I have moved to Fayetteville (I know...mistake #1) since getting out of school with a BS in Management concentrating in Finance. I am thinking about going back to school for a Masters in Accounting or an MBA with an accounting concentration but I have to do it either part-time close to home or online.

Anybody that has done this kind of thing have any suggestions??

10/17/2007 6:52:48 PM

I think you can get a MBA from ECU online

10/17/2007 11:03:10 PM

^^ I've known people that drove from Fayetteville to State and back every day. But if you get in a business or an accounting master's program at State for working adults--and most are probably structured that way--you would likely only have to come one night a week.

It's quite workable.

10/18/2007 2:25:38 AM

Yeah ECU has a 100% online MBA program, I've got a friend doing that and I nearly did it, but ended up moving back near Raleigh so I'm doing Campbell's @ RTP.

I'd probably go the ECU route -- driving back & forth for that long will become a major hassle.

10/18/2007 7:43:03 AM

i honestly couldnt imagine an online mba being worthwhile. a big part of a decent mba program is networking, group work, and group analysis. i cant imagine you would get any of that from an online program.

10/18/2007 8:00:51 AM

^ People used to say the same about telecommuting.

Internet-enabled degrees are in their infancy, but in 10 years they'll be close to commonplace. No need to hate on 'em just because it's not traditional.

10/18/2007 10:09:59 AM

it's not the fact that it's online...it's the fact that you get zero contact with all the other people and businesses involved with getting the degree. I have hundreds of contacts from company presentations, networking events, etc from my two years at school.

not just that, but most business schools are as much as working in project groups, collaboration, etc - so you're losing that aspect of the education too. and it does matter a lot to big companies.

10/18/2007 10:16:40 AM

Quote :

"People used to say the same about telecommuting. "

with telecommuting it is still possible to have contact with other members in a team. unless i don't understand the way the online course works, that team work with other classmates isnt there.

im not knocking online degrees in general....for some majors i think its fine. an mba is not one of those, imo.

Quote :

"not just that, but most business schools are as much as working in project groups, collaboration, etc - so you're losing that aspect of the education too. and it does matter a lot to big companies."

agreed. group projects cotribute to over 50% of the time ive spent on my mba so far.
agreed. so far, id say

[Edited on October 18, 2007 at 10:30 AM. Reason : s]

10/18/2007 10:22:49 AM

Another good option is to see if any schools have a weekend program. Some university's do weekend programs. If you can find a better university that offers this option, it may be worth driving out on the weekends.

Are you planning on staying in Eastern Carolina for a while, or do you intend to move to another part of the state or country? One of the biggest benefit of an MBA is the networking, and if you plan to go back to RTP, you may be better served by an NC State, UNC, or even Duke MBA. ECU will carry a lot of weight regionally and perhaps throughout the state, but if you plan to go out of state, one of the Triangle schools may serve you better.

My two cents.

10/18/2007 11:00:12 AM

I'm in an entirely online engineering masters program right now, and don't feel like I'm losing out on any networking opportunities. There is plenty of interaction with my classmates and professors through message boards, live chats, and group assignments. In some way's I'm getting more out of it than I would in a traditional classroom environment. I'm meeting contacts on an international scale, and there are plenty of people's brains to pick. Some of my coworkers are doing the MBA thing and from what research I've done the program costs and delivery methods are pretty much all over the spectrum. Definately do a good amount of research on delivery methods. My program is 100% online without a direct on campus equivilant, and it is more effective than the videotaped lectures or satellite distance classes I've done. You'd probably be best off finding a program designed for working professionals that combines 1 weekend a month on campus with online content. As someone who is doing full time grad school on top of full time work, it sucks and I recommend against it. Part time is the way to go, and a lot of programs use nontraditional academic schedules to allow faster completion at a part time rate.

10/18/2007 9:17:25 PM

I love my job, contact with clients in only by the phone(most are out of the state) Actually, I dont talk to the clients I talk to the banks that they went to. After three years of this, I have gotten really good at it!

[Edited on October 18, 2007 at 10:41 PM. Reason : w]

10/18/2007 10:40:09 PM

A good bit of my pal's online MBA work requires team work, forum discussion, etc.

And ECU is only hours away from Fayetteville -- the guy could drive to the campus whenever. Plus, I know for a fact that any job opps. for ECU MBAs are emailed out to *ALL* students, so online students can apply just the same.

I'd take an online MBA in a heartbeat over a weekend MBA -- I'm not about to murder 2 years of weekends when I can do things on my time. I'm in a face-to-face part-time program now, but wouldn't hesitate to do it online.

10/18/2007 11:09:53 PM

Campbell is not that far of a drive, however, I would consider a Masters in Trust and Investments, if you are interested in that field. They have classes at RTP and possibly Bragg as well.

10/19/2007 12:45:40 PM

do an evening MBA then. if you want to keep moving upwards, you're going to have to make sacrifices. if you have the grades and the brains to get into a good fulltime program somewhere, you're doing yourself a severe disservice in opting for an online MBA from ECU, not to mention the amount of money you're going to leave on the table. hell, the difference between starting salaries at NCSU MBA are $20k less than where I went (can't find it on ECU's website and they haven't sumbitted any info to mba.com).

and there is a huge difference between a masters in engineering and a MBA in terms of what goes on at those programs.

networking is not even close to being the same thing as getting e-mailed job listings.

10/19/2007 3:13:40 PM

I'm doing an evening MBA from UC-Davis. This quarter I'm going 4 nights a week. It's murder on me but it'll be worth it.

Right now I work from 7am-3pm in my office, have time to go the gym after work and make the 45min-1 hour drive to school every night...

I agree about the group collaborations. Nearly EVERYTHING I do is group project type stuff..

10/19/2007 3:44:18 PM

I'm considering to options, supply chain management (fits what I am doing now to a T) and a Masters of Accounting program (gives me the most flexibility if I leave current company when I get tired of driving an hour to work!...and likely more money in the end).

Anybody done these programs, especially in the evenings at State?

Isn't is kind of difficult to get into State's MAC program?

10/24/2007 3:46:40 PM

Supply Chain MBA from State is relatively lucrative. But it'd take $150k+ to get me to drive 2 hours roundtrip everyday to work.

State's MAC program is very competitive from what I've seen, but it's very well respected if you do graduate.

I'm in Campbell's MBA program that's 1 night per week -- multiple nights per week would suck.

10/24/2007 11:23:58 PM

Quote :

"I'm in an entirely online engineering masters program right now, and don't feel like I'm losing out on any networking opportunities."

It doesn't count as "networking" just because it's online.

10/25/2007 1:36:52 AM

Anybody in the SCM program at all or know much about it? As competitive as the Mac program, admissions wise?

10/26/2007 7:41:28 PM

^ PM "MOODY" -- he's a recent MBA grad from the SCM concentration.

I got a B.S. in SCM, but no MBA

10/27/2007 12:40:06 AM