Have you heard good - or bad - things about an online college? Share which online universities you feel are the best in a reputation review.
"Anybody who's thinking of enrolling in an online degree ... take a good look at GetEducated.com . Go ... get a free download of a detailed guide ."
Searching for an Online MBA?: "Several websites can help .. first, GetEducated.com offers free rankings of distance-learning MBA programs."
"Beware diploma mills... Go to GetEducated.com and ask the Diploma Mill Police."
"For a distance MBA you can pay from $6,000 to $120,000. To get the most bang for your buck ... check out GetEducated.com"
GetEducated.com – "a great source for weeding out phonies" (among online colleges).
"Thanks much for your wonderful site! I've recommended it to my students and entered a program I found at GetEducated.com." --Charles Balch, MBA, Ph.D. --Professor, Arizona Western College
Vicky Phillips -- Founder of GetEducated.com ... "for 20 years the leading consumer advocate for online college students" ... Different Paths to a College Degree, Sept. 2009
Vicky Phillips ... founder of GetEducated.com ... "one of the nation’s leading experts on educational fraud" ... . ~Joyce Lain Kennedy~ (Nov, 2009), LA Times
"Kiplinger Personal Finance" partners with Get Educated - Top 15 Picks Prestigious Online Masters Degrees
Get Educated helps LATimes Consumer Reporter David Lazarus in "Getting an Education Learning Over the Internet" -- Nov. 10, 2010
Get Educated's beloved mascot, Chester Ludlow, dog with online MBA, helps Neely Tucker, Washington Post reporter, expose murderous minister with degree mill pedigree - Dec. 2010
I’m looking for an online MBA (Master of Business Administration). I’ve found several that fit my budget but none of these are accredited by the AACSB. What is the AACSB? Do I really need a distance MBA degree that is accredited by them?
—Roberta Gary, IN Answer:
The AACSB is the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International. It is a voluntary, non-governmental accrediting agency that oversees the standardization of collegiate schools of business and accounting nationwide.
The AACSB has served as the academic watchdog of university business programs since 1916. Because of its longevity, many venerable Ivy League business schools are accredited by the AACSB. Stanford University, Yale University and Duke University, for example, all operate AACSB accredited business schools. (Of these, Duke University offers a distance-learning, low-residency MBA.)
Among academics and corporate headhunters, the AACSB is considered the gold standard of business school accreditation. Only about 30 percent of business schools in the USA carry AACSB accreditation.
Who Needs the AACSB?
If your career goal is to become faculty at a business school, definitely consider an AACSB-accredited MBA or business degree.
Outside of academia, this specialized accreditation is less crucial—unless you intend to compete at the executive level, especially in the Fortune 500 arena.
Recently, Intel Corporation made news by announcing that its corporate tuition program will only reimburse for business degrees earned at AACSB-accredited degree programs, regardless of whether the degree is delivered face-to-face or online.
A business degree or MBA emblazoned with the AACSB brand will be extremely valuable in opening doors in any competitive corporate environment.
AACSB Business School Accreditation? Optional
Universities do not need AACSB business school accreditation to offer the MBA or any other advanced business program, whether online or on-campus.
According to GetEducated.com’s National Ranking Survey of Online MBAs, the majority of regionally-accredited universities that offer distance MBAs—more than 70 percent—do not follow the standards of the AACSB.
AACSB approval is not an absolute guarantee of quality. In fact, if an online business school has not pledged to follow AACSB standards it may gain the ability to offer a more innovative program of study.
Some online business schools shun AACSB accreditation because they seek the flexibility to develop more real-life curriculum, as well as the flexibility to admit an older, more career-savvy body of adult learners.
Of the 172 online business schools tracked by GetEducated.com’s National Survey of Online MBAs, 69 of these (40 percent) hold AACSB accreditation. The other 60 percent (103) do not. Forgo AACSB – Save a Bundle
Average cost of a regionally accredited distance MBA, on the other hand, is only $22,924.
That’s a whopping savings of $10,002.
If your budget is tight, skipping AACSB accreditation on your online MBA can save you a bundle.
Forgo AACSB – Gain Easier Admission
If you’re looking for easy admission to business school, don’t look to AACSB-accredited options. AACSB-accredited business schools almost always maintain higher admission standards than their counterparts.
Most require the GMAT (Graduate Management Admissions Test) for admission. They typically also require a higher undergraduate GPA. Many require applicants to hold formal bachelor's degrees in business administration.
When to Consider an AACSB-Accredited Online Business Degree
Five most likely reasons you’d be willing to pay more for the AACSB mark on your online business degree:
You’re competing in an aggressive career field in an urban environment—for example, becoming a Wall Street broker in Manhattan
Academic prestige is very important to you
You intend to join the faculty of a business college
Your corporate tuition plan will only pay for an AACSB-accredited business degree
You don’t mind taking the GRE or GMAT—and are confident you can score above average on both
Five most likely reasons you’d be willing to forgo AACSB accreditation on your online business degree:
Money is tight
You’re not competing in an aggressive career field in an urban environment
Academic prestige is not all that important to you
You don’t intend to join the faculty of a business school
