Finding Schools Offering Accredited Distance Learning MBAs
Getting an online Master's Degree is not cheap. You are still looking at shelling out thousands of dollars, even if you can get financial aid. If you are thinking of going through all of the time and expense of getting a distance learning MBA, you better make sure that the school offering the course is accredited. If it's not accredited, then your distance learning MBA will not even be worth the paper it's printed on.
Not All Schools Are Alike
If you found out your child got a scholarship to "Whatsamatter U", you probably would not be nearly as excited as if your child got a scholarship to Harvard. Why is that? Because Harvard is a prestigious school with a recognizable name brand. Harvard graduates include politicians, lawyers and even Presidents.
In contrast, "Whatsamatter U" is a complete unknown in educational quality. It's also the name of the University that Bullwinkle the Moose graduated from. Put yourself in your employer's shoes. If you had two candidates for a job - one with a Harvard degree and the other an MBA from a distance learning graduate school with a name you never heard of before, who would you hire?
Signs Of Quality
A quality distance learning graduate school will have several factors that a poor quality distance learning school won't. First off, take a good look at the name of the school offering the distance learning MBA course. It should not contain words like "correspondence", "online" or "virtual". These are not illegal words to use, but they will mark your MBA as inferior in the eyes of potential employers.
You also need to check with your country's Department of Education to see if the distance learning MBA course has really been accredited. For example, in America, you would check with the US Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
Don't just take the school's word for it that they offer accredited courses. Be sure to actually check their claims, so you don't become a victim of fraud. Also, if the school's name sounds really similar but is not an exact match to an accredited distance learning MBA course offered by another college, then that's a big warning that something peculiar is going on.
Also, do a lot of comparison shopping just like you would for any other major purchase like a home or a car before you commit to an online MBA program. This may save you a lot of headaches and a lot of money.
