Anyone done the MBA from TESC?

[HotDiggityDogs]

I see most posts are about Bachelor's degrees, and the Search function won't search on MBA since it's only 3 letters. :toetap:

Curious if anyone here is working on the MBA at TESC and how you feel about the content and the methodology.

Content matters to me as much as the degree; I don't want to re-enter the workforce with an MBA that I didn't learn enough from.

I'm 45 and have 22 years in the software engineering field & BSc from a local state college back in 1992. I'm considering MBA w/Data Analytics.

[UptonSinclair]

I believe most people here avoid TESC for Master's work because of the high cost.

[rebel100]

So many fantastic choices out there...TESC wouldn't even make the list. Here are a couple I considered:

Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Master of Business Administration - Graduate Studies - Chadron State College

great thread over on the "other forum" that discusses many options The best MBA degree Beware some of this is getting a bit dated...but folks are keeping it alive.

[sanantone]

If cost, AACSB/ACBSP accreditation, prestige, speed, or any combination of those are of concern, TESC wouldn't be in any of those lists.

AACSB Accreditation Ranked by Cost
AACSB Online MBA | Best Online Colleges | Best Online Universities | GetEducated.com

Without AACSB Accreditation Ranked by Cost (some of these schools might have ACBSP or IACBE accreditation)
MBA Online Programs | Best Online Colleges | Best Online Universities | GetEducated.com

If you're looking for extra cheap and fast, then look at Western Governors University and Patten University.

[Yanji]

Although I agree that there are better graduate options out there, especially for MBAs, I don't think TESC is always a bad choice. While they are not business accredited yet, they are an official ACBSP candidate, and ACBSP accreditation usually goes back retroactively a few years. Seeing that TESC is an overall well-managed institution, I see no reason for them being denied accreditation. I may be biased as an alumnus, but I'm also of the belief that TESC is a quality institution, despite its anonymity. I think their biggest strength lies in the fact that non-traditional education is all they do, and while the call center model that they use for most services is not ideal, they do have the resources and procedures required to provide adequate services to their students across the country. This cannot be said for the tiny online MBA programs that many state schools offer which usually have only one point of contact for all student needs/concerns.

I've never put too much into accreditation, (historically, neither have many of the top business schools, but one could argue that they may not need to) because unlike regional accreditation, business accreditation only really matters in accounting or if your employer requires it for tuition reimbursement. In the case of accounting, I would accept nothing less than AACSB, but it's not too important otherwise. Looking through the list of ACBSP-accredited schools is just a dreary list of directional schools, "where is that?" schools and proprietaries. I think ACBSP is worth something, (unlike IACBE) but it's not a must-have for me.

With that being said, while Business Analytics isn't a common MBA major - especially for online programs - there's almost certainly better than TESC out there. For me, I'd limit my search to state schools that require the GMAT and do not waive this requirement for work experience. Requiring candidates to meet minimum standards is usually a better indicator of quality than any accreditation.

[sanantone]

I have to kind of sort of disagree with you with small online programs. I liked the very personal experience I had at Angelo State University. I didn't feel like a number with them. All of my professors knew my name because there were only a few of them, and they were all full-time professors. When I called the graduate office, the same two people answered the phone, and I usually didn't have to wait in a queue "for the next available representative." When I did my oral comprehensive exam, there were no issues. We did it over a conference call.

Frankly, there are many schools that are of the same or higher quality than TESC, have more years of experience offering online MBA programs, and are cheaper. I just couldn't see TESC in any top 10 list.

ETA: I also have to disagree with you a little on AACSB accreditation. In some states, graduating from an AACSB or ACBSP-accredited school means that you automatically meet the CPA requirements, but those who did not graduate from a school with one of those accreditations can also meet the requirements. They just have to go through each requirement one by one to make sure each is covered. Most states don't give any kind of preference to AACSB or ACBSP accreditation. Now, if one wants to teach at an AACSB-accredited school, then having a degree from an AACSB-accredited school is absolutely required. From what I've seen, ACBSP-accredited schools usually require degrees from ACBSP or AACSB-accredited schools.

[Yanji]

Perhaps I overstated the importance of AACSB accreditation in the accounting profession. While I personally would not consider a non-AACSB graduate accounting program, I didn't mean to imply that it was a necessary accreditation. There are plenty of tenure-track faculty in my MBA program without AACSB degrees at any level, so I'm not even sure if AACSB is even necessary for academia. Of course, most American business schools that have any level of significant research activity are AACSB accredited so this ends up de facto holding, but plenty of business professors with doctorates from schools like McGill, Oxford and Cambridge teach at AACSB schools not just in America, but worldwide.

I definitely agree with you that small programs, both in-person and online, have the advantage of personal attention which you just can't get anywhere else, especially at a call center dependent school. I was just pointing out that small class size also comes with limitations such as course selection, cross-program registration opportunities and possibly fewer academic resources, although I doubt TESC provides above average academic resources to their graduate students.

[sanantone]

I'm sure schools will make exceptions for applicants with degrees from top foreign universities. LOL. I agree that course selection is a potential issue in small programs. That was kind of my problem at Angelo State. We had dozens of students, and the program was growing rapidly, but I was the only person in my concentration. If a school's academic resources are good on ground, then they should be good online. Even though I'm in a ground program, everyone pretty much conducts their research online using our university's subscriptions to online libraries and publishers of academic journals.

[ryoder]

NCU is self paced and if you have the time to devote, you can finish a NCU MBA in 4 months.

[HotDiggityDogs]

Thanks for the feedback and links. I had looked at WGU first, as well as my state colleges, but they don't have the angle I'm after. Most MBA programs don't. I'm thinking MBA might not be the degree I'm after, since I'm more interested in the analytics piece than the managerial piece. I'll keep poking around, but it's awesome that there are so many online Master's programs out there.