Sunday, July 6, 2008

Online Fast Track MBA - How Fast is Fast

Many of the potential students who are looking for an Online MBA Course would like to consider Online Fast Track MBA. One such business school that offers such online fast track MBA is the Hagan School of Business.

The Online Fast Track MBA offered by the Hagan School of Business is accredited by AACSB International and is one of the best online MBA programs. AACSB is the oldest and most prestigious accrediting organization for business programs including online MBA programs. The Princeton Review recognized the school as one of USҀs most outstanding business schools.

The Online Fast Track MBA at the Hagan School of Business offers five majors in their certified Online MBA Course. The five majors are:

Financial Management
Information Systems
Management
Human Resource Management
Marketing

What is the Requirement for the Typical Certified MBA?

This certified MBA program from Hagan School of Business was designed for candidates who wish to pursue the certified MBA or Online MBA on fast track basis. The various curricula of the certified MBA require 57 credits, not counting any waiver and transfer credits. Certain appropriate course work which was completed at the undergraduate and graduate level may be applied.

The maximum time frame to complete the Online MBA Course was set at six years. MBA students who pursue the certified MBA program at full-time may complete the entire course in two years. Part-time students shall require three years. The certified MBA courses are offered on trimester basis. Classes commence in September, November, March, June and July.

Each of these MBA course meets one evening per week, with each session lasting for three hours in the evening. There are also Saturday courses which meet in the morning.

Online Fast Track MBA

The difference between the Online Fast Track MBA course compared to the normal certified MBA course is that candidates may be able to complete the course 10 months earlier. These are done by offering courses in a sequence for a speedy graduation.

As what Associate Dean Charles Cante explained, ӀIn todayҀs financially-focused world every professional needs to have business knowledge in order to remain competitive and prosper. Whether itҀs the new medical doctor, dentist, lawyer or psychologist trying to build a successful practice or the scientist or engineer who wants to position their discovery or an educator who wants to become an administrator, the MBA degree is an essential and positive driving force towards these ends.Ԁ

You can now earn your MBA from one of the best online MBA programs in as little as 13 to 15 months with the Online Fast Track MBA course. You are able gain valuable knowledge to help build a dynamic career in your own field.

The Online Fast Track MBA course was designed for non-business students who wanted to pursue business study. It is open to all college graduates, regardless of your basic degree discipline. It is also useful for professional school graduate who would like to pursue for a certified MBA before starting a residency.

The Online Fast Track MBA comprises of 57 credits which covers major discipline expected of a business study. Up to 24 of those credits may be waived depending on the educational experience of the MBA students.

For those who wish to pursue the Fast Track MBA the traditional way, they are able to do so too. Pursuing an Online Fast Track MBA would means that a student who starts their studies during the first summer term would be able to graduate after the second summer term of the following year.

The school also offers strong network of advisers for the Online Fast Track MBA who help students in all areas, from choosing specialization to support services such as registration, which makes them one of the best online MBA programs around. Students of the Online Fast Track MBA are also grouped as a cohort to help build relationship in their studies as well as networking opportunities.

The followings are a description of the Core Courses in the Online Fast Track MBA program. The Online Fast Track MBA curriculum is designed to provide a broad and integrative approach to business. These includes financial reporting, analysis and markets, domestic and global environment, creation and distribution of goods and services, and human behaviour in organizations.

The core courses of the Online Fast Track MBA lay the foundation for any area of concentration or related advance courses.

Students of the Online Fast Track MBA may have from 12 to 18 credits waived usually, with the exception of some who could get up to 24 credits waived. The followings are the core courses before waive:

Հ MBA 500 - Business Perspectives (required of all MBA students within the first 9 credits)
Հ MBA 510 - Quantitative Tools for Management
Հ MBA 520 - Financial Accounting and Reporting
Հ MBA 530 - Economics for Management
Հ MBA 540 - Operations Management
Հ MBA 550 - Finance for Managers
Հ MBA 560 - Marketing Management
Հ MBA 570 - Management and Organizational Behavior
Հ MBA 580 - Information Systems

Advanced Courses of the Online Fast Track MBA

The followings are the concentration for the Online Fast Track MBA:
Management
Human Resource Management
Financial Management
Marketing
Information System.

