GetEducated.com Ranks Southeast Top Best Value in Online MBAs – AACSB Accredited

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., April 21 , 2010 -- GetEducated.com, a consumer watchdog group that reviews and ranks online universities for cost, quality, and credibility has ranked Southeast Missouri State University #1 in affordability overall for its online MBA with a general emphasis.

The rankings were made public in GetEducated.com’s just released 2010 online business school rankings, beginning with the “Top Best Values in Online MBAs - AACSB-Accredited.”

The online university cost rankings are based on a comprehensive, independent survey of 69 AACSB-accredited business schools that offer 133 MBA degrees via distance education.

In Southeast’s online MBA program, Missouri residents pay a remarkably low cost of just over $8,000 for this MBA. Non-residents pay just over $14,000.

“Southeast Missouri State University recognizes that it is an engine of economic growth and development for the State of Missouri.  For this reason, the promotion of high quality affordable programming has been a long standing institutional imperative,” said Dr. Gerald McDougall, dean of the Donald L. Harrison College of Business. “GetEducated.com’s ranking of the Harrison online MBA program provides external confirmation that high quality, affordability, and accessibility are compatible goals, especially when you have a highly qualified faculty that is comfortable with the newer technologies that enhance teaching and promote student learning.”

This is the first time Southeast has appeared in GetEducated.com’s Best Buy in Online MBA Rankings. The University’s appearance on the Best Buy MBA ranking list indicates that it offers a high quality online graduate business education at an affordable cost for learners locally as well as nationwide.

By comparison, the average cost for an Online MBA which is AACSB-accredited came in at $32,926.  The most expensive distance MBA, available from Duke University, costs about $119,000.

Southeast is one of seven new AACSB-accredited business schools GetEducated.com added to their 2010 online MBA affordability rankings.

GetEducated.com’s Top 10 Ranked Best Values Online MBAs – AACSB Accredited

10 High-Quality Buys, All Under $21,200

1. Southeast Missouri State University (Missouri)
2. Texas A&M University Commerce (Texas)
3. East Carolina University (North Carolina)
4. University of Houston Victoria (Texas)
5. Oklahoma State University (Oklahoma)
6. University of South Dakota (South Dakota)
7. Prairie View A&M University (Texas)
8. University of North Dakota (North Dakota)
9. Frostburg State University (Maryland)
10. University of Houston Clear Lake (Texas)

“Cost is the number one factor that keeps working Americans from enrolling in higher education. Southeast Missouri State’s Harrison College of Business offers Missouri residents a chance at a high-quality graduate degree through distance learning for about one-quarter the cost of the national average. That’s an amazing value,” says Vicky Phillips, GetEducated.com’s founder.

Online learners who reside outside Missouri will still find Southeast a bargain, according to GetEducated.com.  Non-residents wishing to enroll in Southeast pay half the cost of other online MBAs, yet sacrifice nothing in terms of quality. In return, they gain access to a business school that carries AACSB accreditation, an accreditation standard considered by many to be the gold standard of a business education.

Like many online degree programs offered by public universities, Harrison College of Business’s distance MBA offers the same courses with the same faculty as their residential MBA.  “It’s the exact same education that is being taught on campus,” says Phillips,” the difference: it’s being delivered in a new, more convenient format.”

Comparative data on 406 online MBAs from three accreditation classes – regional, AACSB, and national -- is available free online in “GetEducated.com’s Guide to Online MBAs.” The free guide is a part of the distance learning group’s mission to educate the public about affordable, high-quality online education programs.

 Founded in 1989, GetEducated.com is a consumer group that reviews and ranks online university programs along the dimensions of cost, quality, and credibility. The group issues report cards on accredited online degree programs in an effort to bring transparency to the online education selection process in terms of cost, public perception, and student satisfaction.