MBA

That’s the message of a marketwatch article today, which says that those who emerge from graduate school with a business degree in 2023 are almost sure to be looking at a post-pandemic economy. In that environment, companies that have slimmed down during the health crisis will be hungry for job candidates familiar with utilizing data analysis, artificial intelligence, machine learning and other knowledge areas being taught in most MBA programs today. Marketwatch says the starting salaries for business schools grads from quality universities already average above $150,000. per year and could go higher in the coming years. MBA grads, it adds, come out of school with “the ability to assess and bear sensible risks,” a skill which “is the core of business and entrepreneurship.”

Click To A List Top Schools Offering MBA Degrees Online

An accelerated MBA from an online school can offer you with a relatively quick way to boost your credentials without leaving your job to study, as you need to do with most campus-based MBA programs. But the landscape of “fast track” MBAs is a bit more complex in the online world than in “brick and mortar” universities. Traditionally, a master’s in business has taken two years of classroom study and a total of about 50 to 60 credits to complete. At most schools, that boils down to taking 5 courses per semester for four semesters.

How Many Credits?
But the meaning of the word “credit” can be confusing with online MBA programs (read about confusion over credits in undergrad programs). As a result, you want to make sure you understand the scope of the program you’re considering. A full MBA online can, in fact, take less than two years if you work at a very intense pace. But programs shorter than that can actually be one-year or “executive” MBAs, or simply be programs that don’t require the number of credits traditionally associated with this type of degree. And given that many online students take less than a full course load, an accelerated MBA via distance learning can actually take more than two years.

Knowing whether you’re getting into a full MBA program or not is key to matching your degree program to your specific career goals. Unfortunately, there’s no simple formula for this, particularly since some schools use confusing terms like “semester credits” or “credit hours.” Still others, most famously Western Governors University, use a system of “competency credits” designed to de-emphasize the traditional credit system in favor of one that focuses on students demonstrating a true understanding of the course material, regardless of how many hours they have spent studying. The best advice as you look at accelerated online MBAs is to ask lots of questions at any school that interests you about whether or not the program gives you the same credential as a traditional two year campus based program.

Here’s a listing of some of the best-known accelerated online MBA degrees, ranked by the length of time they typically take to achieve. Time to completion numbers are based on the student taking the maximum number of credits allowed or close to it each term, and taking no time off between any semesters. If you work at a slower pace, the program will obviously take longer.

Accelerated Online MBAs, Ranked By Length Of Time To Completion

12 Months
Benedictine University, Chicago, IL
Benedictine is a Catholic University, offers one of the best varieties of accelerated MBAs online, in specialties including accounting, finance, healthcare administration, marketing, international business and entrepreneurship. The school, which has about 6,800 students, has been highly ranked by Forbes Magazine. Benedictine’s advises students in a hurry to “jump on the fast track by taking two courses at a time in the accelerated MBA program.”
– 64 credit-hour MBA which “can be completed” in 12 months.
Info on Benedictine

14 Months
Post University, Waterbury, CT
Established in 1890, Post offers masters of business in finance, leadership, marketing, entrepreneurship and management.
The accelerated MBA is a 45 credit degree program taking 14 to 20 months
Info on Post University

16 Months
Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA
An interdenominational Christian university with about 5,000 students, Regent offers an MBA program with a traditional basis that is “enhanced by the incorporation of Judeo-Christian values, which yield a balanced, Biblical perspective on global integration.” The online MBA is available in General Management, Accounting, International Business, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Franchising, Human Resources Management, Leadership and Marketing.
– 42 credit hour program that can be completed on an accelerated basis in 16 months.
Info on Regent

Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, ID
A private Christian school affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene, the school was established in 1913 and has about 3,000 students. As with other religion-based schools, there is a strong focus on ethics in the MBA program.
The school is fairly up front about the intensity of the workload required to finish the degree on an accelerated basis, noting on its website that “the typical MBA student can expect to spend 12-16 hours per week per course.”
– Generalist MBA program, with 42 semester credits.
– Students who take two 8-week courses at a time can complete the degree in 16 months.
Info on Northwest Nazarine

18 Months
California State University-Dominguez Hills, CA
A school of California’s public university system, CSUDH has over 13,000 students and is set in the southern part of Los Angeles.
The school’s 30-33 unit MBA program can be completed online within 18 months, if the student has already taken significant business courses before entering or is willing to take several “bridge” courses to build up business knowledge before starting MBA study.
The school’s website is a bit confusing. Information on the online MBA program is here

