MBA or MA - Canadian Student

[sanantone]

A degree from one of the bigger name state universities would be cool and all, but I was just thinking that a competency based degree, from one of these smaller online universities would probably be easier.  Wouldn't it? 

I know a masters is not going to be as easy as the whole ''testing out'' process for a bachelors, but I would assume some courses/programs have to be easier than others.
I have to admit, the thought of writing endless essays again makes me sick haha.  I would much rather have more tests/assignments than essays, if possible.  I know I probably don't have much choice in that matter.

Brand name isn't the biggest deciding factor for me, it's more just to check the box.  In my experience, as long as you have a degree from a western country, nobody really cares where it's from to a certain degree.  I know someone who has a Australian MBA, and I doubt anyone has really looked down on it. 

Has anyone on here done one of the online programs for one of those state universities? 
Just kind of wondering what the advantage would be for me to go to one of those, other than the name.  

I believe there are also many online based masters degrees from Canada as well.

You mentioned a preference for public universities, and not all public universities are large. Competency-based programs are offered at public, for-profit, and private non-profit colleges. If you want to attend a school with a campus, that eliminates several of your options. Most of these schools with competency-based programs are easy to get into. From my experience, the schools that require a lot of writing for non-humanities majors tend to be non-traditional schools that cater to adult learners. I did the least amount of graduate writing at University of Florida, and that's a top 30 university. 

I'm going off of memory, so someone correct me if I categorized these schools wrong. Some of the schools competency-based master's programs can be found at:

Purdue Global - for-profit turned public - No campus
UMass Global - private non-profit transitioning to public - has non-traditional campuses in multiple locations
University of Arizona Global Campus (only for instructional technology) - for-profit turned public - I believe they no longer have campuses.
Capella - for-profit - no campus
Walden - for-profit - no campus
University of Phoenix - for-profit - limited locations mostly in business towers and shopping centers
Northern Arizona University - public - traditional campus 
University of Maine at Presque Isle - public - traditional campus
Central Washington University - public - traditional campus
Rasmussen - for-profit - has non-traditional campuses in multiple locations
Western Governors University - private non-profit with government partnerships - no campus
Andrews University - private non-profit - traditional campus

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WGU's MBA used to require an insane amount of writing before they revamped the program. Walden also required a lot of writing before redesigning their competency-based MBA. So, don't expect the non-traditional schools to require less writing; they usually require more writing and fewer exams.