Need help for my wife - MBA!

[cnrqqqqca]

upGrad's Deakin GMBA is $10K for 2 years but you can probably ask for discount - alumni can probably do 15% off so the per-yr cost comes under $5250, the magic number.

DO READ my review before pursuing: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...#pid394561

[jayhawks1985]

Hello!  With 10-15 hours a week, she may need two years to complete.  That is around the amount of time needed a week for one class for many programs.  Of course, it varies by school/course.  I took two classes when I started last summer, and it was hard.   I felt under the gun on Wednesdays when discussion posts were due. I usually had one done and then had to rush through the second one.  And the weeks where there was a paper/project due on the same week it was brutal.  I managed to get it all done, but other things in life fell behind.   I am a lot less stressed out doing one class at a time.  I have enough wiggle room to go to my son's baseball games, get a haircut, run errands, cook dinner, or just watch my favorite shows.  I NEED that flexibility.   I would need about 20-30 hours free a week to get it done in a year.  

Does she have tuition reimbursement?  Do you have access to a discount portal like PerkSpot, LifeMart, BenefitHub, etc.   There's lots of discounts on those sites.

LSUS is definitely a good option.  They are in an affordable range and a respected University.  Some other ones that come in around $10,000 are Eastern University & Columbia Southern.  

If they are still running the deal, There's also Hellenic American University for $3,000.  https://mba.hauniv.edu/get-an-mba-your-way/

Wow thank you for all of this info and sharing your experience. I think she had an expectation of time management that might not be doable in real life considering the things you mentioned. She is getting $10k tuition reimbursement from her job, so thankfully the budget isn't a huge consideration. I think brand name plays a factor here, and I thought I read something about LSUS has a desirable accreditation - is that the case for these other options as well if that's even true?

---

There are so many choices out there... Must it be the MBA or will another very similar Masters work?  Depending on your SO's needs/wants, they can try a competency based degree option such as the UMPI MAOL, WGU MSML or MBA.

Honestly I don't know enough to answer this question, but I do think she is set on an MBA. She is working for a large insurance company and she has executive potential in her career path. She wants to set herself up now because her job affords her some time to dedicate to this. I will look into the degrees you mentioned though, and maybe have her managers review for fit and effectiveness. Thank you for the guidance!

---

Hello all,

I've posted before for myself and you guys helped me out a ton. I have to get myself back on track, but that's for another time. My wife saw what I did with college credits and started to contemplate pursuing an MBA. She already has a BSBM from Kean University, and recently got a job that encourages development. She was approved by her manager to get things rolling, and I immediately came here. Some background and notes:

We live in NJ, but she would like to pursue an online MBA
She is mid 30s, we have a young one (16 months)
She will be able to commit 10-15 hours a week with her schedule
Budget is important (as close to $10k as possible), but secondary to convenience and time, she would like to complete within a year
I don't know too much about accreditation and "prestige" for resumes, but she does have a corporate job and I think that will play a factor in her decision

From doing a little bit of reading and research on here, LSUS seems like a great option. Please share any insights or things to consider so that she can get this done and I can look as smart as you guys are! I appreciate all of your guidance and input and thank you in advance. Next project will be me lol. Cheers!

If she is working corporate and hopes for a good return on investment I would invest more into myself and get BUs online MBA

Is BU Boston University? Any more details or info on this? Brand name and ROI does play a factor so I would like to explore your suggestion. Thank you!

[Vle045]

About the desirable accreditation, that may be subjective. You’d have to look at each to see if they have the ones she wants/needs according to her employer. All of the schools that have been mentioned in the thread are regionally accredited, to my knowledge. The business accreditation might vary.

Since she gets $10,000, I’d stick to that range, and skip the Hellenic American one. It’s great for cost effectiveness, but might not fit her goals. I would also skip all of the competency based. I say this as a wife and mom who also works full time and has 10-15 hours a week available for school. Competency based is great if you have time. I had an opportunity to do a term for free a while back. I got zero credits completed by the end of the term. (To be fair, they had some silly zero credit courses required and I didn’t get much further than that). When I did the math of how long it might take me, I would be looking at well over $30,000.

LSUS is a very strong choice. I have a friend who went through the MBA-Project Management program and she enjoyed her experience. If LSUS fits her employers parameters and fits her needs, I’d say go for it. It’s a big enough school that I expect they have all of the resources she might need. Such as a writing center (or similar) that will give feedback on papers. This was extremely helpful in my first classes since I had been out of school for a very long time. They will likely have career and alumni resources if she needs them too.

Please be sure to come back and let us know what she chooses and how she likes it. I wish her all the best!

[jayhawks1985]

About the desirable accreditation, that may be subjective.   You’d have to look at each to see if they have the ones she wants/needs according to her employer.  All of the schools that have been mentioned in the thread are regionally accredited, to my knowledge.  The business accreditation might vary.

Since she gets $10,000, I’d stick to that range, and skip the Hellenic American one.  It’s great for cost effectiveness, but might not fit her goals.  I would also skip all of the competency based.  I say this as a wife and mom who also works full time and has 10-15 hours a week available for school.   Competency based is great if you have time.  I had an opportunity to do a term for free a while back.  I got zero credits completed by the end of the term.  (To be fair, they had some silly zero credit courses required and I didn’t get much further than that).  When I did the math of how long it might take me, I would be looking at well over $30,000.