The concentration of the Online Fast Track MBA course consists of 12 credits in advanced courses which was chosen according to the specifications of the department. In addition, students are also required to take 18 credits of advance courses outside the field of concentrations.

There is also a concentration for MBA Financial Management. This concentration focuses on corporate financial management and financial markets. The objectives of this program are to acquaint students with the process of financial decision-making, to provide a theoretical base for students to analyse real-world situations and to discuss and provide solutions to cases and problems related to financial decision-making.

For those students of the Online Fast Track MBA who wish to pursue MBA Information System, they can gain the definite advantage when they are able to manage information within their business organization. Therefore, the objective of this concentration is to develop the skills to analyse, design and evaluate an organization's information and decision systems.

The concentration in Management of the Online Fast Track MBA is designed to provide the conceptual, analytical and creative skills needed in the management of the business organization across fields of business resources, functions, units environment and cultures. The program emphasise the development of executive skills in the area of organizational design, development innovations and entrepreneurship.

The concentration in Human Resource Management of the Online Fast Track MBA course is designed to specifically address the challenges faced in the management of human resources in private corporations and public institutions. The development of decision making and problem solving skills will be emphasized in the areas of human resource planning, development, training, recruitment, selection, retention and global HRM.

The concentration in Marketing of the Online Fast Track MBA Course focuses on marketing as an interface between business and society. The aims of this concentration of the Online Fast Track MBA are to relate marketing theory and practice and to evaluate the societal consequences of marketing practice; to encourage students to think conceptually, critically, analytically and creatively; to develop students' proficiency in effective marketing decision-making; to foster computer literacy by integrating computer usage into marketing decision-making.

Therefore, the objective of the concentration in Marketing of the Online Fast Track MBA is to make students marketing literate by offering courses which represent the current state of the art.

For prospect students who are interested to complete Online MBA Course within short duration from one of the best online MBA programs, the Online Fast Track MBA may be the choice.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Keller Graduate School Online MBA Course Review

This article is a review on the Online MBA Course offered by Keller Graduate School of Management, DeVry University. The online MBA course at Keller is one of the best online MBA programs around, and was designed to provide good management concepts and techniques which the MBA students may use immediately.

The certified MBA program from Keller Graduate School of Management allows the students to customise it by selecting from a wide range of electives in specialisation such as accounting, finance, marketing, health services, hospitality management, international business and more. KellerҀs Online MBA Course may be earned in less than a year, and this is definitely an attractive point for potential MBA student who would like to earn a certified MBA from one of the best online MBA programs.

The followings are the some reasons why you should study for your online MBA course from Keller:

  • DeVry University has been a leader of technology-based business education for more than 75 years. Their certified MBA program and online MBA course is known to prepare their MBA students for high-demand and high-paying careers in business administration. KellerҀs online MBA course is one of the best online MBA programs in the US.

  • Keller works with many top business corporation to design their certified MBA programs and Online MBA Course with the aim of producing MBA graduates that meet the needs of the market. Their certified MBA programs and online MBA course also build communication skills, teamwork skills, computer applications and system integration.

  • As Keller is actively working with business leader, MBA students can expect that all instructions from their faculty members are grounded in the real business world. MBA students learn how to assess and analyse business problems through case studies and dynamic classroom environment.

  • Upon graduation from KellerҀs Online MBA Course, MBA graduates continued to enjoy career services to help them to identify career opportunities so as to make the most of their experiences and credentials.

KellerҀs Online MBA Course
The KellerҀs Online MBA Course provides the utmost in convenience and flexibility in MBA education which allows its MBA students to continue advancing their career path while studying. The Online MBA Course allows students to attend online class and complete their coursework at any time of the day. MBA students may participate in online interaction with faculty members and other students.

The faculty members handling the KellerҀs Online MBA Course are as qualified as their onsite course. Therefore, MBA students can be assured of their MBA qualities. All instructors are trained on Keller approach and they are also continuously monitored to ensure that they meet the academic quality.
In terms of the online platform, Keller has a robust virtual library to provide MBA students with the revenue to do their research. The online platform is functional 24 hours a day and also offers course syllabi, assignments and other online resources. Keller provides online MBA students with electronic textbooks and interactive course materials.

