Cleveland State University Reviews of Master's in Business

"Do not judge a college based on it's sticker price. Often times, private schools are more affordable than state schools once financial aid has been given."

"It's a good school with excellent professors"

"Overall I had a great experience. The primarily evening format fit my schedule well, and the faculty (especially in advanced accounting and strategy classes) was excellent. The school itself is well laid out and modern, and the buildings are connected with walkways, making getting around in bad weather easy."

"The business school facility is excellent, very modern and clean and in a good location for commuting from outside Cleveland, as well as accessing other on-campus resources. I do feel that many of the core courses could challenge students a little more, in the way that the capstone strategy course does, but nonetheless the educational opportunities are great."

"It's. Great school to grow your knowledge while also continuing to work full time. Very reasonable price compared to other area schools."

"There are so many positives of this program. I originally went to John Carroll University for my undergraduate (About 30-40k per year). After now attending CSU, I wish I had saved the money and attended this school for my undergraduate. I'll talk first about the business school in general, then the Accounting program specifically. The huge benefit of this school is affordability. The tuition is significantly lower than any private school in the area. They give all students a free RTA pass so you can use all public transport for the semester (well, it's not technically free, it's $25 included in your tuition). I found it nice to be able to take the rapid pretty close to campus (there are RTA maps available on csu's website and all over the campus) and I use it when I go downtown for Brown's games. They also have a payment pan available for tuition (all you do is click a button online saying you want a payment plan, no extra fees). It basically allows you to make 4 tuition payments over the semester instead of before class starts. I believe for Fall 2012, I made payments Aug 15th, Sep 15, Oct 15th, Nov 15th. If your company is reimbursing you for tuition, they have an even more flexible schedule available. Another benefit is something called the "Interlink". It basically connects all the academic buildings on campus (it is like a big walkway running over the street), this way you don't have to go outside in the snow. It doesn't connect to the res halls, but most graduate students don't live on campus. The class schedule is very flexible if you are working full time. Most graduate courses are available 6-9pm, only one day per week. Many of the departments have online classes, the Accounting department pretty much does not (but that's more so because it is very difficult to teach accounting online for the student). I am in the Accounting program, so I can specifically speak to that program. The professors are excellent and always available either via email or dropping into the office. There are some very knowledgeable individuals teaching in the MAcc program. I went to an undergrad school, where every teacher has their PhD and the quality of instruction in the accounting program is the same. I firmly believe that this is a highly under advertised program. I am specifically in the Tax track for my MAcc. If anyone is considering tax, CSU is a great option. For my Master's I was allowed to take all tax courses (pretty much all my business requirements were waived since my undergrad is in Finance). This allowed me to truly design a "Master of Tax" degree. Many schools will force you to take courses on the auditing side, which can be a waste of time and money if you are sure that you are tax focused. There are 4 core tax classes required(Tax 1, partnership. corps, tax research) and then all remaining classes are either tax or accounting electives of your choice. This is excellent because it allows you to take tax courses that interest you and/or fit with your work schedule. The only major downside is the fact that the college is located in downtown Cleveland.(which is actually a positive for someone working downtown). The school does a very good job of policing the area and even tells the students that if they want an officer to walk them to their car at night, to just call campus security. I love that the school does that, however I never take advantage of it just because I would rather get home soon (After a 10 hour work day + 3 hour night class) than wait for security. I think the school is trying very hard to do everything they can, but unfortunately they cannot do much to change the location. Personally, this doesn't bother me too much. But if may if you are really looking for that safe, small community feeling (like a John Carroll or Baldwin Wallace). I would also be aware of the scholarship schedule for CSU scholarships. Each department has their own deadlines too. It can be viewed here: http://www.csuohio.edu/business/currstudents/scholarships.html. I happened to start classes right after the deadline, so I was not eligible for any scholarships my first year there (which was a big deal for me since I will only be there two years). I found this after that fact, so it wasn't mentioned to me during the application process. But this is only for extra scholarships, not for federal aid. Overall, compared to other schools in the area, I would highly recomend this school to anyone."

"There are so many positives of this program. I originally went to John Carroll University for my undergraduate (About 30-40k per year). After now attending CSU, I wish I had saved the money and attended this school for my undergraduate. I'll talk first about the business school in general, then the Accounting program specifically. The huge benefit of this school is affordability. The tuition is significantly lower than any private school in the area. They give all students a free RTA pass so you can use all public transport for the semester (well, it's not technically free, it's $25 included in your tuition). I found it nice to be able to take the rapid pretty close to campus (there are RTA maps available on CSU's website and all over the campus) and I use it when I go downtown for Brown's games. They also have a payment pan available for tuition (all you do is click a button online saying you want a payment plan, no extra fees). It basically allows you to make 4 tuition payments over the semester instead of before class starts. I believe for Fall 2012, I made payments Aug 15th, Sep 15, Oct 15th, Nov 15th. If your company is reimbursing you for tuition, they have an even more flexible schedule available. Another benefit is something called the "Interlink". It basically connects all the academic buildings on campus (it is like a big walkway running over the street), this way you don't have to go outside in the snow. It doesn't connect to the res halls, but most graduate students don't live on campus. The class schedule is very flexible if you are working full time. Most graduate courses are available 6-9pm, only one day per week. Many of the departments have online classes, the Accounting department pretty much does not (but that's more so because it is very difficult to teach accounting online for the student). I am in the Accounting program, so I can specifically speak to that program. The professors are excellent and always available either via email or dropping into the office. There are some very knowledgeable individuals teaching in the MAcc program. I went to an undergrad school, where every teacher has their PhD and the quality of instruction in the accounting program is the same. I firmly believe that this is a highly under advertised program. I am specifically in the Tax track for my MAcc. If anyone is considering tax, CSU is a great option. For my Master's I was allowed to take all tax courses (pretty much all my business requirements were waived since my undergrad is in Finance). This allowed me to truly design a "Master of Tax" degree. Many schools will force you to take courses on the auditing side, which can be a waste of time and money if you are sure that you are tax focused. There are 4 core tax classes required(Tax 1, partnership. corps, tax research) and then all remaining classes are either tax or accounting electives of your choice. This is excellent because it allows you to take tax courses that interest you and/or fit with your work schedule. The only major downside is the fact that the college is located in downtown Cleveland.(which is actually a positive for someone working downtown). The school does a very good job of policing the area and even tells the students that if they want an officer to walk them to their car at night, to just call campus security. I love that the school does that, however I never take advantage of it just because I would rather get home soon (After a 10 hour work day + 3 hour night class) than wait for security. I think the school is trying very hard to do everything they can, but unfortunately they cannot do much to change the location. Personally, this doesn't bother me too much. But if may if you are really looking for that safe, small community feeling (like a John Carroll or Baldwin Wallace). I would also be aware of the scholarship schedule for CSU scholarships. Each department has their own deadlines too. It can be viewed here: http://www.csuohio.edu/business/currstudents/scholarships.html. I happened to start classes right after the deadline, so I was not eligible for any scholarships my first year there (which was a big deal for me since I will only be there two years). I found this after that fact, so it wasn't mentioned to me during the application process. But this is only for extra scholarships, not for federal aid."