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Students who are considering starting their own business should be considering, perhaps first and foremost, one of several affordable online MBA entrepreneurship degrees. Â Each of these online programs helps students realize their dream of being their own boss by teaching them the basics of business origination, incorporation, hiring, management, marketing, and niche success. They do so without charging astronomical tuition rates, which means graduates can enjoy far lesser debt overall. A lower debt load makes it easy to qualify for the myriad funding sources needed in order to create a business and introduce it to the marketplace. Each of the programs listed here pairs affordable rates with excellent, topical instruction that will be an asset to tomorrow’s business leaders.
Ashford University
Forbes School of Business
Students who enroll in Ashford’s MBA program with an emphasis in entrepreneurship will be taking part in one of the online world’s most recent graduate business school programs. Though Ashford has long served distance learners at the undergraduate level, the university announced only at the end of 2013 that it would be partnering with Steve Forbes, and the Forbes media enterprise, to introduce graduate programs in a wide array of fields. The university now offers an entrepreneurship emphasis taught by some of the leading minds in business, many of whom have worked for or written for Forbes publications in the past. This gives students an invaluable amount of insight into the business community as they learn how to craft an appropriate startup on their own.
Online Entrepreneurship Degree
Though the focus of the Ashford entrepreneurship program is on starting a new business, students must also take traditional classes in management, finance, marketing management services, advanced managerial accounting, and more. These skills are just as essential to a new business as they are to an established corporate office setting, and they ensure that graduates can operate at a high level in virtually any environment. Within the entrepreneurship core, Ashford’s students will learn about the different funding sources for a new business, the tax implications of incorporation, federal regulations that govern everything from tax filing to appropriate wages, hiring and human resources management, and how to create a proper business plan.
Contact
Ashford University
Forbes School of Business
8620 Spectrum Center Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92123
Phone: (866) 711-1700
Website
Tuition: $10,312
Aspen University
School of Management
Aspen University is a career-centered institution that has long adapted its courses on an ongoing basis so that students are always learning the most highly relevant information within a given career. That’s certainly true of the MBA program, which has been continually adapted in order to expose students to more classes in information technology management and the most popular software applications used by senior management and executives. Today, the Aspen University School of Management is comprised of business leaders from all across the country who combine a love of teaching and their extensive industry experience to cultivate hands-on, collaborative learning environments similar to those in corporate America. As a result, graduates have both excellent networking opportunities and a strong set of advanced business skills useful in virtually any venue.
Master in Business Administration – Entrepreneurship
All Aspen University MBA students take a required business core, which means they’ll focus on marketing management, managerial accounting, advanced personnel management, and corporate finance. The entrepreneurship emphasis adds a few unique courses to the mix that will teach students how to make a business plan and then leverage that plan to secure funding from numerous sources. They’ll learn how to grow both organically and strategically, and a unique e-business course will showcase the best ways to start and run an online enterprise that turns the Internet into a real, sustainable profit-maker in many cases.
Contact
Aspen University
School of Management
720 South Colorado Blvd.
Suite 1150N
Denver, CO 80246
Phone: (800) 373-7814
Email: info@aspen.edu
Website
Tuition: $6,150
Ball State University
Entrepreneurship Center
Ball State University is one of the few schools nationwide to dedicate an entire academic department solely to the academic and professional concerns of the small business owner. Known as the Entrepreneurship Center at Ball State University, this on-campus department is responsible for administering the online and offline courses required by the MBA’s entrepreneurship concentration. These faculty members also conduct extensive research into the world of small business startups and the unique issues faced by business owners around the world. As a result, students at Ball State often learn innovative business ownership skills that are light-years ahead of what students are being taught at other, less research-intensive institutions nationwide. This allows Ball State’s program to rank in the upper tier among entrepreneurship programs in the United States.
Master of Business Administration, Concentration in Entrepreneurship
Though entrepreneurship is the primary focus of this MBA, Ball State University does require students to undergo a common core of management classes in order to earn the degree. In addition to helping the school maintain its accreditation, this core of management courses allows students to become versatile business leaders who can easily transition from owner to manager, corporate executive to scrappy business starter, as they please. After they’ve done basic work in advanced accounting, financial management, marketing management, and strategic communication, entrepreneurship will proceed to courses that focus on how to create and brand a business, how to develop a plan for short-term and long-term goal achievement, and how to secure the proper funding needed to keep the lights on, write paychecks, and expand into new markets over time.
Contact
Ball State University
Entrepreneurship Center
2000 W. University Ave.
Muncie, IN 47306
Phone: (765) 289-1241
Email: gradschool@bsu.edu
Website
Tuition: Out-of-State, $24,124; In-State, $9,160
Benedictine University
Department of Management
Benedictine University’s online MBA is consistently ranked in the top half of graduate business programs offered in the United States, and for good reason. The school consistently offers a superior academic experience to online learners, who benefit from an all-doctoral faculty and unique engagement tools that simulate the classroom and corporate environments. Research projects give students insight into the latest developments to change the business landscape, while self-starting business owners teach entrepreneurship classes that show students how to think both critically and creatively about their fledgling enterprise and how to guide it toward success in the long-term.
