MBA and Masters Programmes Separating the wheat from the chaff   Glossy brochures, eloquent admissions officers, elaborate advertising campaigns, appearances on education fairs and interactive profiles – many MBA and Masters institutions present themselves and their programmes to the outside world in the most sophisticated ways. But it is not all gold that glitters, and not every programme can keep the promise its makes in their stylish marketing campaigns.

Many new MBA and Masters providers have entered the market in the last few years and they all want a share of the cake. Many of these new providers make a positive contribution to the sector internationally as competition can make an industry livelier and ensure a greater diversity of offers.

In addition to the traditional top tier business schools, a growing group of mid-level segment providers has formed to offer mostly specialised course modules. Parallel to this development, however, some institutions have emerged whose core competencies reside in student recruitment rather than conveying skills and knowledge to their students.

It is often difficult to know at first glance which institution might be a degree mill and which one is the real deal, particularly as many of the less serious providers are entirely within legal bounds with their questionable offers.

11 Guidelines for finding a quality MBA or Masters programme

This list is intended for the objective external assessment of the standards of a programme (rather than the suitability for a student) and is merely providing a guideline for the inquiring student.

• Location of Award

Who actually awards the degree and title? In some institution locations you may only find the local marketing office of internationally active schools, in other instances institutions will enter collaborations in which the local office is merely dealing with student recruitment. For titles and degrees awarded outside your country of residence it is recommended to be cautious. In a number of countries, the degree and title is only valid if it is approved by the respective ministry, which will assess any equivalencies to national standards. In some cases, when the equivalency is not granted, the title obtained may not be carried.

• Accreditation

Has the respective programme been evaluated by a reputable accreditation agency? Is the accreditation complete and / or still valid? If in doubt, it is worth checking with the respective agency’s website. For more information on common accreditation bodies read our section ‘Accreditations’ [link].
How long has the provider been on the market?
A new provider is not necessarily a bad provider, but it often takes a few years until the programmes are fully optimized.  Can you contact any alumni? What kind of reputation does the institution have? Make as many enquiries as you can. 

• Ownership

Who owns the institution?

• Publicly owned: often the most secure type of provider, but can also be bureaucratically unwieldy.
• Private-public partnership: this model, which combines public organs with private enterprise, has proven successful so far. It provides both, security and dynamism. The question to ask here: which part holds the majority share in the partnership?
• Private providers:  privately owned institutions can provide a highly dynamic and market-oriented structure for the business school. Such institutions can much more easily adapt their course contents to client demand. However, degree mills are all private providers and it is recommended to thoroughly check any privately owned institution before enrolling in any of their programmes.

• ECTS Credits

The European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) reflects the workload of any particular study programme. ECTS credits do not say very much about the quality of the institution or programme on offer. The workload is comprised of class hours, e-learning modules, self-study phases and time allocated for the dissertation or final project.

Please note: Although the intended aim of ECTS credits is to establish a definitive comparability throughout Europe, reality differs from that aim.

For example: In Austria workload is calculated differently and higher ECTS credits are awarded for the respective efforts. In other words, it may be the case that an MBA programme in Austria awards 150 ECTS points, but in Germany only 75 ECTS points may be awarded, not only for the equivalent programme, but also for the same such programme. This means that 150 ECTS points are reduced to 75 points in Germany. Peculiar: when an accreditation body, such as FIBAA, evaluates the Austrian degree, it is placed on par with the German points level. In other words, the two providers would be equivalent only when they are both accredited by FIBAA.

• Reputation
  What is the reputation an institution holds? How do HR managers view the institution?  Here the general rule applies: the more well known, the better.  This, however, is sometimes difficult to ascertain. Rankings may serve as an indicator in finding out who is who, but in many cases, rankings provide information only for a limited number of top institutions.
  
• References
  Are any external references available for the institution? How certain is the continuity of the programme? Are there any alumni or companies closely working with the institution that might be able to give you more information? How many graduates has the programme produced so far? The more graduates, the more likely is the continuation of the programme in the long run. The cancellation of a programme may have adverse effects on the graduate’s career.
  
• Pricing
  Take caution if you notice any abnormalities in pricing. MBA programmes costing less than 10,000 or over 40,000 Euros should raise a red flag. Investigate those programmes more carefully.
  
• Alumni / Networks
  The alumni organization of a business school is almost as important as the education itself. Strong alumni and other networks will ensure that you will benefit from the programme for years after graduation. Asking the programme provider specific questions can be very helpful:  How many graduates does the alumni organization comprise?  How is the network organized? Alumni websites also often offer information on the size and activities of alumni and other networks.
  

Participant structure

Fellow students are an important factor when choosing an MBA programme. Not only because you will often work in teams, but also because you and your classmates represent the programme externally. A high percentage of international students is always desirable.  You can get an idea of what your classmates might be like by checking the terms of admission (job experience, leadership experience and type of diploma required).

 
Expert advice

If you are unsure about a certain MBA programme or would like to have more information on a particular institution consult an expert in the field.

Useful tools on MBA.INFO:

Compare hard facts and figures (accreditation, ECTS, graduates, admissions requirements, costs etc) with our MBA database and search on
http://www.mba.cz/programme.php.
Using the extended search function, you can search by specific criteria, i.e.: ‘all programmes in engineering with FIBAA accreditation and between €13,000 – 22,000’.
Request additional information:
Further and more comprehensive information can be requested from the provider directly via the contact form available on each provider’s profile page.


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