For those prospect MBA students who are still not sure if they should register with Keller, there is a course demo at their website to show how the online MBA course is conducted.

Great Career Prospect from One of the Best Online MBA Programs

Many MBA graduate from KellerҀs certified MBA program and online MBA course now holds prestigious career positions. Some of these positions include Directors that spearhead multifunctional activities, functional managers, consultants/entrepreneurs and administrators/supervisors. MBA graduates careerҀs opportunities are found in a wide range of career fields including: Accounting and finance, general management, human resource management, management consulting, information system management and marketing.

The certified MBA program and online MBA course offered by Keller emphasizes the practical skills and concepts that business demand from management professionals. The MBA program provides comprehensive business education that enables MBA students to develop their management expertise and advance their career.

The followings are the listed objectives of KellerҀs certified MBA program:
Հ instilling a multi-functional perspective that allows for management of cross-disciplinary endeavors and integration of functions across the business enterprise
Հ developing analytical skills in accounting and finance needed to conduct sound analyses and provide insightful interpretation of the financial implications of business decisions
Հ gaining the ability to conduct quantitative analyses of business situations and use technology to support effective business decisions
Հ developing a strong understanding of legal, political and ethical influences on business opportunities
Հ formulating market-driven strategies and plans to effectively meet customer needs
Հ gaining a solid appreciation of the structure, management and operation of the economic system to allow for interpretation and interpolation of economic trends

The curriculum of KellerҀs Online MBA
The certified MBA program from Keller requires successful completion of 48 semester credit hours. MBA students can customise the program from a list of electives and concentration areas to meet their own professional and personal goals. MBA students who are certified public accountants get some subject exemptions.

The courses offered by KellerҀs MBA are divided into three categories ր Core Courses, Program Specific Courses and Elective Courses. The MBA Core Courses are:
Accounting and Finance: Managerial Use and Analysis
Applied Managerial Statistics
Leadership and Organisational Behaviour
Managerial Application of Information Technology
Marketing Management

The Program Specific Courses offered by KellerҀs MBA are:
Managerial Accounting
Managerial Finance
Legal, Political and Ethical Dimensions of Business
Business Economics
Business Planning Seminar

MBA students need to complete 18 credit hours for the Elective Courses.

MBA students of KellerҀs certified MBA or Online MBA Course can pursue four-course concentration in the following areas: Accounting, Electronic Commerce Management, Finance, General Management, Health Services, Hospitality Management, Human Resources, Information Security, International Business, Marketing, Network and Communications Management, Project Management, Public Administration and Security Management.

Financing of KellerҀs Online MBA Course
Keller offers few payment options to assist MBA students finance their MBA programs. The followings are the payment options available to MBA students who are pursuing their Online MBA Course at Keller:

Installment Plan
MBA students pay at least half of their tuition charges for the session on or before the registration day. The balance are paid on week four of the session.

Tuition Reimbursement
This options apply to MBA students who receive tuition reimbursement from their employers. A direct billing arrangement between the employer and DeVry University is possible.

Delayed Deferral Plan
This option is available to MBA students who is receiving tuition reimbursement from their employer. This plan allows MBA students to pay the fees five weeks after completing the session.

You may wish to read more on How to Finance Your Online MBA Course.

Admission Criteria
Applicants for the certified MBA program must hold a baccalaureate degree to be admitted to DeVry UniversityҀs Keller Graduate School of Management.
Applicants who meet baccalaureate degree requirements and whose undergraduate cumulative grade point average (CGPA) is 2.70 or higher are eligible for admission. Such applicants need not complete the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) or the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).

Applicants who meet baccalaureate degree requirements and whose undergraduate CGPA is below 2.70 must also achieve acceptable scores on the GMAT, GRE, or the Keller-administered admission test. The Keller-administered test may be completed, by appointment, wherever the University's graduate programs are offered or through School's Assessment Center. Admission test scores are valid up to five years from the date tests are completed.

Prerequisite Skills Requirements
All applicants must demonstrate quantitative and verbal skills proficiency to be admitted. Proficiency can be demonstrated by submitting acceptable GMAT, GRE or Keller-administered test scores, or through prior coursework performance.

