March 7, 2006, GetEducated.com, Essex Junction, VT (PR Web)GetEducated.com, LLC, America’s consumer-oriented, online degree clearinghouse, has released the results of its nationwide survey of tuition costs for accredited distance-learning and online MBA degree programs.
The survey of 130 distance learning master’s degrees revealed
online learners should be prepared to pay as little as $5,598 or as much as $115,700 for a regionally-accredited distance grad degree in business administration.
Premiering at the number one "Best Buy" spot this year is
Chadron State (Nebraska), with a modest cost of $5,598 for an online MBA degree for state residents. Out-of-staters will pay significantly more ($10,080) for the same degree.
Duke University in North Carolina topped the price chart at $115,700 nationwide.
For more details about online MBAs—including those that are regionally accredited and those that are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)—view
GetEducated.com’s Top Ranked Best Buys in Online MBAs.
Costs Remain Stable
The overall tuition and fees charged for distance learning MBAs remained fairly stable from the period of fall 2003 to fall 2005. Among the 130 accredited options surveyed by the online degree clearinghouse, the average cost for a regionally accredited MBA is $14,486, while AACSB-accredited programs command a higher mean price of $27,644.
Though costs escalated an average of 4 percent at most programs, the fact that more publicly funded institutions entered the distance MBA market helped hold overall costs stable, forcing the cost slightly lower in the case of regionally-accredited options.
AACSB-Accredited Online MBAs: South Provides the Most Best BuysWith 16 of the top 25 AACSB-accredited distance MBA programs originating from southern universities,
the South is online education’s prime MBA provider.“The South is poised to become a dominant niche provider of online education to the national market as growing numbers of mature learners—average age 36—clamor for a more accessible and affordable higher education system,” comments Vicky Phillips, GetEducated.com’s founder and chief analyst.
Leading the pack is the state of Texas, with four options: Texas A & M Commerce, University System of Texas, University of Houston-Victoria and the University of North Texas. Florida ranks second with three options: Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast and Florida State University.
Regionally Accredited Online MBAs: Every Region Provides Best BuysBecause consumers and employers favor “backyard brands"—colleges whose names are known to them and which tend to operate within their immediate geographic region—an exceptionally strong regional market exists for colleges that provide online degrees to local residents and to residents of neighboring states.
Western residents can rely on solid brands such as
California State University (California) while Midwesterners can turn to schools such as
Upper Iowa University (Iowa),
Bellevue University (Nebraska),
Baker College (Michigan) and
Fort Hays State (Kansas). Those in the Northeast may favor Saint Joseph’s College (Maine) and
Marist College (New York). The South enjoys low-cost, quality providers such as
Troy University (Alabama) and
Tarleton State University (Texas).
For-Profit Market Leaders Not Among Best BuysWhile for-profit players such as the Apollo Group (University of Phoenix) continue to expand, the cost of attending for-profit colleges continues to exceed the national average.
“While aggressive marketing and easy open admission—most for-profits do not require feared standardized admission tests such as the GMAT—will keep for-profits expanding,
they often are not the best buy for cash-strapped students,” warns Phillips.
Phoenix, for example, charges an average of $27,048 for its online MBA compared to non-residency Best Buys such as
California State University ($10,500),
Baker College ($14,250),
Bellevue University ($11,700), the
University of Wisconsin at Whitewater ($19,800) and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln ($14,212).
With 130 options to choose from for an accredited online MBA, consumers have never enjoyed greater opportunities to get educated at a reasonable price.
“The first lesson,” cautions Phillips, “should be learning how to shop intelligently for an online degree. Consumers can choose to pay as little as $5,598 for a solid name-brand MBA or as much as $115,000. Students will want to carefully scrutinize what they are paying for before opening wide their wallets.”
Online Guide Aids Online Learners
Consumers can explore all their options by viewing
GetEducated.com’s Best Distance Learning Graduate Schools, Business, Management and Online MBAs.About: Founded in 1989, GetEducated.com, LLC, is the safest place in cyberspace to shop for an online degree ™. In a nationwide campaign against online diploma mills, the clearinghouse accepts neither advertising nor listings from unaccredited online colleges or from colleges “accredited” by bogus agencies. The clearinghouse operates the
Diploma Mill Police, (SM), a free online degree accreditation verification service designed to protect online degree seekers from fraud.
I’m looking for an online MBA. I’ve found several that fit my budget but none 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 
The AACSB is the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International. It is considered the gold standard of business school accreditation. But not every student needs an AACSB-accredited MBA... 