LSUS is a very strong choice.  I have a friend who went through the MBA-Project Management program and she enjoyed her experience.  If LSUS fits her employers parameters and fits her needs, I’d say go for it.  It’s a big enough school that I expect they have all of the resources she might need.  Such as a writing center (or similar) that will give feedback on papers.   This was extremely helpful in my first classes since I had been out of school for a very long time.  They will likely have career and alumni resources if she needs them too.

Please be sure to come back and let us know what she chooses and how she likes it.  I wish her all the best!

Can't thank you enough for your input. We really appreciate it and I will absolutely update. We're both on an education journey and this site and people like you are extremely helpful!!

[IReallyNeedADegree]

Hello!  With 10-15 hours a week, she may need two years to complete.  That is around the amount of time needed a week for one class for many programs.  Of course, it varies by school/course.  I took two classes when I started last summer, and it was hard.   I felt under the gun on Wednesdays when discussion posts were due. I usually had one done and then had to rush through the second one.  And the weeks where there was a paper/project due on the same week it was brutal.  I managed to get it all done, but other things in life fell behind.   I am a lot less stressed out doing one class at a time.  I have enough wiggle room to go to my son's baseball games, get a haircut, run errands, cook dinner, or just watch my favorite shows.  I NEED that flexibility.   I would need about 20-30 hours free a week to get it done in a year.  

Does she have tuition reimbursement?  Do you have access to a discount portal like PerkSpot, LifeMart, BenefitHub, etc.   There's lots of discounts on those sites.

LSUS is definitely a good option.  They are in an affordable range and a respected University.  Some other ones that come in around $10,000 are Eastern University & Columbia Southern.  

If they are still running the deal, There's also Hellenic American University for $3,000.  https://mba.hauniv.edu/get-an-mba-your-way/

Wow thank you for all of this info and sharing your experience. I think she had an expectation of time management that might not be doable in real life considering the things you mentioned. She is getting $10k tuition reimbursement from her job, so thankfully the budget isn't a huge consideration. I think brand name plays a factor here, and I thought I read something about LSUS has a desirable accreditation - is that the case for these other options as well if that's even true?

---

There are so many choices out there... Must it be the MBA or will another very similar Masters work?  Depending on your SO's needs/wants, they can try a competency based degree option such as the UMPI MAOL, WGU MSML or MBA.

Honestly I don't know enough to answer this question, but I do think she is set on an MBA. She is working for a large insurance company and she has executive potential in her career path. She wants to set herself up now because her job affords her some time to dedicate to this. I will look into the degrees you mentioned though, and maybe have her managers review for fit and effectiveness. Thank you for the guidance!

---

Hello all,

I've posted before for myself and you guys helped me out a ton. I have to get myself back on track, but that's for another time. My wife saw what I did with college credits and started to contemplate pursuing an MBA. She already has a BSBM from Kean University, and recently got a job that encourages development. She was approved by her manager to get things rolling, and I immediately came here. Some background and notes:

We live in NJ, but she would like to pursue an online MBA
She is mid 30s, we have a young one (16 months)
She will be able to commit 10-15 hours a week with her schedule
Budget is important (as close to $10k as possible), but secondary to convenience and time, she would like to complete within a year
I don't know too much about accreditation and "prestige" for resumes, but she does have a corporate job and I think that will play a factor in her decision

From doing a little bit of reading and research on here, LSUS seems like a great option. Please share any insights or things to consider so that she can get this done and I can look as smart as you guys are! I appreciate all of your guidance and input and thank you in advance. Next project will be me lol. Cheers!

If she is working corporate and hopes for a good return on investment I would invest more into myself and get BUs online MBA

Is BU Boston University? Any more details or info on this? Brand name and ROI does play a factor so I would like to explore your suggestion. Thank you!

Online MBA Degree: Master of Business Administration from Boston University | edX
24k total tuition
the MBA takes 2 years
as far as I know this is the best bang for your buck MBA if you want a high return on your investment and excpect a significant career advancement.

[allvia]

Is the $10k tuition assistance from her job over the next 12 months ($5k for 2023 and $5k for 2024)? or is it a $10k total, or per calendar year? This would matter when choosing a program that will maximize her employment assistance; it would be preferred that they cover it all (no out of pocket to you will undoubtedly have the best ROI, even if it takes a bit longer to complete).

[jb111]

For most companies anything over $5250 per year is taxable.  I just started a new job where they pay up to $12,000 per year. Opens up a whole bunch of choices. Now I need to carve out the time

[bjcheung77]

Talk to the SO, find out what a balanced mix/match of requirements she's interested in... It's not always about the cost, energy, time required, you also need to take a look at the course content that's being taught and see if interests the student. Some degrees have different requirements of courses need for the degree...

[syzygylym]

I just completed my MBA through LSU-Shreveport. Most classes are pretty easy and I was able to finish in 15 months even with taking a term off and only one class at a time in the summer. AACSB accredited and total cost is about 12k. If you have the option for employer reimbursement, spread it out over 2 calendar years and get work to pay for the whole thing like I did! Any other questions feel free to PM me.

BTW also in NJ here.

[bjcheung77]

@syzygylym, Wow, great work going from the Eastern Associates, laddering up to UMGC for the Bachelors, and then finishing off with the LSU-S MBA! Congrats on getting those done in orderly fashion, seems you went step by step to make sure entry requirements were met properly when you laddered into the next degree.