PEORIA — After a years-long effort, Midstate College is beefing up its curriculum with the addition of a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree program this winter.
The program was announced this week by the college, and the first classes begin Nov. 12 at the start of the winter term. Classes within the program will be offered on campus at night or in an online format.
“Primarily, we’ve always been a business college,” said Meredith Bunch, the president and CEO of Midstate. “This is the next logical step for meeting the needs of our students.”
The faculty and staff of Midstate began developing the MBA program more than six years ago. Once the drafting of the curriculum for the degree was complete, it was sent to the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois Board of Education for approval. One of the key authorizations, according to Bunch, was in securing Title IV funding, which allows students to receive financial aid.
Bunch said that the college is focusing on attracting its own business and baccalaureate students and alumni to enroll in the program, as well as those within a 100-mile radius around Peoria. In her estimation, the program will market itself based on the low tuition costs. To complete the program in one year, the full-time tuition will be $19,840.
That’s the same figure for an undergraduate program at Midstate, and a bargain compared to most online MBA programs.
“It’s going to be highly attractive because of that low tuition,” Bunch said.
Another selling point Midstate will dangle to potential students is that those with a grade point average of 2.5 and above in undergrad courses will not have to take the Graduate Management Assessment Test (GMAT).
The major courses within the MBA program at Midstate will provide advanced studies in analytical decision-making, finance, technology, operations, marketing management, strategic leadership, global business, ethics and corporate responsibility. Bunch said the college will be hiring more faculty as a result of the addition of the program.
And though the program hasn’t been formally announced yet, applications are now being accepted on the college’s website.
“The application link is buried on our website, and yet we already have two applicants,” Bunch said.
For more information on the new MBA program at Midstate, visit its website at www.midstate.edu/mba.
Thomas Bruch can be reached at 686-3262 or tbruch@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @ThomasBruch.
Source: http://www.pjstar.com/news/20180906/midstate-college-adds-mba-degree-program
