Keller Graduate School of Management offers an accredited MBA degree program that can be completed partially or fully online. Students of the program have the convenience of fulfilling their degree requirements through multiple campus class offerings or via the online platform. Regardless of the delivery method, a Keller Graduate School of Management student will find themselves challenged, stimulated, and expected to apply the principles of their learning materials to real life practical examples.
Keller School of Management
Keller Graduate School of Management is a division of DeVry University, offering Master’s degrees in Business Administration with sixteen available concentrations, as well as specialized degree programs in accounting and finance management, project management, information systems, network and communications, and human resources.
Based out of the greater Chicago, Illinois area, the university currently has more than eighty campus locations throughout the United States and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, with membership in the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Geared towards the working professional seeking to advance their education in order to open the door to upward mobility, Keller Graduate School of Management’s MBA program offers a practitioner approach.
Keller’s practitioner approach entails that the student learns more than just theory-they actually learn how it is applied and used in the business world. All classes at Keller are taught by instructors who are current working professionals in the subject matter’s industry. They are more than just professors who research theory and publish research articles, but may have never actually seen the implications of what they teach. Keller’s instructors know how those theories are applied in practice-what works, how it works, and most importantly what doesn’t.
Regardless whether a course is taken at a campus site or online, students can expect an intense workload. Each course requires regular participation in online discussion boards, which often must be supported by outside research, a mid-term exam or project paper, several written case analyses, a final exam, as well as a fifteen to twenty page term paper based upon an approved research topic related to the course.
In lieu of a thesis paper, Keller opts for a team based capstone project where students apply their degree knowledge in the creation of a fully fledged business plan. The business plan includes all aspects of creating a start-up, including but not limited to an operations, finance, marketing, and exit strategy.
Preparing for Keller’s Graduate School Program
While Keller does not require official GMAT or GRE scores as long as the prospective student’s cumulative undergraduate GPA is at least a 2.7 or higher, a grade of B or higher is required in English composition and college algebra in order to be admitted without testing. If less than a B was earned in either course, a prospective student can elect to take Keller’s alternative graduate school admission test at no charge at the time of their admissions interview. The normal graduate level course load per session is two courses, although due to the intensity of graduate level study in combination with outside work commitments, many of Keller’s students elect to participate in one course at a time.
Even through courses that are fully delivered via Keller’s online platform, students can expect ample support and direction from their instructors. Keller’s onsite classes also utilize the online platform in order to acquaint its students with the technology and prepare them for courses that may not be available at a local campus. Crucial skills that Keller students need to develop and draw upon during their online MBA program are time management, self-discipline, self-directed learning, communication, and teamwork.
Keller Graduate School of Management’s online MBA program is challenging, rewarding, and a source of quality level education. The decision to endure a Master’s degree program is a personal one, which many students can find grueling no matter what their individual circumstances may be. Keller’s flexibility, support, and unique practitioner approach to learning can help ease the undertaking while making the experience a worthwhile lifelong educational asset.
Sources: (2011). Keller Graduate School of Management Official Site. www.keller.edu.
Helen Akers - Helen E. Akers
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