Hence, if your are considering of doing an MBA from one of the best online MBA programs in the US, do consider Keller's Online MBA. For the latest information on KellerҀs Online MBA Course, please visit their website.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Schools as Consumerist Gulags

The Chicago Tribune reported the other day that a local 12-year old won a car for perfect school attendance in the past year. Aside from the absurdity of giving a car to someone not old enough to get into a PG-13 movie, there's also the insanity of rewarding students for simply showing up, not only with cars, but also with iPods, computers, and other game show prizes. But it's also the logical extension of an increasingly commercialized school culture, with students as captives programmed to be better consumers and contestants, not better or more educated citizens.

Chris Whittle began the process in earnest with Channel One, the program that gave schools new media equipment in exchange for forcing their students to watch commercial-laden "news" programs at the beginning of each day. The schools, starved for the equipment, thankfully agreed, figuring that a few minutes of Lucky Charms wouldn't hurt. But it turned out to be the camel's nose under the tent: Now we have schools (including colleges, making the line of continuity complete) with exclusive contracts with Pepsi or Coke, scoreboards funded by companies, and big ads and electronic boards in hallways extolling the "virtues" of this or that product.

More insidiously, some textbooks have begun using Oreos and other products as part of math and other exercises. Students, surrounded constantly by importunities to buy outside of school, are now constantly bombarded with similar messages in a space that should be safe from mind control, the kind that knows you have to "reach 'em young" to create brand loyalty. As a result, no matter what schools are actually teaching, they've also become accomplices in the drive to turn students into pure consumers and celebratory narcissists.

So what's wrong with giving a kid, even a 12-year old, a car (or anything else for that matter) for loving school enough to come every single day? Isn't that what we want kids to do? Well, yes and no. In the first place, CPS statistics show that school attendance is already at 91%, so how is this prize going to make a difference? Secondly, although the young lady is a good student, isn't it likely she went to school on several days when she wasn't feeling well, thereby putting others at risk? How do we know if she didn't send other kids home with a cough, destroying their dreams of a car for themselves? Third, if a reward must be awarded, shouldn't it fit the effort, just as the punishment should fit the crime? A gift certificate, maybe, or, if you want to spend the money anyway, what about something that doesn't depreciate the minute it's possessed, like, oh, a college scholarship fund? Not glamorous, and definitely not what consumers want to see.

Finally and perhaps most destructive, though, is the way that a prize like this ends up chipping away at the behavior it's designed to reward. In his book Punished by Rewards, Alfie Kohn makes a persuasive case against rewards far less odious than a car for perfect attendance. He writes, "A reward, by definition, is a desired object or event made conditional on having fulfilled some criterion: only if you do this will you get that." So there is an element of coercion even as the reward is presented. Furthermore, rewards can evolve into an inversion of their intent: Students end up saying, "I won't come to school regularly UNLESS I get a car/vacation/ iPod" and so on. The actual value of coming to school and doing well is overshadowed by the prize and what should be most important--the trip--becomes just an impediment to getting the prize.

Kohn writes that "Rewards are not actually solutions at all; they are gimmicks, shortcuts, quick fixes that mask problems and ignore reasons. They never look below the surface." Later, he writes, "Our objective is not really to succeed at the task at all (in the sense of doing it well); it is to succeed at obtaining the reward." So giving a kid a car or a vacation or an iPod doesn't really have any short or long term value except to glorify consumption at the expense of education. Going to school becomes simply the obstacle to a reward, not a reward in itself. Turning them into contestants won't make them good students or good citizens; it will simply test their ingenuity as they try to figure out how to get the most reward for the least effort. (This is not a criticism of students; it's something we all have the capacity for.) Summarizing his chapter "The Trouble with Carrots," Kohn writes: "Do rewards motivate people? Absolutely. They motivate people to get rewards."

After a lifetime of imprisonment in a system that is no longer truly publicly supported but instead is "sponsored" by corporate interests, can we wonder why our children come out of the system focused on easy acquisition and endless consumption instead of rational choice and intelligent participation? When even colleges and universities have adopted "branding" as a way to make themselves heard, we can't be too surprised that traditional avenues of civic participation and community loyalty have fallen by the wayside. When we're taught to love a car or a shampoo more than another person, is it any wonder that those released from their long indoctrination have trouble making friends in person or creating fulfilling lives? Unless they have something to buy or consume, there's no other reason for being, is there?

