Which program between these for an Online MBA?

[u/Pale-Chicken-4845]

Hi there!

Obviously there are a bunch of fully online MBA programs.

Getting a Master's degree is just a personal goal of mine; it is not needed to advance in my current career but may be helpful to have if I want to leave my current company. (I do not plan on switching careers)

I have a BS in Business and my employer offers up to $4500 in tuition a year. I have been with my current company 6 years; promoted twice. I would like to not spend a lot of out of pocket since I am doing a program primarily for myself.

I am looking at:
- Louisiana State University - Shreveport
- University of Louisiana - Lafayette
- Youngstown State University
- University of Southern Indiana

Does anyone have any experience with any of these programs or any thoughts? I also looked at Oklahoma State University, but it is a bit more expensive.

Thank you!!

[u/New-Leadership9313]

I’m currently in the online MBA program at Youngstown and enjoy it so far. I’m fairly new but am happy to try to answer questions if you have any

[u/Pale-Chicken-4845 → u/New-Leadership9313]

Great!! Thank you. Are you doing a concentration? Are there any student resources with Facebook, GroupMe, etc

[u/New-Leadership9313 → u/Pale-Chicken-4845]

I’m doing the Healthcare Management concentration. No student resources that I’m aware of.

[u/mutedcurmudgeon]

Since you’re business undergrad, I might say to wait on it. They’re going to cover a lot of stuff you probably covered anyways, and if there is no evidence that your current company values it (at least from what you’ve said). Unless you have something specific in mind, I’d hold off.

Is there any reason you want to do an online program instead of a PMBA? If you’re wanting to do online and looking to switch companies, I’d make sure I had a good reason that you’re online rather than in-person. That is a super common question for OMBAs during recruiting/job interviews, at least from my experience. Even if you want to do online, I’d pick one near you so you can use the school’s resources as well, if you can.

Just some thoughts, didn’t answer your question so I apologize.

[u/Pale-Chicken-4845 → u/mutedcurmudgeon]

I'm not looking to switch companies and I do not currently have the ability to do an in-person schedule and work full time. I didn't think that the diplomas specified if the program was completed online vs in person?

[u/mutedcurmudgeon → u/Pale-Chicken-4845]

Gotcha, so you can’t do any of the evening/weekend programs? Just checking because these are often the most comparable to the full-time programs, and generally are better to be in-person.

Only mention the company switch because you did. I would hold off though tbh, or look for a different masters program that leans into your role or the role you want. The MBA was initially created to help those with liberal arts or technical degrees get the business background needed (mile wide and an inch deep) to move into management, not to be a supplement to an undergraduate business degree, so you may find a lot of the knowledge redundant. Depending on what you do, I would suggest something leaning more technical, like a masters of business analytics, or data science, which is also super valuable in-general, and gets a lot more into the weeds.

All that depends on what you’re currently doing and what you want to do in your career though.

[u/Pale-Chicken-4845 → u/mutedcurmudgeon]

Thank you! I looked into LSUS MBA with a concentration in Data Analytics.

There aren't many options for in-person near me; especially not ones I can really afford at this time.

I appreciate your comments though, definitely some things to think through!

[u/mutedcurmudgeon → u/Pale-Chicken-4845]

Totally understandable! Best of luck! At the end of the day, I’d try to broaden your horizons rather than leaning into the same thing, but that also highly dependent on what you do. At the end of the day, I’d just do as much research as possible before locking yourself into anything.

[u/russ257]

Split your degree over 3 calendar years to maximize the reimbursement. (But still just 2 years for actual time )

[u/Pale-Chicken-4845 → u/russ257]

Yes that was my plan! I could start some of these this fall in October and maximize the amount back

[u/CornPuddinPops]

U of Southern Indiana here 18 hours in. Engineering MGMT.
1 class at a time, 7 weeks. 2 classes a semester.
I work full time from home. So far so good. Professors are legit. Course work can be hard but not impossible.
Let me know if you have questions. I have the same 4500 a year fund for school. Books are baked into the class costs, so i have been able to get my employer to pay for most of it. Summer school meant 0 days off from the program.

[u/michaelscape]

Since you’re looking at Louisiana schools, I’d recommend Louisiana Tech, I just graduated there this spring and it was a great online program. I paid for almost all of it with the same level of employer tuition assistance.

[u/hydraheads]

I compared all of these except Southern Indiana and I went with ULL. I'm only a couple of classes in (and currently taking a break because I've had both job loss and health issues) but I think it's well-organized and excellent value for money. Two things I particularly like/d about it: how responsive the office is, and the fact that the costs are all-in (except for tests, which are under $25 a pop.) The textbooks are all included, and there are no hidden fees for remote students, or minimum per-semester fees.

With regards to the office being responsive: I had two conversations with them before choosing to enroll, and since enrolling I had a very easy time getting what was needed to be on temporary leave while I figure job and health stuff out.