Capella University Online MBA Review
Online College Degrees Leading to an MBA Via the Internet
Capella University is an online university that offers adult learners an online MBA degree from an accredited distance learning university.Capella University is one of several online colleges in the US and has one of the more interesting stories concerning its founding. Stephen Shank, the former CEO of Tonka (of Tonka Toys fame) believed that adults were not being adequately served by traditional universities and subsequently underwrote the school that would become Capella. Don't hurry to hire a tutor to say - help me write my college essay. Read till the end, then try to write my essay online.
Capella University, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota is accredited by the North Central Association Higher Learning Commission. Capella University offers more than an online MBA degree as it offers numerous other online masters degrees. Additionally, it has a relatively small undergraduate program by an extensive PhD and other doctoral programs that have an enrollment almost as large as their master’s programs.
Requirements for Online MBA Degree
Capella University’s online MBA program is much like other more traditional MBA programs except that it is offered online via the internet. In order to meet the requirements for graduation the student will need to complete 15 courses and each course is 3 semester hours for a total of 45 semester hours. Of these, 9 courses or 27 semester hours are considered the core MBA courses. The core set of 9 courses have the following titles: Professional Effectiveness, Leading for Results, Marketing and Brand Management, Operations and Process Management, Applied Managerial Statistics, Accounting, Financial Management, Managing Information Assets and Technology and Strategy.
There are an additional 6 course or 18 semester hours in several specializations. In order to graduate, a student must complete all 15 courses. The specializations available include: Accounting, Finance, General Business Administration, Global Operations and Supply Chain Management, Marketing and Project Management. Most of these specializations have their own core set of 4 courses with a student option of 2 electives to select depending on the student’s interest.
Tuition and Military Discount
Capella University requires a $75 application fee for the MBA degree and the cost of tuition is only $655 per semester hour as recently as March 1, 2010 so each course costs $1965. This brings the cost of a fully accredited online MBA degree for a $29,475 at which time the student will need to pay a $350 graduation fee. The total of tuition and fees may seem expensive but according to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), an MBA on the resume adds $10,000 to $15,000 to the starting annual salary.
Capella University has a very straight forward military discount program. Active duty and military veterans get a 15 percent discount on tuition for undergraduate programs and a 10 percent discount on all graduate programs. For those veterans using the GI Bill taking two courses per term meets the requirement for full time attendance and entitlement to educational benefits from the Veterans Administration of $1368 for a single veteran. Each Semester, the two courses are split up into 2 six week sessions so a student actually takes 1 course at a time but it is at an accelerated rate.
For those veterans who are eligible for either the Montgomery GI Bill or the Post 9/11 GI Bill, the post 9/11 GI Bill is not recommended as it will only pay the cost of tuition and not the housing allowance due to Capella University being a distance learning program. Capella University does participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program and this can make the program affordable to veterans who do use the Post 9/11 GI Bill.
Part Time Faculty
As a “for profit” university, Capella, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange as CPLA, has 1300 employees at its headquarters in Minneapolis and more than 1200 faculty members throughout the United States and 7 foreign countries. Over 80 percent of the faculty has a PhD and 51 percent are women. Most of the faculty members are adjunct faculty but those who teach PhD courses travel to Minneapolis for the required residency sessions that all PhD students must attend.
Overall Assessment of University of Phoenix Online Degree MBA
Overall the Capella University MBA degree is a challenging but achievable MBA. The Capella degree is well respected and for those graduates who move on to the PhD program in business they will find that the doors to academia are welcoming and open. While it may not be as well known as some other online degree programs it is still a very viable degree and will provide the graduate with the desired credentials. Pursuing a specialization enables the student to target the job search to a particular area in the professional area desired.
The cost of Capella University is high but the rewards in professional compensation are also significant and should be weighed by the individual student. Like most online students, there will likely be limited opportunity to build relationship or participate in internships. According to the custom essay writing service, this aspect is mitigated in many cases as the students are already working professionals and need an MBA to take them to the next level of their professional development.