I just completed my first two classes through Colorado Tech online towards a BS in Business Administration; however, I do have a couple of concerns.  My main concern is that the curriculum does not include statistics, business calculus, microeconomics or macroeconomics.  I would have figured these courses to be present in any business administration degree program.  Colorado Tech does include a course in international economics but is that a "qualifying enough" economics course in a business program?  Nonetheless, it's the lack of a requirement for a statistics class that really seems odd to me.  I'm wondering if completing my degree through Colorado Tech would be worth it or if I should switch schools before I become too invested.  I'd appreciate any advice.   

My brother attended and earned a BSBA from Colorado Tech however his employer paid 100% of his tuition.  So it was worth it to him.  As whether or not it is to you is purely subjective. 

That being said watch out for those "hidden" statistics courses.  For example in the Ashford MBA program there is not a "statistics" course per se, but instead there is MBA Essentials and Managerial Economics which will sneak up on you and pound you into submission with statistical work and applied management theory.  I really wasn't expecting that. 

Some other courses  that  hide statistics work  are "strategic management" (which I think is where my brother said Colorado Tech put theirs) or  anything having to do with strategy, risk analysis, etc.  So watch out, just because it doesn't spell out statistics does not mean there isn't any statistics work in the program. 

As far as being a quality school, they are expensive but otherwise a good school from what I have heard. 

Good point, it may be hidden in another course not specifically titled statistics.  My main concern is that more than likely I will pursue graduate school and am concerned about how the transcript might look to a prospective college.  As far as the cost of tuition, it is indeed high; however, between the GI bill and my employer my tuition is more than covered.  Interestingly enough, the cost of books are actually included in the tuition price which helps.  Unfortunatley, the real bargain schools like Ft Hays and Peru State do not meet the requirements for tuition reimbursement from my employer.  My employer requires either AACSB accreditation or ABET accreditation.  Don't ask me why ABET matters to a business program, but CTU has that accreditation so they are approved for reimbursement.  Thank you for the response, Cajun.        

So long as you do reasonably well on the GMAT and have a good GPA you ought to be okay for graduate school.

-=Steve=- 

I think I know who your employer might be.  That being said, I wouldn't hesitate to take a "free" degree from them.  As far as grad school goes, being regionally accredited goes a long way.  Some other things to be more concerned with than the lack of statistics would be your GPA and if applicable GMAT or GRE scores.

Cajun, if you guessed that I worked for Lockheed Martin you would be correct.  I agree with you both that a high GPA and high GMAT or GRE scores are of great importance when applying to grad school; however, I'm concerned about the transferability of courses.  For example, right now it seems most likely that I would pursue an MBA, and it would seem like a waste of time to have a undergrad degree in business but then have to take prerequisite courses.  Granted, I don't know if this would actually happen and I'm sure the likelihood would vary by institution.       

Lockheed has the strangest education policy.  I'm amazed you employees don't challenge it.

Anyhow, I do not forsee you needing to take any prerequisite courses to get into an MBA program with a BSBA from CCU.  I would be very surprised to see that but I guess it depends on the MBA program you are interested in.  Which schools are you currently looking at for the MBA?

The written education policy for LM makes a little more sense than how it is implememted.  As it is written, AACSB is required for business courses and ABET for IT.  It does still make for a picky education policy, but at least it makes some sense.  However, the implementation of the education program is actually contracted out to another company whose name escapes me right now.  It seems the way the contractor approves an institution is by seeing whether the instituition has AACSB or ABET accreditation, regardless of the program of study.  I agree with you that LM does have a strange education policy, but the good thing is that the company is supportive of education and has a fairly generous reimbursement policy. 

 I haven't really narrowed down the schools I am looking at yet for an MBA, but a tentative list of some are: Penn St, Drexel, Wisconsin, Colorado St, UMass, and Scranton.  Both Penn St and Drexel are a little more on the pricey side though.  I'd like to find a happy median between a school with a recognized name and one that won't put me in debt.  UW seems to have the best value to name recognition ratio of the schools I've listed.  This is all still about two years away, so I'll have time to determine exactly what I want in a program and what the most acceptable price range would be.  As it stands now, any total cost under $30k would not involve anything out of pocket for me.                

I'm not sure which LM you work at, but it is my understanding that some of them have educational partnerships with local universities to teach MBA classes on site.  For instance SMU may teach at a north texas location on site at the work facility itself.  Have you explored this option?  If you don't mind me asking that is.

Interesting, I wasn't aware LM had a program like that.  I actually work in Virginia at one of the smaller facilities, so no program like the one you mention exists here.  I've decided to complete my undergrad through CTU and then I'll see what's next.  Thanks for all the advice. 

I'm glad I could help.  You could do a lot worse than CTU...keep us posted on your progress.

KH, I also work for LM and was looking into CTU.  I have the same concern you do/did, as that's how I found this thread.  Have you done any research to see if the degree is accepted by other institutions?  I've been debating back and forth between CTU and DeVry.  Leaning more towards CTU, but if it's not recognized by other colleges, I might rethink the situation.

oldskool:

KH, I also work for LM and was looking into CTU.  I have the same concern you do/did, as that's how I found this thread.  Have you done any research to see if the degree is accepted by other institutions?  I've been debating back and forth between CTU and DeVry.  Leaning more towards CTU, but if it's not recognized by other colleges, I might rethink the situation.

I don't expect that most employers will see a significant difference in legitimacy between DeVry and CTU.  They're both regionally accredited proprietary institutions.

-=Steve=-

Thanks for the reply.  I'm not too concerned with employer recognition, as of right now.  My company approves of both so I'm OK there as long as I stay with them.  My concern is that I might have problems taking my BS from CTU to say...UF to pursue an MBA.

 A friend of mine didn't have any problems taking his BS from University of Phoenix to FSU for his MBA, so that might be a glimmer of hope.  He did mention that some prospective employers didn't think much of the online degree.  He mentioned there were also some others that thought very highly of them.  One of them being a part-time professor for a masters program.

oldskool:

Thanks for the reply.  I'm not too concerned with employer recognition, as of right now.  My company approves of both so I'm OK there as long as I stay with them.  My concern is that I might have problems taking my BS from CTU to say...UF to pursue an MBA.

Florida's a good school, but even so I expect that your GPA, GMAT scores, and Statement of Purpose will be significantly more important than the name of your undergraduate school.

A friend of mine didn't have any problems taking his BS from University of Phoenix to FSU for his MBA, so that might be a glimmer of hope.  He did mention that some prospective employers didn't think much of the online degree.  He mentioned there were also some others that thought very highly of them.  One of them being a part-time professor for a masters program.

Many employers talk about "online" degrees and don't even know what that means.  They often really mean schools with obtrusive marketing, regardless of whether the degree was earned online or on campus.  For example, the University of Phoenix has more students on its campuses than online, but often is erroneously referred to as an "online" school.

-=Steve=-