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Education

MBAs on fast track with new concept

An addition in USF St. Petersburg's growing arsenal of programs manages time wisely for nonbusiness majors.

By MONIQUE FIELDS
Published July 21, 2004

ST. PETERSBURG - Laura Tillinghast will try to cram more than two semesters of work into one this fall.

Tillinghast, 29, plans to take 21 credit hours of finance, management, statistics and other courses to ready herself for a master's in business administration at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg.

The reason: "It's more efficient," she said.

The unusual program also provides a way for the college to attract and retain nonbusiness majors seeking an MBA. Earlier this year, USF St. Petersburg enrolled its first class of 16 MBA students - the latest sign of its growing autonomy from USF's main campus in Tampa.

The college plans to build on that feat this fall by offering nonbusiness majors a way to earn an MBA more quickly.

For a flat fee of $2,500, students can enroll in up to eight courses required to pursue an MBA. The program, called MBA Essentials, "cuts a year off of most people's program," said Jeannie Gaines, MBA director for the College of Business.

The new MBA program is one of several offered in the Tampa Bay area. But USF St. Petersburg administrators say their program occupies a different niche.

Students can pursue concentrations in traditional fields such as finance, international business, management and marketing. But they also can opt for new concentrations designed for today's business world: corporate social responsibility, forensic accounting, taxation and managing knowledge resources.

"We are really trying very hard to make our product excellent as well as unique," said Mark Wilson, associate dean for the college of business.

At $200 per credit hour, the cost of a USF St. Petersburg MBA is far below the prices charged by private competitors. The University of Tampa, for example, charges $390 per credit hour for its MBA program.

The MBA Essentials courses offered at USF St. Petersburg usually is spread over several semesters. Administrators decided to collapse it into one this fall so that nonbusiness majors can reach the heart of their degree quicker.

Of the 32 students admitted to the MBA program so far, about two-thirds will have to take one or more prerequisite courses. Most, including Franklin Twumasi, don't mind. Twumasi, a project manager for Sarasota County, was the first student enrolled in the MBA Essentials program.

He considered the University of Tampa's program but decided it was too expensive. His alma mater, the University of Florida, required an unrealistic commute. He didn't apply in time for the MBA program at USF Tampa, which also was more expensive than USF St. Petersburg's.

Bolstered by a partial reimbursement from his current job, Twumasi, 37, plans to earn an MBA so that he can help his native Ghana and other developing countries create funding programs for infrastructure projects.

MBA Essentials, he said, is "quite good for my purposes. It is a fine program to put you on the fast track to get (the degree) done in three years at the least."

[Last modified July 20, 2004, 23:42:04]