School requires classes for emphasis but does not offer them

[OneBoredStudent]

South Carolina:

I earned a bachelors degree in technology last May from a local school. After lengthy discussions with supervisors, professors, parents, friends and basically anyone else with an opinion, I determined that the best way to use my degree to its fullest potential was to supplement it with an MBA. I am currently pursuing an MBA at the same school

Because I am a technology professional, I chose to pursue an MBA with an emphasis in Management Information Systems.

For at least two semesters prior to my undergrad graduation, I heard rumors from professors that the MIS emphasis might be going away. With this in mind, I contacted the office of graduate studies to get a definitive answer and to determine whether or not I should find another school. The answer was that they had not made a final decision but that if it did go away AFTER I enrolled, the classes would still be available and, provided I completed those classes, I would still graduate with the emphasis. I enrolled with the emphasis.

I received an email from the program director in February listing the emphases that were being kept and MIS was one of them.

The emphasis requires 4 MIS electives and offers 6. For the sake of simplicity let's call them class 1, class 2, class 3, class 4, class 5 and class 6.

As an undergrad, I took class 1 and class 2 because I needed electives for my bachelors degree and the pickings were slim to say the least. There were few classes in the technology department and fewer were offered at times that I could take them (I work full time during the day). As a result class 1 and class 2 cannot be used as part of my masters degree.

I took class 3 in the Fall of 2011 and can take class 4 next Spring or Summer.

I learned today that, due to lack of demand, class 5 and class 6 haven't been offered in at least 3 years. They are still listed in the course catalog and are still listed as options for the emphasis. Had I known that they were never ACTUALLY offered I would have found an MBA program that better matched my needs but at this point, I have spent a full year in the program and nearly $10,000 in tuition, fee's, books etc. I also have a 4.0 GPA so I have also expended a great deal of effort.

Frankly, I feel that the admissions office mislead me in not telling me about the lack of elective options for my intended emphasis before I enrolled. I know they looked at my transcript and they knew what I had and had not taken.

Do I have any options or am I just out $10,000 and a year of my life?

 

[ecmst12]

Your classes are transferrable, no? You haven't wasted anything even if you switch to a different program.

 

[OneBoredStudent]

Transferable is a relative term, especially in academics. While a course may be considered transferable by the school I currently attend, the question is: will the new program accept the course?

If I can find a different, suitable program and they accept the class, then there is nothing to worry about. Tuition may be high at my school but other than the cost, no harm was actually done. This makes it especially important that I have not taken any of the moral classes yet. The school I go to is a small Southern Baptist college and I believe (I will need to check) that there is at least one class called "Being a Christian Manager" and this would be unlikely to transfer to a public or non religious school.

My question, and it is likely that I should have been more clear about this, is in the event that the credits I have earned are not transferable to a different program.

I do apologize for the confusion.

 

[ecmst12]

Dear lord that sounds like a useless course anyway. But if you transfer to another religious school it might come in handy.

At any rate, you don't know that the class won't be offered. You just know that it hasn't been run in the recent past because not enough people signed up. So get your friends together and sign up for it.

 

[startedone]

You should see if you can take other classes at another school and have them be transferred in as replacements for the courses they no long accept.

You should find a course(s) at another college and give them the abstract of the coursework and see.

 

[Humusluvr]

South Carolina:

I earned a bachelors degree in technology last May from a local school. After lengthy discussions with supervisors, professors, parents, friends and basically anyone else with an opinion, I determined that the best way to use my degree to its fullest potential was to supplement it with an MBA. I am currently pursuing an MBA at the same school

Because I am a technology professional, I chose to pursue an MBA with an emphasis in Management Information Systems.

For at least two semesters prior to my undergrad graduation, I heard rumors from professors that the MIS emphasis might be going away. With this in mind, I contacted the office of graduate studies to get a definitive answer and to determine whether or not I should find another school. The answer was that they had not made a final decision but that if it did go away AFTER I enrolled, the classes would still be available and, provided I completed those classes, I would still graduate with the emphasis. I enrolled with the emphasis.

I received an email from the program director in February listing the emphases that were being kept and MIS was one of them.

The emphasis requires 4 MIS electives and offers 6. For the sake of simplicity let's call them class 1, class 2, class 3, class 4, class 5 and class 6.

As an undergrad, I took class 1 and class 2 because I needed electives for my bachelors degree and the pickings were slim to say the least. There were few classes in the technology department and fewer were offered at times that I could take them (I work full time during the day). As a result class 1 and class 2 cannot be used as part of my masters degree.

I took class 3 in the Fall of 2011 and can take class 4 next Spring or Summer.

I learned today that, due to lack of demand, class 5 and class 6 haven't been offered in at least 3 years. They are still listed in the course catalog and are still listed as options for the emphasis. Had I known that they were never ACTUALLY offered I would have found an MBA program that better matched my needs but at this point, I have spent a full year in the program and nearly $10,000 in tuition, fee's, books etc. I also have a 4.0 GPA so I have also expended a great deal of effort.

Frankly, I feel that the admissions office mislead me in not telling me about the lack of elective options for my intended emphasis before I enrolled. I know they looked at my transcript and they knew what I had and had not taken.

Do I have any options or am I just out $10,000 and a year of my life?

You should ask for the school to recommend two other courses from a similar or online university that can transfer in to your program.

For example, I needed a grant writing course for my doctorate. My university didn't offer it, but their competitor did. I asked my advisor, and he allowed the course to transfer in.

You also might ask for a substitute course within the school. With the courses being Baptist based, you might only find what you want at your school. But if you want to be more attractive to employers, getting courses from another school may be the better route for your resume.