Hubby is in it.

The general public doesn't have any idea that PUG isn't the same as Purdue. Purdue has several campuses and not all of them are Purdue technically either. No one in the general public cares except for the few people that live there. The rest of the country doesn't care.

[Pats20]

The main gotcha is that it’s 72 credits. ?. Although I believe most courses are 4 credits.