Friday, June 20, 2008

Doonesbury Said It First

A few years ago, Doonesbury ran a series where Walden College strove to top the U.S. News and World Report "Best Colleges" list by not accepting any of its applicants. Since it had the most exclusive acceptance rate as a result, it shot up the list and reaped the reward of having even more students want to apply.

I sometimes suspect that the Ivies and other mega-competitive colleges and universities are headed for the same zero percent admission: Every year, the acceptance rates go down, from 12 to 9 to 7 percent and who knows what's next. It's like looking at an asymptote, heading for zero. It seems to have become a perverse mark of excellence that a college or university can brag about how many students it doesn't take while at the same time sheepishly letting future prospects know that they could have filled their freshman class many times over with the high quality applicants who were ultimately shown the trap door.

And every year I wonder what the point of all that is. The competition among colleges for numbers rather than quality and appropriateness builds unabated, with everyone trying for that magical 0%. It would be so amazing--the most exclusive college in the country!!!

What's also amazing is how no one on the application side seems discouraged by those numbers. Many of my former advisees would scoff at the competitiveness, assuming that they would be among that 7, no 6, no, maybe 5%. Everyone, especially the enormously pampered and privileged, thinks that. Parents often even moreso. The lure of the club with the velvet rope and the enormous bouncer with a suspicious bulge under his left armpit continues to transfix and entrap the "bridge and tunnel" crowd, to borrow from New York City's contemptuous name for those from New Jersey and Long Island, the ones who dress up but can't disguise their essential inferiority and non-elite status. Even if they've got it, they somehow didn't get on the list. "But we know the owner!" you say. "Too bad," says Bruno, "Take a hike."

Although I never advised a student NOT to apply to the 0% club, I used to refer to the low acceptance rate as a way to inject some reality into the conversation. It almost never worked. Even at 7%, students would still think they had a fighting chance, and their parents would criticize me (sometimes to my face, but more often behind my back) for being too "negative." Well, what would a positive spin on that be? I floundered until I read a medical study that found that patients who were told they had a 10% chance of coming through an operation OK would nearly always take the chance, while those told they had a 90% chance of having something go wrong almost always passed up the opportunity.

So I changed my tactics and told kids and parents that Ivy U. had a 93% rejection rate. I can't say it worked in every case, but I did detect some sobered looks and a willingness to widen the list in more than a few instances. They still thought I was being negative, but I figured reality was better than fantasy, or at least that it was my responsibility to be realistic and not feed the fantasy. (Again, that often didn't go down well with my over-educated, under-socialized parents, who couldn't fathom that their sweethearts would be turned down by anyone.)
Now that U.S. News has deflated the importance of the acceptance rate, perhaps colleges could let up a little, not in the sense of letting more kids in (although kudos to Yale for actually planning to do just that) but perhaps by not encouraging everyone to apply no matter what the actual probability of their being accepted is. If you have a 7% acceptance rate, do you really need to keep telling kids to go ahead and apply if they have dismal grades and scores but a great backhand? Or nothing much? Are you really aiming for 5% or less? It just distorts your own reality. And where's the harm in letting an obviously unprepared student know well ahead of time that he or she might want to try another school?

A forty percent acceptance rate seems to me like a good low end figure for most colleges. Let students select themselves out more as the University of Chicago has encouraged for years by challenging students to write essays in response to wonderfully crazy essay topics. The students stopped by those essays are clearly not U of C material. The same goes for schools like St. John's, who aren't afraid to say that if you don't like the "Great Books" format, then don't apply. If colleges let students know more in advance that maybe your institution isn't for them, see if you're not happier around May 1 when the students you've chosen are more likely to have also chosen you and not hedged their bets at ten other schools. The "courtship" phase could be more reality-based instead of fantasy-based, and Walden College could return to its former comfortable obscurity.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Kelley Direct Online MBA Course Review

This article is a review of Kelley Direct Online MBA Course. Many potential students who are considering of pursuing an Online MBA Course would have heard about Kelley Direct. Kelly Direct has made a certified MBA from the world-renowned Indiana UniversityҀs Kelley School of Business available to working professionals for almost one decade now, and this makes them one of the best online MBA programs available.