University of Rochester Simon School of Business, Rochester, NY
This is a very highly-rated business school that generally has less than 200 graduate students on campus. Admissions are selective.
Accelerated online MBA offered in 15 different concentrations including Finance, Electronic Commerce, Health Science Management, Entrepreneurship and others.
– 67 credit full MBA
– 18 months at an accelerated pace. (Accelerated program starts in January)
Info on University of Rochester MBA

Norwich University, Northfield, VT
Norwich is a private military university with a history stretching back to 1819. Most of its 3,400 students are actually military cadets, but the school does accept non-military personnel, particularly to its online programs.
Norwich offers MBAs with concentrations in three areas: Finance, Project Management or Organizational Leadership.
The format is a bit unique in that you are assigned to a small group of up to 16 students at the start of your program, and you go through the program collaborating with them all the way to graduation.
– 48 credit program.
– Complete in as little as 18 months.
Info on Norwich University

Marylhurst University, Marylhurst, OR
A private Catholic liberal arts college founded way back in 1893, with just under 2,000.
Marylhurst has a very well developed series of accelerated online MBAs. The format involves taking a single intensive five-week course at a time in this program. There are some unusual concentrations offered in the MBA including Green Development, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Business, Natural & Organic Resources and Nonprofit Management, as well are more standard ones like general management and marketing.
– 48 “quarter credit” program (12 courses)
– Completion can be achieved in 18 months
Info on Marylhurst

Western Governors University, Salt Lake City, UT
Since Western Governors was founded in 1997, its nonprofit model, low prices and unique approach to awarding credits (along with a powerful marketing) has allowed it to grow into a major force in online education, with over 35,000 students. All courses are delivered over the internet. Strictly speaking, all degree programs at WGU are accelerated – if you want to make them that way. Students pay a flat fee per term and are allowed to take as many courses at a time as they want. If you can truly work at an accelerated pace, this can help keep the cost of your degree way down. MBAs are in General Management, IT Management and Health Care Management.
– 33 “Competency Units,” WGU’s equivalent of credits. This system leans more heavily on your ability to demonstrate an understanding the course material than on spending a specific number of hours studying.
– With intensive study, can be completed in 18 months. Students who have previously taken some business courses are best suited to handling the heavy course load needed for acceleration.
Info on Western Governors University

24 Months
California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, CA
A school operated by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, CLU has just under 4,000 students and has operated since 1959. Though it clearly has a religious affiliation, the school is a bit more understated on its website about the ethical focus of its degrees than some other religious colleges.
– 45 credit program, condensing 11 week courses into an 8 week format.
– Accelerated students can complete the program in “less than two years.”
Info on California Lutheran

Texas A&M University – Commerce, TX
Part of the Texas state university system, the schools master in business prepares students for the “advanced management positions that demand analytic and strategic leadership solutions to an interrelated set of economic, ethical, and environmental issues.”
Students can choose a basic MBA or a degree with a minor, with choices including Accounting, Finance, Economics, International Business, Management Information Systems and Marketing. 30 to 48 credit hours, depending on chosen specialty.
– Non-Texas residents pay a higher tuition than residents.
– Can be completed in a minimum of 24 months.
Info on Texas A&M Commerce

Click To A List Top Schools Offering MBA Degrees Online

The value of an MBA specialized in human resources has grown as the relationship between companies and their employees has gotten more complex. The days are long gone when all employees got two weeks off and basic medical insurance. Nowadays, hiring and retaining good workers involves assembling a benefits package that can include medical, disability, travel and other types of insurance, retirement investment packages, education benefits and vacation policies. Human resources pros are also charged with overseeing modern work environments where individuals and companies are bound by strict anti-discrimination laws. They also spearhead the creation of procedures for hiring and, unfortunately, sometimes firing employees that protect a company from potential lawsuits.

Although some people progress to senior HR positions without a specialized business degree, an MBA in human resources can give you a significant advantage in getting hired for this type of position, particularly by larger companies. While the “core” courses in your MBA will give you a good grounding in overall business principles (that can be useful to you should you move out of human resources later in your career) the HR specialization part of your degree will cover issues like compensation procedures, legal issues in human resources, industrial psychology, performance appraisal, workforce environment management, recruitment and employee development. This is a degree that can definitely be obtained through online learning.