Online MBA in Entrepreneurship and Managing Innovation
The online MBA in entrepreneurship at Benedictine University comes with a secondary focus, which the school calls “managing innovation.” In this case, that refers to teaching students the best ways to think creatively about a new business. Those who enroll at Benedictine take a rigorous course that asks them which consumer problem their business will solve, how it will solve that problem, and how it can get the message out in a way that is refreshingly new and decidedly persuasive. Alongside courses in creative and innovative business thinking, students will learn how to finance, plan, and promote their business. They’ll also take a common business core of MBA classes that emphasize advanced accounting, business financial management, corporate structure and personnel management, and advanced studies of corporate economics.
Contact
Benedictine University
Department of Management
5700 College Road
Lisle, IL 60532
Phone: (866) 295-3104
Website
Tuition: $25,516
Brandman University
College of Business and Professional Studies
Brandman University is one of the most affordable online choices for students across the country, and the College of Business and Professional Studies drives up the value for students by granting them access to prestigious MBA courses. From studies in innovation to lectures on strategic planning, CBPS uses the online classroom to deliver scholarly discussions of the latest business topics and how new developments are affecting the professional landscape. A top U.S. News and World Report institution for both value and quality, those who choose Brandman will enjoy superior post-graduation networking, employment, and small business fortunes as a result of rigorous, fast-paced classes.
MBA, Business Administration, Entrepreneurship
The Master of Business Administration at Brandman University utilizes an accelerated format that can see full-time students earn their degree in just 18 months. Accelerated courses include studies of financial management and financial planning, advanced and managerial accounting, managerial economics, advanced management strategy, and studies of quantitative reasoning. Students who choose to focus on entrepreneurship will take classes that teach them about running an online business, strategically planning their enterprise’s mission, reason for inception, and plan for success, and the financial implications of forming a business and securing funding from investors. The program’s outcomes focus on creating innovative business leaders who know the importance of both long-term and short-term strategic planning for continued success.
Contact
Brandman University
College of Business and Professional Studies
16355 Laguna Canyon Rd.
Irvine, CA 92618
Phone: (707) 437-3327
Website
Tuition: $8,800
Capella University
Business Graduate Department
Capella University has long used the traditional format for MBA delivery: Students scheduled courses either on a semester basis or in accelerated, multi-week blocks. They completed the program on a given schedule, set by the school’s administration. That approach still exists, but now Capella allows entrepreneurship students to use its “FlexPath” approach instead. This allows for self-paced completion of an MBA that dramatically speeds up how quickly business students can earn their graduate degree and begin leveraging its curriculum for their own success in the marketplace. No matter the schedule, all Capella courses are taught by seasoned doctoral faculty or adjuncts, with an emphasis on innovation and planning in order to create a sustainable company.
Master of Business Administration, Entrepreneurship Specialization
MBA students at Capella University learn all they need to know about creating a small business, including the importance of a strategic plan for funding, management, growth, marketing, and more. The entrepreneurship concentration also teaches student about the numerous different ways to fund a small business, whether it’s seeking long-term investors, short-term capital, or even using personal loans to start a self-owned enterprise initially. The institution’s MBA program also focuses on the fundamentals of management, from accounting and global finance to corporate economics and advanced statistics.
Contact
Capella University
Business Graduate Studies
225 S 6th St.
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Phone: (866) 933-5840
Website
Tuition: $12,348
Kaplan University
College of Business
Long a leader in undergraduate and graduate-level business education programs, Kaplan University takes a slightly different approach to entrepreneurship. The university offers a Master of Science degree through its respected College of Business instead of a pure MBA. Students can elect to study solely online, or they can make use of a nearby Kaplan University learning center for tutoring, in-class instruction, networking, or other assistance. The university’s online tools are world class, as one would expect from a primarily online institution. Engagement is encouraged through discussion boards, video assignments, group problem-solving activities, outside research, and other methods traditional among online programs.
Master of Science in Management
Those with an eye on entrepreneurship can gain the skills they need through the Master of Science in Management program. All students will study how to best manage personnel, benefits, and capital, through courses that focus on corporate finance, government regulations, business funding and financing, and tax policy. Courses in strategic communication and ethics are also offered. Specialization courses give students the chance to pick their chosen interest in the management world, from entrepreneurship to leadership and human resources. By the time they graduate, students will be able to make quick and effective management decisions in both large corporate environments and smaller, self-owned business settings.
Contact
Kaplan University
College of Business
1515 W Cypress Creek Rd.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309
Phone: (954) 515-3000
Email: infoku@kaplan.edu
Website
Tuition: $13,884
No matter the industry, affordability is a top concern for students who are increasingly wary of graduating with a large student debt burden. That’s especially true in entrepreneurship, which encourages students to strike out on their own and turn individual ideas into successful enterprises. The best way to do that is with minimal debt, maximum education, and a unique set of skills to help guide the business toward sustainable operations. The affordable online MBA entrepreneurship degrees mentioned here will make all of that possible.