In offering an Online MBA Course, Kelly Direct had partnership program with other corporation and schools. Kelly Direct also offer dual degree programs as follows: Thunderbird M-GM / MBA Online course, Michigan ME / MBA Online course, Purdue MSE / MBA Online course and Purdue MS online in Food and Agribusiness Management / MBA Online course.

Kelley DirectҀs partnership with outstanding companies created customized programs such as the Cummins International MBA Online course, General Motors MBA Online course, Ingersoll Rand MBA Online course, John Deere MBA online course and LOGTECH MBA online course.

Kelley DirectҀs Online MBA Course

Pursuing a certified MBA course from one of the best online MBA programs definitely opens the door to a great career and salary. Working professionals now has the opportunity to pursue a certified MBA at their own time and pace by pursuing an Online MBA Course from Kelley School of Business, while continuing their career.

The focus of the Kelley Direct Online MBA Course is general business administration and covers topic such as business ethics, economics, marketing, finance, operations, information technology, and project management. Students can also take 9 hours of electives to tailor the program toward their career goals.

Kelley Direct Online MBA Course can be completed in as little as two years or as many as five, thus providing MBA students with the most flexibility.

The following is the list of the Online MBA core courses and electives offered by Kelley Direct Online MBA Course. Some partnership programs with corporation may differ slightly.

The core subjects of the Kelley Direct Online MBA Course are:

Organisational Development and Change

An effective business executives need to use every tool at their disposal to create and maintain an effective and adaptable organisation. Kelley Direct Online MBA Course recognise the primary role of senior management today to design, build and operate organisations that function effectively. What does this means? This means recognising that the organisation is in a constant state of change.

Managing Human Resources in a Global Environment

This subject from Kelley Direct Online MBA Course introduces MBA students to key issues, practices, and principles that help business organisations to manage their human resources effectively.

Employment Law for Human Resource Practices - Last Offering Spring 2008

This subject from Kelley Direct Online MBA Course is designed to introduce and analyse human resources management using employment life cycle interwined with the legal environment.

Quantitative Analysis

Any certified MBA program would consider quantitative analysis an important subject of the MBA. This subject from the Kelley Direct Online MBA Course covers probabilistic decision making, regression analysis, forecasting and other quantitative methods.

Managing Accounting Information for Decision-Making

Accounting in a certified MBA does not cover in details on book-keeping accounting. Rather, its emphasis is on training MBA students to use accounting information in decision-making. Kelley Direct Online MBA CourseҀs Accounting emphasise on financial accounting and reporting and cost-benefit analysis for evaluating he potential-added results from planning, organising and controlling a firmҀs accouting information.

Information Technology for Managers

Kelley Direct Online MBA Course offer this subject to enable MBA students to study of information system management issues.

Economics for Managers

This MBA subject covers economic decision making in the business firm, the strategic interaction of business firm in industries, etc.

Other core subjects offered by the Kelley Direct Online MBA includes:

  • Market Power Pricing
  • Financial Management
  • Advance Topics in Finance
  • Financial Analysis and Firm Valuation
  • Law and Ethics in Business
  • Strategic Management and Business Planning
  • The United States in a Global Economy
  • Developing Strategic Capabilities
  • Integrative Capstone Course
  • Global Electronic Commerce
  • Thinking Strategically: Game Theory and Business Strategy
  • Strategic Cost Management
  • Strategic Marketing Management
  • Marketing Strategy Simulation
  • Applied Marketing Research
  • Operations Management

Kelley Direct Online MBA Course also offers a number of other subjects, and readers are advised to check out for themselves.

Admission Criteria for Kelley Direct Online MBA Course

Kelley Direct programs which is under Indiana University are highly selective in choosing potential students into their best online MBA programs. Kelley prefers students whose academic background, work experience, leadership abilities and communication skills meet the demands of the Online MBA Course.

As an understanding of analytical thinking and quantitative tools are important for the success of any certified MBA program, Kelley Direct expect its MBA students to be proficient in algebra and comfortable with the use of spreadsheets.

MBA students are also expected to have the basic internet, e-mail and computer user skills.

