Masters Degree while working

sarah_id1

Hi

Can someone advice on my situation. I am working professional with a massive experience in my industry. I've done my graduation years ago and interested to get a masters degree i.e. M.Sc or M.B.A to help boost my promotion in my current workplace.

The problem apart from working full time I also have kids to look after. I am not interested to learn any more, all I want is a masters degree certificate with cheapest possible option. I am not sure if I qualify for any grants.

Any suggestion will be highly appreciated.

Sarah

dmg24

sarah_id1 wrote: »

Hi

Can someone advice on my situation. I am working professional with a massive experience in my industry. I've done my graduation years ago and interested to get a masters degree i.e. M.Sc or M.B.A to help boost my promotion in my current workplace.

The problem apart from working full time I also have kids to look after. I am not interested to learn any more, all I want is a masters degree certificate with cheapest possible option. I am not sure if I qualify for any grants.

Any suggestion will be highly appreciated.

Sarah

You don't seem to understand the purpose of postgrad study - you are not going to be able to pass the course by simply giving the knowledge that you already have, you will be expected to research and analyse information from a variety of sources.

Which course is it that you wish to do? The workload can vary considerably.

hcb42

I have an MBA. I would be affronted if they gave them away without any extra work. It took 3 yrs of Pt study and cost me about £12K and an awful lot of hard work/some tears and most weekends spent studying. It was worth it on graduation, and more so as I had funded it myself so I didnt feel any tie to an employer

OP, look at the OU - their MBA is well regarded and certainly an affordable option (I graduated in 2004). It involves distance learning, tutorials approx once every four to six weeks and most years students formed small independend study groups and met up once a month as well. I studied near Glasgow at the time.

They also do other Masters courses which I haven't looked at the costs closely, but they would be cheaper than an MBA in general. Undergraduate courses tend to be about £700 per 60 point course, and would be about £4200 - Masters would be at least double that I am guessing from the couple of modules I have looked at. You can pay monthly - spread over the course length, and the MBA modules are normally six months in length, back to back.

Otherwise you could try your local university. I dont know how masters are funded i.e. through research, although my initial reaction is that it wouldnt be...

I doubt there is funding for an MSc, there certainly wont be if you are working with the OU unless you are on a low wage although dont know the limits there. Funding with an MBA would be impossible, some universities charged best part of £30K for such a qualification even back when I started in 2001.

Oldernotwiser

sarah_id1 wrote: »

Hi

Can someone advice on my situation. I am working professional with a massive experience in my industry. I've done my graduation years ago and interested to get a masters degree i.e. M.Sc or M.B.A to help boost my promotion in my current workplace.

The problem apart from working full time I also have kids to look after. I am not interested to learn any more, all I want is a masters degree certificate with cheapest possible option. I am not sure if I qualify for any grants.

Any suggestion will be highly appreciated.

Sarah

Go on, tell your employer and the universities that, I dare you!:rotfl:

sarah_id1

dmg24 wrote: »

Which course is it that you wish to do? The workload can vary considerably.

I am in IT industry. How valuable is Open University certification? Could that be a cheaper option!

dmg24

sarah_id1 wrote: »

I am in IT industry. How valuable is Open University certification? Could that be a cheaper option!

Have you read anything we have said?

kittycatface

directgov have a lot of information for adult learners. You may be eligible for a career development loan and if not their helpline can point you in the right direction. good luck

shegirl

Op,you don't do a masters degree just for a certificate!!!!!!

IF you do not want to learn anything don't bother even thinking about a masters,no university would touch you with a bargepole anyway with that attitude towards it.

sarah_id1

kittycatface wrote: »

directgov have a lot of information for adult learners. You may be eligible for a career development loan and if not their helpline can point you in the right direction. good luck

Thank Kitty. I will call them. Appreciate that.

Voyager2002

My junk-mail box is always full of messages from uncertified "universities" offering to award me degrees on the basis of my life and professional experience, for a suitable fee of course, and promising that as a result my career would really take off with their help. I suggest that the OP gets around the internet, signs up to a few social media sites with her/his hotmail address, and pretty soon the invitations will come flooding in. The sad thing is, many employers are sufficiently stupid as to make promotion decisions in part on the basis of this kind of "qualification".

sarah_id1

Does anyone have any idea about BCS (British Computer Society). Not sure if they do offer any help in achieving Masters degree or equivalent. What is its value and recognition in the IT world.

My employer is insisting me in joining them. Any feedback will me really really appreciated.
I must add I have completed my bachelors degree.