Online MBAs soaring, but do they make the grade
Filed in archive MBA programs by mstandaert on August 22, 2005
Business Week asks the question - do online MBAs make the grade?
Many of the online MBA programs are well-regarded and offer a way for busy people, such as Bolger, to get advanced education without having to sidetrack a career for a year or two. But, as in many growing fields, cautions abound. Concerns about "diploma mills," or substandard institutions without proper accreditation
that offer degrees with little or no serious work, are growing.
"There are now more fake online MBA programs in the U.S. than real ones," says Vicky Phillips, founder and CEO of GetEducated.com, a Web site that evaluates accredited online degree programs and educates consumers about them. "It's an area that's ripe for consumer fraud."
Diploma mills range from those practising outright deceit -- like St. Regis University, which falsely asserted Liberian government approval and was closed by court order in June, 2005 -- to organizations that require only a modicum of work for a degree, says Alan Contreras, administrator of the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization, a state organization that approves individual degree programs. "In the case of diploma mills, I call the schools 'suppliers' and the degree-holders 'users' because the educational component is often minimal," notes Contreras.
More good analysis here at The Online Degree Blog, and Accepted Admissions Almanac .
Many of the online MBA programs are well-regarded and offer a way for busy people, such as Bolger, to get advanced education without having to sidetrack a career for a year or two. But, as in many growing fields, cautions abound. Concerns about "diploma mills," or substandard institutions without proper accreditation
that offer degrees with little or no serious work, are growing. "There are now more fake online MBA programs in the U.S. than real ones," says Vicky Phillips, founder and CEO of GetEducated.com, a Web site that evaluates accredited online degree programs and educates consumers about them. "It's an area that's ripe for consumer fraud."
Diploma mills range from those practising outright deceit -- like St. Regis University, which falsely asserted Liberian government approval and was closed by court order in June, 2005 -- to organizations that require only a modicum of work for a degree, says Alan Contreras, administrator of the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization, a state organization that approves individual degree programs. "In the case of diploma mills, I call the schools 'suppliers' and the degree-holders 'users' because the educational component is often minimal," notes Contreras.
More good analysis here at The Online Degree Blog, and Accepted Admissions Almanac .
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