Kelley Direct Online MBA Course - Tuition and Fees

Kelley Direct tuition will be $945/credit hour for the 2008-09 academic year; tuition is subject to change every academic year.. In addition to tuition, MSSM students are assessed a one-time program fee of $600 when they register for U710. Public MBA, MSF, and MSGSCM students are assessed a $300/billing term program fee; there are three billing terms in the University billing cycle. Program fees cover the following programmatic activities and initiatives: the KD Speaker Forum, Kelley Direct Alumni Directory development, Women in Business, Student Advisory Board, networking events held quarterly throughout the country, and in-residence (lodging, meals, hospitality, computer lab assessments).

University technology fees are assessed each billing term according to the number of credits in which a student is enrolled. The fees range from $91.20 (six credits) to $186.90 (anything greater than six credits).

Course Materials:

Course materials such as textbooks, coursepaks, and journals/publications are required for each course. The average cost for course materials per course in Fall 2005 was $85.00.

For more information on Kelley Direct Online MBA Course, potential students are advised to visit their web-site. If you like to read about MBA Ranking 2008, please visit the link. And if you wonders how much MBA Salary earned by an MBA graduate, please visit the link and read for yourself.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Successful Victimology

Two years ago, a student named Jian Li was rejected at Princeton, Harvard, and MIT despite stellar grades, scores, and so on. He was accepted at Yale and Cal Tech, and matriculated at Yale. But for what he says were "kind of arbitrary" reasons, he decided to sue Princeton for racial discrimination, claiming that it rejected him because he's Asian American.

Well, boo-hoo, Mr. Li. First of all, what harm have you suffered? In your own mind, perhaps you saw yourself as a Tiger and not an Eli, but that's not relevant. You claim to want to make the case for Asian Americans, but if you look at the Ivies' acceptance rates (7.2% this past year) you'll realize that everyone is "discriminated against" no matter what their makeup or grades and scores.

This is old news now, I guess, but it reminds me of the U of Michigan cases and others where students sue because they aren't accepted, basing their cases on anti-discrimination principles. But that's what college and graduate school admission is, isn't it? It's all about discrimination, if you remember to think of its basic meaning of making distinctions among many choices. And it's not the same thing as the nasty discrimination that has surrounded county clubs, board rooms and so on in ways that prevent certain groups, despite their demonstrated talents, from participating fully in society. If you don't get into Princeton and "have to" go to Yale, is that harmful?

Having been on the admission side of things at a highly competitive college, I know that admission committees bend over backwards to consider every aspect of students' lives when they apply. Unlike the bad old days of Ivy admission that Jerome Karabel describes in "The Chosen," no one sits around and worries that Jews, or balcks, or Asians are "taking over" from "decent" white kids. Just the opposite.

So Mr. Li, it seems to me, conducted a high-profile, high-gloss form of pouting, clothing it in the mantle of fighting against discrimination. By his own admission what he did was arbitrary, so what's the point? And since he wasn't really harmed in any way, he doesn't have a case. I hope by now he's accepted his fate at Yale and will be a faithful Eli in the coming years. Or will he visit Princeton occasionally to moon over the ivied walls of Nassau Hall and, Dickens-like, sit just outside the gates of the University wanting more?

Thursday, June 12, 2008

How Much is the MBA Salary of Graduate

When considering an Online MBA Course or a Certified MBA program, one question that most MBA students would ask is the MBA salary or salaries of graduates. That is also the reason why the Financial Times (FT) used the total weights of 40% assigned to MBA salary of graduate when they calculate top MBA rankings of business schools.

So, how much is the MBA salary that a graduate of an Online MBA Course or certified MBA program get? Or rather, if you are a potential Online MBA Course student (which is likely the case), how much MBA salary do you hope to get?

As the MBA salary of graduates from an Online MBA Course or certified MBA programs also depends on a number of other criteria such as the total years of experience that the MBA graduate has, there are few criteria which you may want to consider to evaluate the MBA salary and the worth of the Online MBA Course that you intend to pursue. Perhaps a fairer way of evaluating the MBA salary is also to look at the percentage increase to the salary of the MBA graduate.

You should also understand that an Online MBA Course from a branded school is also likely to give you a higher potential to earn high MBA salary. However, the investment in the certified MBA or Online MBA Course offered by these business schools is also higher. Hence, MBA graduates from different business school will get a different MBA salary.

