Hi!

I am 33 years old and hold a PhD in Computer Science which I completed with distinction.

I am working for large US IT company since 9 years now and currently act as technical lead.

I am interested in a Distance Learning MBA degree and have a bunch of questions...

The list of candidates include:

1. Aston
2. Bradford
3. Durham
4. Warwick
5. Leicester
6. Livepool

My budget is limited at approx. 15k EUR; so, if I get a scholarship up to 20k EUR would be fine.

Some of these things I would prefer:

- High ranking, good reputation, good accreditation
- Excellent online delivery of lectures and materials
- No (or only a few) compulsory on-campus sessions (sessions at local study-centers would be okay if located in Germany, Austria or Switzerland)
- Short (and tough) study time (less than 2 years)
- I prefer @Home assignments over exams, but this isn't a KO criteria
- The final certificate should not explicitly state that I attended an online MBA "only" (Aston e.g. ensures this won't happen)

I am actually interested in Entrepreneurship and/or IT, but we'll see...

What would you guys recommend?

I like Aston, Bradford and Durham pretty much atm... from a pricing perspective Bradford would be my favorite, from what is offered I prefer Aston.

Leicester is pretty attractive, too from a pricing perspective...

Warwick is too expensive and has to much compulsory on-site events...

Livepool I like most wrt how they do exams etc... and they offer a specialization in Entrepreneurship...

Thank you so much for your answers!

Kind regards,

sorry.. but if your budget is limited how can you consider Imperial?
I wouldn't relay much on schoolarship...Warwick for example:

Distance learning
22 WBS Scholarships available, each worth 50% of the first year's academic fee.

it's just 3000pounds and I suspect that it's mostly granted to 3rd world students (I was told so by one of school's agent)

If you read through this forum you'll find out that, about DL, the best options are the courses which offer most face to face interaction: Manchester and Warwick.

Maybe you might be interested in euro*mba too... 30% will venture a new business after graduation (It costs 28000, 6weeks in 2y around Europe). No exams here.. only assignments , group works, ecc

Yeah, forget about Imperial :-)

Well, if interested in a DL program because a full- or part-time program is nothing I can currently pursue, why should I be interested in picking that one with most f2f interaction?
Or don't you necessarily mean "real" f2f interactions, but also "virtual" interactions?

I have seen EuroMBA, but there are a lot of compulsory events which I cannot attend easily... also, it is too expensive... I have been thinking of my prerequisites a while :)

Why are you looking only at UK schools?

In terms of learning, the outcomes will be better at a school where there's the maximum of f2f interaction that you can sustain. The euro*MBA will be too much for you, but One week a year will be possible perhaps. Also look at the Manchester Global MBA in Miami and perhaps the Durham Caribbean MBA.

Thanks for your response.

Well, there is no specific reasons for picking an UK school, but it looks like most affordable distance learning programs lectured in English or German ;-) are offered by UK universities.

What do you guys think about Aston?

Aston's a good, well-ranked, business school. I'd put it well ahead of universities who have rented their brand credibility to for-profit businesses (as Leicester and Liverpool have done). In terms of prestige, especially to British people, it's harder for schools like Aston and Cass which are not part of top-tier universities. Durham and Warwick (even Bradford) have a substantial advantage, which translate into student quality, alumni networks and the ability to retain quality academics.

Interesting, haven't realized that Bradford, Durham and Warwick are "ahead" of Aston... thought that they are all the same tier... I checked several rankings and in some Aston is ahead, in other the other two are ahead...

For instance:

1)
http://www.economist.com/whichmba/full-time-mba-ranking?term_node_tid_depth=77644

Here Aston is ranked almost as good as Durham; Bradford is not even listed; only Warwick is ahead.

2)
http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-rankings-2010

Here, Aston is even ahead of Durham and Bradford; interestingly, they are not even listed in the 2011 ranking of the FT - what happened=

3)
http://registrarism.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/sunday-times-2012-university-league-table/

Aston not even listed...

4)
http://www.eduniversal-ranking.com/study-abroad-in-united-kingdom.html

Aston listed among the top b-schools...


Triple accreditation...

Difficult decision... rankings are showing very different results...

If Aston would offer a specialization on entrepreneurship I would probably go for it...

When I say those other universities are ahead, I do mean as universities. Their graduate schools of business are all good, but Aston doesn't have the same standing as more selective universities.

Here is good one.
http://www.find-mba.com/board/20012