Vassar / SUNY New Paltz Joint Errort To Cheapen MBA Degree

[Anonymous]

https://vassar.edu/news/vassar-and-suny-new-paltz-join-forces-to-offer-new-mba-program

Can anyone explain why this is a good idea ?

[Anonymous]

Two days ago, Vassar College & SUNY New Paltz announced a joint program for an accelerated MBA for Vassar students with no post undergraduate work experience.

SUNY New Paltz offers an MBA ? Yes, and the program is accredited with an acceptance rate of almost 100%.

Will this MBA help or harm the reputation of Vassar College ?

Will this MBA program dupe Vassar students and their parents into thinking that this "MBA" degree will be of some value in the real world ?

[Anonymous]

Well, Vassar doesn’t have a business department (it does have an economics dept.), so it’s probably a way to try to make a liberal arts education appealing to students who are worried about employment after graduating with a liberal arts degree, especially at the price Vassar charges.

[Anonymous]

Business is now one of the most competitive majors. Almost every kid I know is applying for business. SLAC’s are not even on the table for the high achieving kids interested in business. This is an attempt to get some more students to enroll in Vassar.

[Anonymous]

Would be better if the business school at SUNY New Paltz offered a few business courses at nearby Vassar College or if the expedited program for those with no post undergraduate real world work experience was a certificate program, not an MBA program.

Just as shocking is that the Vassar College recent grads who immediately grab a SUNY New Paltz MBA will receive preferential consideration for teaching assistant positions at SUNY New Paltz. Is this a case of the blind leading the blind ?

Vassar College is a respected school. My thought is that parents of Vassar College students and the students do not attend such an expensive and selective school in order to get an MBA from a program with very low standards for admission. As the inexperienced Vassar/New Paltz MBA degree holders get experience in the post undergraduate working world, they may discover that they have handicapped their future career pursuits with this premature degree from a sub-standard MBA program and crippled. any future eligibility to earn a real MBA from a well respected program.

Doesn't this seem to be an admission from Vassar College that a Vassar education is insufficient for their graduates to enter the post undergraduate working world ? If so, then those Vassar College students who pursue the New Paltz MBA most likely would have been better prepared for the real world by earning an undergraduate business degree elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Just as shocking is that the Vassar College recent grads who immediately grab a SUNY New Paltz MBA will receive preferential consideration for teaching assistant positions at SUNY New Paltz. Is this a case of the blind leading the blind ?

I think the Vassar students would be TAs in the same department as their undergraduate major, not in the business department. That makes more sense.

Otherwise, I agree with the rest of your post that this seems like a mismatch in prestige levels between the two schools.

[Anonymous]

Will the effect of this joint effort be to cheapen both Vassar College degrees and MBA degrees ?

Several elite universities (U Chicago, Northwestern, U Michigan, Johns Hopkins, and others) offer nine-to-ten-month MIM (Masters in Management) degrees for recent college graduates with less than two years of post undergraduate work experience. Hundreds of universities offer certificate programs through continuing education arms that enable students to earn a certificate in business or in a specialty area in order to be better prepared for the working world. Some will even count credits earned in the one academic year masters in management program toward their MBA degree after the students get real world work experience and otherwise qualify for the school's MBA program.

Hopefully, someone with better sense will counsel Vassar College students and recent graduates of Vassar that getting a degree from an unranked, non-selective MBA program immediately after finishing an undergraduate liberal arts degree may be an unwise use of the graduate's time,money,and other resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Just as shocking is that the Vassar College recent grads who immediately grab a SUNY New Paltz MBA will receive preferential consideration for teaching assistant positions at SUNY New Paltz. Is this a case of the blind leading the blind ?

I think the Vassar students would be TAs in the same department as their undergraduate major, not in the business department. That makes more sense.

Otherwise, I agree with the rest of your post that this seems like a mismatch in prestige levels between the two schools.

We don't know that; unlikely that a business school dean could make such an assurance for non-business departments at SUNY New Paltz. Plus, do Vassar College parents and students really see TAing at SUNY New Paltz as an attractive career move even if one's first "job" after completing an undergraduate degree at a selective LAC ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will the effect of this joint effort be to cheapen both Vassar College degrees and MBA degrees ?

Several elite universities (U Chicago, Northwestern, U Michigan, Johns Hopkins, and others) offer nine-to-ten-month MIM (Masters in Management) degrees for recent college graduates with less than two years of post undergraduate work experience. Hundreds of universities offer certificate programs through continuing education arms that enable students to earn a certificate in business or in a specialty area in order to be better prepared for the working world. Some will even count credits earned in the one academic year masters in management program toward their MBA degree after the students get real world work experience and otherwise qualify for the school's MBA program.

Hopefully, someone with better sense will counsel Vassar College students and recent graduates of Vassar that getting a degree from an unranked, non-selective MBA program immediately after finishing an undergraduate liberal arts degree may be an unwise use of the graduate's time,money,and other resources.

Sigh. You guys really don’t get it, do you? All you think about is chasing rank determined by entities that desperately need you people to buy into their rankings to financially stay afloat.

For people into education you consistently miss the point of education.

I think it’s a great idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will the effect of this joint effort be to cheapen both Vassar College degrees and MBA degrees ?

Several elite universities (U Chicago, Northwestern, U Michigan, Johns Hopkins, and others) offer nine-to-ten-month MIM (Masters in Management) degrees for recent college graduates with less than two years of post undergraduate work experience. Hundreds of universities offer certificate programs through continuing education arms that enable students to earn a certificate in business or in a specialty area in order to be better prepared for the working world. Some will even count credits earned in the one academic year masters in management program toward their MBA degree after the students get real world work experience and otherwise qualify for the school's MBA program.

Hopefully, someone with better sense will counsel Vassar College students and recent graduates of Vassar that getting a degree from an unranked, non-selective MBA program immediately after finishing an undergraduate liberal arts degree may be an unwise use of the graduate's time,money,and other resources.

Sigh. You guys really don’t get it, do you? All you think about is chasing rank determined by entities that desperately need you people to buy into their rankings to financially stay afloat.

For people into education you consistently miss the point of education.

I think it’s a great idea.

It is clear that you miss the point of earning an MBA degree.