The economic outlook at the time of the MBA graduating also is an important factor. Take for example, MBA graduates from the University of GeorgiaҀs Terry College of Business. Officials there had reported that the salaries of MBA graduate had soared by a 17.4 percent increase.

The followings are a tabulation of MBA salaries by geography in the year 1997:


Geography Percentage Salary Average SalaryRange
International 7% $71,667 $55,000-85,000
Mid-Atlantic 8% $78,000 $60,000-90,000
Midwest 62% $80,268 $52,000-110,000
Northeast 9% $77,417 $67,500-87,000
South 2% $80,000 $78,000-80,000
West 12% $79,414 $52,500-118,000

Naturally, different industry or MBA specialization, also gets different MBA salary. The followings are a tabulation of MBA salaries by industry and percentage for the year 1997:

Industry Percentage Salary Average Salary Range
Banking 6% $75,000 $55,000-90,000
Consulting 14% $84,583 $67,500-110,000
Consumer Products 19% $78,923 $68,000-87,000
Financial Services 22% $80,500 $52,000-110,000
Manufacturing 15% $78,640 $63,000-100,000
Healthcare 2% $78,000 $71,000-85,000
Technology 5% $86,833 $65,000-118,000
Other 7% $77,750 $52,500-100,000

As we fast-forward to the year 2008, how much has changed for the MBA salaries? The figure looks encouraging and would be a great motivation for those who are currently pursuing their certified MBA program or Online MBA Course.

The following tabulations of MBA salary is extracted from the Financial Times 2008 MBA ranking. These figures are not just limited to Online MBA Course but are a tabulation of all certified MBA programs.

In terms of the weighted MBA salary, the followings are the top 20 MBA schools where their MBA graduates earned the most weighted MBA salaries:

Indian School of Business USD169355
Stanford University GSB USD167225
University of Pennsylvania: Wharton USD165859
Columbia Business School USD165123
Harvard Business School USD162316
MIT: Sloan U.S.A. USD155160
Ceibs China USD154144
Dartmouth College: Tuck U.S.A. USD151673
IMD Switzerland USD150775
University of Chicago GSB U.S.A. USD148978
University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business South Africa USD148975
Insead France / Singapore USD146878
London Business School U.K. USD144918
UCLA: Anderson U.S.A. USD140058
University of Oxford: Sad U.K. USD139684
New York University: Stern U.S.A. USD137548
Yale School of Management U.S.A. USD136318
Northwestern University: Kellogg USD135646
Cranfield School of Management USD134125
UC Berkeley: Haas U.S.A. USD131830

As what was mentioned in the first part of this article, as the MBA salary of a graduate from Online MBA Course or certified MBA program is affected by many factors, another important indication to the worth of the MBA programs is looking at the percentage increases of the MBA salary.

The followings are the top 20 MBA schools where their MBA graduates had the highest percentage increase of post-MBA salaries:


Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China - 177%
IE Business School Spain - 158%
Ceibs China - 157%
Ipade Mexico - 145%
Columbia Business School U.S.A. - 144%
Iese Business School Spain - 144%
University of Strathclyde Business School U.K. - 143%
Yale School of Management U.S.A. - 140%
MIT: Sloan U.S.A. - 133%
University of Pennsylvania: Wharton U.S.A. - 132%
University of Cambridge: Judge U.K. - 130%
Emory University: Goizueta U.S.A. - 130%
University of Iowa: Tippie U.S.A. - 130%
Indian School of Business India - 129%
University of Chicago GSB U.S.A. - 128%
New York University: Stern U.S.A. - 128%
Lancaster University Management School U.K. - 127%
London Business School U.K. - 126%
HEC Paris France - 126%
Esade Business School Spain - 126%

The tabulation shows that within 3 year of graduating from a certified MBA program or Online MBA Course, an MBA graduate could expect a salary increase of 100 percent compared to their salaries before they pursue the MBA.

Does this give you enough reason to consider pursuing an MBA? Salaries aside, there are many other considerations such as the initial financial investment and the time commitment. Financing your MBA is a heavy commitment. So is the time commitment. However, you now have the option of getting your certified MBA by pursuing an Online MBA Course instead.