An online MBA degree with credit for life experience is a Master of Science in Business Administration that takes into account your years of work and life experience.
Online MBA Degree with Credit for Life Experience
When you are a working professional, an online MBA degree with credit for life experience can help you take advantage of your career to date while enhancing your future career. Life experience credit is granted at the discretion of the academic body. Life experience credits are designed specifically for professionals and working adults who have experience in their fields but who may not have had time to complete a professional degree.
Career-orientated degrees like an MBA are ideal for working professionals who are looking to support a change or enhancement in their career path. While MBAs require a minimum number of credits to be completed at the granting school (typically around 18 to 30 credits), life experience can eliminate the other associated 20 to 30 credit hours, based on essays and interviews.
Life experience provides students who are returning for a degree with a time-saving, flexible opportunity that does not add to the cost of tuition, books, admission or exams. Your professional experience works for you to provide you with associated credit. While most colleges and universities will not offer a full MBA for life experience, you can dramatically decrease the time needed to achieve your master's degree.
Accreditation Desired
If you choose the path of an online MBA degree with credit for life experience, you want to make sure that the granting institution is an accredited school. People who receive degrees based solely on life experience without verifying the college or university's accreditation may find that they have paid solely for a piece of paper that does not offer validated credentials.
The only purpose of an MBA is to increase opportunities at the office, in a career or even to change career paths. If you receive your MBA from an unaccredited source it will not help you achieve the goals you have set. Accreditation provides current and future employers with confidence in the quality of your skills and credentials.
Pros and Cons of a Life Experience MBA
If you have found a strong accredited program where you may use life experience towards your MBA, then you are ready to weigh the pros and the cons of attending an online program.
| Pros | Cons |
| An MBA can raise your salary. | Without accreditation, an MBA is just a piece of paper. |
| An MBA increases your competitive edge in your career. | Graduate tuition is expensive. |
| An MBA can help you become eligible to teach. | Degrees do not always predict career trends. |
| An MBA can fast track you in your career. | A salary increase is not guaranteed. |
| An online MBA helps you achieve goals. | Online degrees still have a certain stigma. |
Online Programs that Take Life Experience
Accredited online colleges that offer a business master's degree with life experience credits as an option include:
- New England College of Business (NECB) - The 100 plus-year-old college of business and finance offers two master's degrees, one in finance and one in business ethics and compliance.
- University of Phoenix (UOP) - The University of Phoenix offers a number of business master's with concentrations in areas of finance, marketing, management and more.
- Walden University - This online university offers multiple business master's with focuses on management, human resources and more.
- Argosy University - This university offers a comprehensive college of business with focus on public administration, business management and more.
Achieving an advanced, graduate level degree can be an important milestone in your life and career. Using life experience can help smooth that path if you choose a college or university with recognized accreditation>.
