City University of Seattle

So far this school has been a great experience. I love the instructors and their quality education. They are well educated and have many real-world experiences about them. The financial aid has been interesting. I am using 40% of my Post 9/11 GI Bill and the Veteran's Rep at the school is very helpful and knows her stuff! In addition, working with the regular financial aid team, they were full of knowledge and got back to me very quickly. Since this program is newer and still developing, there are... Read More some kinks. But, so far they have been fixed by the staff. Overall, great education so far and the tuition isn't that bad.

I started an MBA with the Edinburgh Business School in 2001, but was drafted early on into a PhD in Europe, so I dropped the MBA. I recently taught 41 courses psychology in CityU's Canada program (the Vancouver-based program was in need of experienced PhD's at the time), and I ended up with earned tuition waivers for 33 credits. So I put the waivers to work and started the MBA in fall of 2012. I found that the MBA courses stretched me and were very practical. The instructors were very professional,... Read More responsive and support was there when I needed it. I struggled with Economics but ended up with a 3.9 for that course. I developed skills I did not have previously. I met a lot of great peers in the program, many working for Boeing and Microsoft, and I learned a lot from the students. I'm generally a top-tier student and was in the MBA program as well. This program allows you to bring what you know into the program, especially in the weekly discussion board portion, and that is where a lot of learning takes place as you mix with other students. Some of the students are high performers in industry and one can learn a lot from them. While there I further developed my own leadership style; each course has a team project component and that's where one can experiment with leadership development. Team projects are always challenging due to times zones and individual work schedules. I teach MBA's and Commerce students (OB, psychology, sociology) for another institution, so my review is both subjective and objective. CityU's MBA program now has good business accreditation. For the economics and finance courses I'd recommend taking just one at a time unless you can make the time or you are good at math/algebra and formulas. I found that a tutor really helped me. This year CityU also started an internship program.

I found the curriculum, administration, facilities, course materials, technology and instructors generally top notch. By the end of the 3rd quarter at CityU I was already able to apply the knowledge gained from coursework.at my job. Most of the instructors were excellent, and when notified of the exceptions the Program Director took swift action.The only issue I had with the program is that not enough in-class night options at the Seattle main campus were offered. I am told this will change once... Read More the transition from Bellevue is completed. I am really satisfied with the education I received from CityU. Yes, it would be possible to coast along with 3.0, but to get above 3.8 in all classes took a great deal of effort. You get out what you put in. I'd strongly recommend the CItyU Of Seattle MBA.

Pros- 1.Greater earning power 2.Advance your career 3.Get international recognition 4.Get research opportunity 5.Great international recognition. 6.Work on advanced projects 7.Higher potential for future promotion 8.Not being stuck behind a desk 9.Be part of a chain of knowledge 10.Employer incentives 11.Because you want to 12.Realization of interest Cons- 1.Highly competitive 2.Enables the "professional student" mindset 3.Requires ability to set priorities 4.Relationship strains 5.Stressful 6.Extra... Read More cost of education 7.Graduating with a large debt 8.No guarantee of higher salary 9.Return on investment might be slow 10.Limited job opportunities 11.Undesirable job locales

It took me 10 years to complete my degree! Over half of my classes were taken while I was on active duty in the Navy. There were several gaps in my attendance; one time it was 15 months with a few other 6, 9 and 12 month breaks. But I finished! The college's choice of textbooks for my program was top-notch which I highly value. I was hired as web developer (before I graduated) in VERY LARGE PART due to the experience and knowledge gained from CityU's Computer Systems (Programming) degree program.... Read More

Overall, I found this to be a quality school at a reasonable price. I graduated in 2009 from their MBA program and was very satisfied with the quality of instruction and the relevance of the course material. I have an engineering undergrad from a tier 1 school and selected CityU due to the flexibility of the online instruction and the relatively low cost. I was employed full time while taking two classes per quarter which was sporty! Between the readings and assignments, the program was very time... Read More consuming; however, this is to be expected in any decent graduate program. I have since earned another graduate degree from a more well known school and honestly did not note any significant difference in the quality of instruction or difficulty of course material. As far as the instructors are concerned, I can recall only two who failed to meet my expectations. One instructor from a project management course was simply atrocious and consistently failed to provide constructive feedback to students in a timely manner. His supervisor was informed and took appropriate action. Another instructor, from a business law class, was simply mediocre: He provided good feedback but it wasn't always timely. The rest of my instructors met or exceeded my expectations. As far as accreditation is concerned, this is a regionally accredited school (the most critical accreditation for all colleges in the U.S.). The business school; however, is not AACSB accredited (it does have candidacy for ACBSP accreditation). The difference? AACSB is associated with larger top tier business schools at larger universities while ACBSP typically encompasses the smaller non-research institutions. This affects the marketability of your CityU MBA; however, it doesn't affect the quality of what you will learn. Additionally, the negative influence of not having an AACSB MBA can be diminished by having a "brand name" undergrad and/or by relevant work experience. Bottom line. If you go to CityU, you are buying an education, not a degree. The programs here will provide you the tools you need to succeed but it will still be up to you to actively seek opportunities and apply what you have learned. You are not going to get a foot in the door simply by having a degree from this school. You will; however, graduate with the knowledge required to succeed on your own merit.

You learn a lot from instructors that have a wealth of experience and knowledge working in their field of work. I was required to do many presentations and work on case studies that helped strengthen my critical thinking skills.The MBA program opened up a lot of opportunities for me.

I would choose the same degree because I was able to apply what I learnt to my job.

A degree from City University of Seattle can jumpstart your career.