JoAnne Starr is assistant dean of MBA programs at the Rady School of Management whose Flex MBA program offers a part-time 24-month track for students. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

It’s spring, and a business professional’s thoughts could turn to earning an MBA and moving up the career ladder. The business student in San Diego County has a good selection of where to get that degree. Twelve area campuses have graduate business degrees; one also offers a doctorate in business administration. These programs range in cost from $8,155 for a two-year program to $36,000 for a year in another business school.

The prospective student who does some pre-enrollment planning could obtain financial assistance with student loans, employer reimbursement and scholarships. Some campuses reduce tuition for military personnel and their families. The first step for the aspiring student is learning how much a graduate business degree will cost.

CSU San Marcos’ two-year MBA program costs $8,155, says Keith Butler, MBA director of college operations. That figure includes classes in the 48-unit program and all fees.

In September, classes started in UCSD’s Rady School of Management FlexMBA program for science and technology professionals. Students on the 24-month track meet every other week on Fridays and Saturdays. Fees for this year are $36,000, which covers courses, books, materials, parking, meals and lodging. The $36,000 cost is proposed for next year, but must be approved by UC Regents, says JoAnne Starr, assistant dean of MBA programs.

Students can earn an MBA and a doctorate in business administration at Alliant International University. The MBA program lasts a year and one half and costs $29,640, says acting dean Ali Abu-Rahma. The number of units required is based on whether transfer undergraduate business credits are accepted. The doctorate degree costs $44,000 to $45,000, with the difference based on how many classes are waived. This usually happens when a student transfers from an MBA program. The doctorate is offered in three areas: strategic management, marketing and finance.

Abu-Rahma says the management program was created by the late Igor Ansoff, known as the father of strategic management. Ansoff wrote the corporate strategy in 1965 and came to the campus in 1983. Studying with him was like learning psychology from Freud, says Abu-Rahma. For details about the doctorate, call him at (858) 635-4571.

USD’s MBA will cost $990 per unit in the fall, or $48,510 for the 49-unit program, says Ken Marra, Business School director of graduate student services.

University of Phoenix has a 30-unit MBA that costs $445 per unit ($13,350 total), says Bruce Williams, vice president and director of the San Diego campus.

SDSU’s graduate business degrees include the executive MBA (EMBA) that brings students to campus every Friday and Saturday for two years. They meet from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and earn a general MBA with no electives. The $40,000 program cost covers classes, books and meals on campus. The class profile is a 38-year old student with 15 years in the workforce and half of that in management, says Debra Bertram, assistant EMBA director.

National University’s MBA program consists of 13 classes taken over a 14-month period. The cost is $1,125 per class for a total of $14,625, says spokeswoman Robin Jones.

University of Redlands’ two-year MBA program consists of 46 units and costs $25,945. That figure covers classes, textbooks and materials, says marketing analyst Stacey Neeley. Students meet one evening weekly.

Chapman University has two local graduate business programs, an MS in human resources and an MA in organizational leadership. The cost for each degree of about 36 credits is $11,520, says Maria Cesario, San Diego campus director.

Point Loma Nazarene University’s MBA program consists of 40 units and costs about $22,000, says John Burlison, director of graduate administrative services. Students can join the program in the fall, spring or summer. Graduate courses are held at the university’s Mission Valley campus. For the MBA program, students take two classes on one night a week for about 17 weeks. This proved more effective than offering the intensive schedule of one class for 10 weeks, Burlison says.

National Graduate School’s MS in quality systems management is a one-year program of 12 courses that costs $21,600. “Usually, we bring the program to where there is a need,” says Virginia Petisce, vice president of enrollment management. Locally, the degree is offered at the U.S. Coast Guard Station. Other National Graduate clients include IBM and Boeing.

Keller Graduate School of DeVry University has an MBA and six other graduate business degrees. Course work for the MBA consists of 16 classes. The cost is $1,660 per on-campus course and $1,835 for an online course, says Brad Johnson, San Diego center assistant director. The total cost is $26,560 for an on-campus degree and $29,360 online. The program length depends on the number of courses taken during an eight-week session.

Next Step Is Financing

Once the business professional chooses a graduate school, the next step is to obtain financing. Butler says methods of paying for courses at CSU San Marcos range from tuition reimbursement to the traditional student loan.

Starr of UCSD recommends applying for a federal Stafford Loan before starting school. “That doesn’t mean you have to take it, but you have it as a back-up,” she says.

Graduate students can borrow $18,500 per year through the Stafford program. Of that amount, $8,500 of that can be subsidized if the applicant meets a certain income level. The government pays the interest on the subsidized loan while the student is in school. As of July 1, 2004, the in-school interest rate was 2.77 percent and 3.37 percent afterwards.

The loan process starts with the submission of FAFSA, the acronym for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. For information, go to staffordloan.com.

The prospective student should also look into scholarships offered by the campus and through sources such as fastweb.com. The Web site’s recent offerings include Common Knowledge’s “FBI Common College Challenge.” Open to students in all fields, entrants answered online rounds of questions to win a $1,000 scholarship. For the $500 Sylvia Burack scholarship, applicants wrote 600- to 800-word essays about books that inspired them.

Judith Lewis Logue, director of financial aid services at University of San Diego, says USD students obtained $1.7 million in outside scholarships last year. She advises applicants to have a resume and other material prepared, since some scholarships have a short turn-around time. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

While spending three or four hours writing an essay may seem like a waste of time, the effort could produce $2,500, says Judith Lewis Logue, director of financial aid services at USD. “One undergraduate brought in 13 scholarships,” she says.

Campus financial aid offices also provide scholarship information. USD’s business scholarships include grants from the Graduate Business Alumni, Ahlers Center for International Business, Mickey Carhart Scholarships and PMI Foundation, says Judith Lewis Logue, director of financial aid services. She notes that USD students obtained $1.7 million in outside scholarships last year. Lewis Logue advises applicants to have a resume and other material prepared since some scholarships may have a short turn-around time. “It’s like applying for a job. Tell your story, what it is you’re trying to do and how you (plan to) get there — not ‘I need money,’” she says.

Last year, the Rady School at UCSD awarded the first Gray Cary-Athena FlexMBA Scholarship. The grant was named for the law firm of Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich and Athena, a university-sponsored organization for women technology executives.

Alliant students take advantage of domestic and international scholarships, says Abu-Rahma.

Point Loma began offering the MBA degree three years ago and the university is working to develop scholarships. “We have a few graduate scholarships that are based on need,” Burlison says.

National University awards scholarships of up to $1,600 to students based on scholastic achievement and financial need. Military tuition scholarships of up to $2,500 are open to military (active, reserve and retired), their spouses and dependents.

Graduate schools recognize military service in several ways. Petisce says National Graduate School offers a $6,300 grant to fulltime military and their spouses. The grant is $4,300 for reservists and retired military.

At Chapman, classes for active duty military are $305 per credit, a discount of $20 per credit. Keller gives a 25 percent reduction in tuition for active military and reservists.

Other forms of support are available to all students. Redlands gives a discount for corporate programs held at the workplace, says Neeley. Schools may also defer payments in some cases.

USD offers assistantships where students work 60 hours for a professor and receive 80 percent off the cost of one course. Marra says these merit-based assignments could involve research, editing books or grading undergraduate work. Students serving internships may receive stipends. While the emphasis is on class credit, employers may offer compensation.

For the prospective graduate student, spending time researching how to pay for a business degree could pay off in reduced tuition and career advancement. “Potential students need to think in advance about what kind of investment they are making,” advises Starr.