Careers & Salaries With A Master of Business Degree in Human Resources
An median salary for a human resources professional is approximately $99,000., according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But a Vice President of HR can earn well over $130,000., and be considered a key senior manager in a large company. Demand for HR specialists is expected to grow at a higher rate than many other job areas, as more medium-sized companies, health care facilities, universities and government agencies look to bring in people with specialized skills in human resources.

Some of the most common job titles in human resources are:

• Human Resources Director or Vice President of Human Resources
  This person oversees all aspects of employment for the company, working with division heads to see that standard policies are used to deal with all employee issues. The position frequently reports directly to the company CEO, and involves managing many smaller HR departments around the world at all the company locations. Communication skills are very valuable at this level, along with an understanding of how to compensate very senior managers, doing diligence and integration planning when there are mergers or acquisitions being considered, and handling compliance issues in an international context. The MBA in human resources is highly valued of you aim for a very senior position like this.
• Director of Compensation or Compensation Specialist
  A specialist in compensation will be charged with making sure that a company’s pay packages are in line with what competing companies offer for specific positions, classifying jobs along compensation lines and seeing basic employee qualification standards. The job can involve doing market research, surveys and even creating statistical models for compensation, which may include incentive payments in addition to base salary. Compensation specialists also ensure that company pay policies comply with state and federal regulations.
• Recruitment & Development Specialist
  Creates and implements company policies on advertising job openings, promoting from within versus hiring from outside, and screening of all job applications. Once a new employee has been hired, the recruitment specialist will ensure that he or she is set up with everything from an office space to a computer, a health care package and that any special needs are met. Employees today have choices to make about which insurance and retirement benefits they want and how much of their salary they want to contribute to them, which they decide on with the help of a human resources development specialist.
• Director of Employee Relations
  The employee relations director must monitor the overall work environment to make sure it’s maximizing the productivity of employees, and that disputes and conflicts that arise are being resolved in a way that’s professional and which complies with employment laws. This requires an expertise in reading and interpreting employment laws. In a very large company or a university, the employee relations head will manage an ongoing affirmative action play that ensures that minorities are being given opportunities. Alternatively, the job can involve working with the company lawyer to investigate complaints or even lawsuits against the company.
• Benefits Specialist
  The benefits specialist is usually the HR person who gets the most phone calls from employees with questions. People call when they need to know exactly what their insurance coverage is if they have just been diagnosed with an illness, how big a severance package they will receive if they are terminated, and how changes in certain laws will affect them. A classic example is the change in medical coverage for children included in the 2010 health care legislation. It mandates that children who have graduated from college can still be on their mother or father’s company health plan up to age 26, which they could not in most cases previously. Employees all over the country are now calling their benefits specialists asking when that provision actually kicks in, how much it will cost them, and other related questions. The benefits specialist job may also include building a database for tracking all benefit costs to the company, helping to resolve employee insurance claims and suggesting changes to benefit policies.

Unique Skill Set
An MBA in human resources can help you develop the particular skills for an HR career. First and foremost among these is an ability to communicate with a wide variety of people who run from very junior to most senior job positions, and managers who need to know how HR rules impact all sorts of different departments. The degree helps teach both verbal and written skills in this area. The larger the company you work in, the more likely it is that you’ll be asked to develop a very deep understanding of one particular aspect of employee management. Human resource specialists in small to medium sized companies need to have a more generalized knowledge of all employment issues.

While companies are obviously focused on profit, it also remains true that getting the right employees and keeping them satisfied remains extremely important. Maximizing retention of quality people is a goal that companies will reward the HR manager for reaching.

Courses for an MBA in Human Resources
In addition to generalized business courses, your MBA in human resources is likely to include specialized courses in these areas:

Employment Law: Workplace harassment, discrimination issues, regulatory compliance, ethics, analyzing law, liability avoidance, safe workplace practices.

Employee Development: HR strategy, creating training objectives, employee counseling, training delivery, factors influencing employee behavior, leadership development, and organizational effectiveness.

Strategic Rewards Approaches: Rewards systems to motivate and retain employees, pay structures, payroll practices, and compensation types.

Recruitment & Hiring: Fundamental of attracting talent, selecting quality hires, pay package negotiation, assessment techniques, job promotion procedures.

Next: The broad and varied opportunities with an MBA in Management