Review of WGU’s MBA Program
An MBA prepares a professional for a leadership or managerial role and many working professionals aspire to complete their MBA online.
WGU is the most affordable MBA program without GMAT requirement that charges a low fee of $4,530 for a 6 month term for unlimited courses. Most students complete all courses for the MBA within a year which results in a total cost of the online MBA in 2021 of $9,060.
Many colleges require a GMAT and most online MBA programs are quite expensive averaging about $20,000 or more for completing the MBA.
Details of the WGU MBA Program
THE WGU EXPERIENCE
Overall, WGU is great for motivated professionals who have related work experience. So if you are a non-IT and non- healthcare professional, simply choose the General MBA program.
Initially after acceptance, you will speak with an enrollment counselor who will give you an overview of what is expected. After this discussion, you will be assigned a program mentor who will speak with you every week to see how you are progressing through the courses.
COURSE CONTENT
The MBA program is made up of 11 courses and a final capstone project which combines your academic learning with how you would apply the learning in your career. The courses cover the following:
- Managing Organizations and People
- Managing Employee Performance
- Management Communication
- Operations Management
- Global Economics
- Marketing
- Accounting
- Ethical Leadership
- Financial Management
- Strategy for Decision-making using Quantitative and Qualitative research
- Capstone project
TIMELINE
Some students are even able to complete WGU’s MBA within 6 months by completing all the courses in an accelerated way. This makes it possible to complete the MBA for half the price.
There is also a 1 year MBA program which allows students to work with a college mentor to complete all the courses in a single year.
There are enrollment windows every single month, so once you are accepted you can almost immediately start with your MBA courses.
ADMISSIONS
Apart from a bachelors degree from a regionally accredited college or university, you also need 3 or more years of experience in a business or industry. You will also be asked to submit your professional resume with the college application.
The best part if that you do not need to submit any GMAT, GRE or any other tests scores for acceptance.
RELATED DEGREES
The following are the 4 related graduate in management, online degrees at WGU:
- General MBA
- MBA Information Technology Management
- MBA Healthcare Management
- MS in Management and Leadership
COURSE QUALITY
Students attest to the top quality of the WGU courses. Numerous students who are also experienced professionals attest top the fact that the courses are both academically rigorous and of practical value at the workplace. Another reason why WGU is referred by many as their ideal, working person’s degree program.
Is A Master’s Degree From WGU Respected?
WGU is a regionally accredited online university founded by 19 US governors. Employers value a WGU education for its quality and rigor, as do a lot of students and faculty.
In any case, it also depends on the perception the candidate creates in an interview when speaking about WGU. If an employer has never heard about WGU, it’s up to the candidate to highlight some of its benefits such as the high quality and educational rigor.
Is WGU’s MBA Difficult?
Since most students of WGU’s MBA program are working professionals, they find the MBA quite relatable to their work but students are absolutely clear that they need to work quite hard to get through WGU’s degree program.
Grading is intentionally strict and students are constantly led to better their knowledge, skills and understanding with each new assignment and test.
So WGU’s MBA is neither difficult no is it easy for a hard working and motivated individual. But for someone who takes the MBA lightly and isn’t willing to put in the required work, WGU’s MBA can indeed be quite difficult.
What is the hardest class in WGU MBA program?
When I did my MBA at another business school, the Financial Management and Corporate Finance course is the one I stumbled with a lot. Some of the student reviews on GradReports also refer to the Finance course being a bit more difficult.
Another area which can be a deeper learning curve for some is the strategy and the quantitative research part. But though it can be initially daunting, once you are able to work at it and study hard, it starts to get much easier.
My recommendation for the finance paper would be to check out Ashwath Damodaran’s free online courses and lectures in the NYU Stern School of Business. This is how I myself got really comfortable with corporate finance for my MBA.
For the strategy and quantitative research, reach out to the mentors or professors and find out if they have any study references or guidance they can offer to help you understand the topic much better. That is exactly how I solved my MBA troubles before my final dissertation. The professor shared additional material and it made a huge difference and it was the main reason I could even complete my MBA successfully from Durham Business School in UK.
In your case at WGU, ask your mentor and see if you can contact your professors or tutors. Otherwise, ask other students in the WGU social media groups for help, some of them will definitely guide you to some simpler resources.
What are some concerns about WGU?
WGU grading is usually very strict and the assignment deadlines are also quite rigid. So it’s up to you to work harder and then things will be just fine.
WGU grading is a Pass/ Fail with no scores, so if you are thinking to transfer to another school from WGU, the Pass will likely be seen as a B grade and not as an A.
Mentors may not know enough about the course material in detail and the professors who created the courses may not be easily accessible. But there are still other senior tutors and the mentors are usually able to get answers to your questions by contacting other staff within WGU.
So its important to be aware of this limitation at WGU, but it’s also important to trust your mentor and WGU staff enough to know that your issues will and do get eventually resolved.
What are the disadvantages of MBA?
If you are not looking to move to a leadership or management role, an MBA may not serve you much. In this case, the biggest disadvantage would be the added cost and time of an MBA. Most MBAs cost about $30,000 or so.
With WGU, the cost need not be such a worry and if you are willing and feel encouraged to put in the work, the time will also be quite short, as you will be done with the MBA in an year’s time.
In my case, though I only sparingly used my MBA learning at work, there have been times when a lot of things about budgeting, marketing and so on made a lot of sense for my own business. Also, when I held a regular job, my employers seemed to have quite a bit of respect for my higher qualification though I was a Big Data Engineer at the time.
Also, the MBA certainly boosted my confidence to such an extent that I started getting offer letters in multiple places I interviewed. It’s always nice to have 4 or 5 offers to choose from.
So my point is, an MBA will definitely not hurt, it can only do you good to a greater or lesser extent. And a WGU MBA is certainly worth it for the cost and educational quality!
Is 32 too old for MBA?
Anytime from 25 years to 35 years is an ideal time for MBA in my opinion, since you will already have some years of experience and a better perspective, plus you will have many more years ahead for using your MBA to further grow your career.
Starting an MBA too early say before your mid-20’s in my opinion would not be of much value since you will not have the wider experience to appreciate the learning you are getting, or to even relate to some of the things you are learning.
So yes, 32 is a great age for starting an MBA such that you are an MBA graduate by the time you are about 34 or so. This would be a good start to your leadership-focused career.
Is EMBA better than MBA?
An executive MBA and an MBA are similar in course content but the EMBA is usually designed to be much more fast paced. An executive MBA is specifically targeted toward someone who is already in a managerial or leadership role in their current position, so s/he can preferably complete the courses rather quickly.