What’s up KD? I hope that this message finds you well.
It’s been a month – so I figured I’d drop in, and say hello. Things for me are going okay, just busy. I’m in the middle of looking for a new job, working my old job, being a parent, and being a KD student. So, as you can imagine – I have really appreciated the flexibility of KD this past month.
As for this blog, I figure that I would give you some advice on financial aid – since it’s that time of the year. Right now, I pay for KD with a combination of employee contributions and federal loans. It is a good package – not the best, but I am definitely grateful for all of the support that I get.
I know that if any of you are like me, you wondered how you would be able to pay for an MBA – especially if your company doesn’t pay for it. Here are a couple of things to know that have been helpful for me.
I know that some people are nervous about the debt that can come from 2 years of college loans. But, it’s a really good investment. I’m only one year into my program – and I have learned about million things that have made me more marketable for promotions and given me other career options.
To fill out a FAFSA, go to fafsa.gov. They have all the information there. It can be done all online, takes about 20 minutes, and can take a lot of the financial burden of your MBA.
- Talk to your Human Resources Department.
A lot of people do not talk to Human Resources for a number of reasons – but remember, they are there for you. There may be a number of programs that your company has that will pay for all or a portion of your MBA (or other degree).
The other thing to know is that their contributions to your MBA could be viewed as taxable income. Make sure that you get all the information about the contribution plan before you sign up.
- Understand your financial award.
You may wind up being award more money per quarter than you actually need for your costs per quarter. This money will come back to you as a refund. I know that for me, I need that refund amount to get my books and other school costs.
If you can afford it, it would suggest that you reduce your award to make it stretch further. Once you run out of loans for the year, you have to pay the rest, which may mean that you are not able to take classes for a quarter.
Well, those are just my tips. I hope that you find them helpful. Until next time, I’ll catch you later KD.
Nothing can really prepare you for the first bill you get when finally start your MBA program. It is a time of thoughtful reflection for sure as you work through the loan paperwork or dip into hard earned savings. However, as I was recently paying that first bill of mine, I realized that my experience in Kelley Direct was already starting to pay off.
After a very long, but engaging week at my first in-residence (C511 Organizational Development and Change), I returned to work to find a number of projects and assignments in a state of disarray, including a very large project where I am the technical adviser and a key stakeholder. Initially dismayed at missing a week and seeing such an important project fall even further behind, I met with some other members of the steering committee to see what needed to be done to get things back on track. As we began to discuss the issues, it was quite an exciting feeling to realize that the tactics and strategies I had just learned about from Prof. Sheri Fella were very applicable to my current dilemma. And, instead of continuing down what would very likely have been a path of failure, I was able to apply the techniques Prof. Fella had shared with us to the change process this project was trying to manage. Long story short, instead of weeks, even months, of fruitless work, mounting frustrations, and loss of interest, I was able to diagnose and recommend actions that have immediately put the project back on track, renewed interest and energized the project team, saving us a significant amount of time and money.
Why was I able to have this impact? At Kelley Direct, you learn from the best faculty of any business university online. Not only do they really know the academic side of business, but they have amazing real world experience. Sure, I could have chosen another part time MBA college at a fraction of the cost and likely have covered the same theories and subject matter. But world-class faculty make a difference, and that is where Kelley Direct has really distinguished themselves from other online MBA colleges. Prof. Fella was not only one of the most engaging instructors I have ever had, she was excellent at making sure we all understood how to take the material she was presenting and turn it into something concrete and actionable. Being able to immediately act on what you are learning is definitely key to making it pay, and is why I am glad I chose Kelley Direct. Plus, paying that first bill was a lot easier knowing that I had already used what I had learned to save my organization time and money, earning some much valued career credits along the way.
What does it mean to “live the dream”? It means to achieve your goals, to accomplish everything you have set out to accomplish. It means to have it all and do it all. Living the dream can be a challenge for most of us because we have conflicting goals. For example, my major life goals include raising a family, having a successful career, and earning a master of business administration degree. Why are those goals conflicting? They are all competing for my time, the scarcest resource I have. I have a beautiful wife and two young sons. I love to spend time with them, but I have missed many meals and important family activities because of my hectic work schedule.
Earning an MBA has always been one of my biggest goals, but as I have progressed in my career and my family responsibilities have increased, I began to think that I had missed the window of opportunity. I finally decided that 2009 was the year to get into business school and make my dream a reality. The challenge was to find a business school that met all of my criteria. I wanted to attend a highly ranked university that would provide a top-notch education. I also wanted a program that would give me the flexibility to meet the obligations of my current job and not become a stranger to my family.
A friend of mine at work clued me in to the fact that there are several top universities across the country that offer distance MBA programs. This opened a whole new realm of possibilities for me. I became obsessed with finding the best online MBA program. I learned that there are several online business colleges, but I was only interested in an AACSB accredited online MBA program. Ultimately one program stood head and shoulders above the rest—the Kelley Direct program from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.
I am now in my first year in the Kelley Direct program, and I'm living the dream. I'm getting a great education at one of the best business schools in the nation, and I haven't had to put the rest of my life on hold.
I didn’t have to leave my job to attend business school, and I have the flexibility to work on my studies at my convenience so I don’t have to become a stranger to my family.
--Kelly
It's a Tuesday morning in early November, the day before Veterans Day in the US, about 10am in the morning, I'm in Richmond, VA, and I'm attending class for an MBA program that is in the Top 15.
Now while Richmond, VA certainly has some fine schools, Virginia Commonwealth University (my undergraduate Alma Mater) and University of Richmond, they are not top 15 MBA programs, at least according to the latest Business Week rankings. Just a decade or so ago, if I wanted to attend a top MBA program, living full-time in Richmond, VA would have been physically impossible. I would have had to quit work, uproot my family, and leave the city I love, to move somewhere else for a few years of my life. Quite honestly, I don't know if it would have happened.
Fast forward to 2009, and the concept of online education has taken off, most notably by the "for profit" schools that we always see advertising on TV (which please do not confuse with prestigious schools that are venturing into online education. And while a lot of lower tier business schools have started rolling out an online curriculum, the top 15 to 20 or so MBA programs have been very slow, except the Kelley school at Indiana. Last year about this time I started looking at options for an MBA, trying to find a program that would allow me to work full-time, stay in Richmond, and at the same time feel that I was getting the best education I could. There were some local choices (UR, VCU, and even Virginia Tech who does a remote site MBA here in Richmond), and some online choices (Penn State, Arizona State, Indiana). However, no matter how I analyzed the programs (reputation, price, flexibility), Indiana was my top choice (and I'm a very analytical person). I applied to Indiana first, with all others as possible seconds. I was accepted, and began the program in August of 2009.
Now, at this point I am only a few months into the program, and I can honestly say that there has been no regrets. In fact, I have been blown away by the quality of the program. I have spent literally the past decade in college (working full-time while getting my undergraduate, and a masters in accounting also), so I have taken my fair share of college courses, and the 2 classes I have taken so far in the Kelley Direct program, even though I am attending class from 505 miles away, easily rank in the top 5 of all classes I've taken.
I admit, I was skeptical at first of exactly how the "online thing" would work. But it works incredibly well, and without a lot of the noise and distractions of a typical classroom.
Hopefully this blog, and the other Kelley Direct student blogs, will help to distinguish the Kelley Direct program from others. I will continue to write of my experiences in the program in hopes that it will help future students determine if the KD program is the right choice for them.
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