About Gert Potgieter Expertise Undergraduate and graduate degrees by distance learning through universities based in the U.S. as well as in other countries (such as South Africa, U.K., Australia, Canada). How to pick a legitimate program and avoid the scams. Accreditation -- what it means and why it`s important.
Experience I have completed courses by distance education from institutions on three different continents. I am an adjunct professor in the online graduate program at a major state university in the U.S.
Publications Author or co-author of 37 scientific publications. (None of them about distance education, though.)
Education/Credentials BSc South Africa; MS, PhD Stanford University; MSc Birkbeck College, University of London (in progress, distance education); MProfComp University of Southern Queensland (in progress, distance education).
I found a list of schools on:www.europe.businessweek.com/bschools/
who offer this program online.
HOW SHOULD i choose between them?(best programs, accreditation, etc...)
My profile: i am an Industrial engineer, 26, starting my own business and i am also looking for a scholarship to pay this distance learning program.
THANK YOU
Answer Claude
Sorry for the delay in responding.
There are many different distance MBA programs that differ in their focus (e.g. some focus on high tech, some on tourism, etc), and differ in their style (e.g. theory versus application), and their mode (e.g. personal study of textbook versus high level of interaction). So your first step should be to pick the type of program that you want. A good starting point would be to look at the discussion at http://www.degree.net/guides/mba_guide.html
You should definitely pick an institution that is accredited-- e.g. regionally accredited in the U.S. or a university that has Royal Charter in the UK, etc. Be careful because there are many bogus accrediting agencies out there. For a discussion of legitimate accreditors, see http://www.degree.net/guides/accreditation.html . In the U.S., it's best to go with a university accredited by one of the regional accrediting agencies.
Some business schools have professional accreditation -- e.g. AACSB in U.S. and AMBA in UK. For people who want to later teach in an MBA program, it may be important to get an AACSB- or AMBA-accredited degree. For someone self-employed its not that important. Many (not all) of the better programs have AACSB or AMBA accreditations. But these accreditors do not look favorably on distance learning, however, so many good distance programs do not have AACSB or AMBA accreditation.
I can't help much with scholarship ideas. Some years ago, John Bear wrote a book entitled "Bear's Guide to Finding Money for College." This book had funding ideas for non-traditional students. You can pick it up for about a dollar at amazon.com or half.com. Although it's dated, it may give you some ideas.
