Where value for money and flexibility are king

An MBA from a new university may lack the glamour of one from an old, but can be just as useful, says Helen Jones

Martin Williams, 37, gets to spend a lot of time in hotel rooms. As a management consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, he is constantly on the move, but rather than raiding the mini bar and watching badly dubbed TV programmes, he spends his time studying for an MBA.

Williams is enrolled on Kingston Business School's two-year, part-time, open-learning MBA. "Because I travel so much I knew that I wouldn't be able to make it to classes in the evenings," he says. "I chose Kingston because it offers a flexible open-learning programme. It takes up one weekend a month and I can study while I travel."

Kingston is just one of a handful of new universities to receive accreditation from the Association of MBAs (The Association of MBAs), which lays down criteria for the content of courses and the level of experience students must have before enrolment.

Although an MBA from a new university may not carry the kudos or glamour of one the top European or American schools, it is a practical, cost-effective solution for many students.

At many of the new universities, the majority of full-time MBA students are from abroad – at Leicester Business School at De Montford University, 100 per cent of the intake is from overseas. Part-time courses are dominated by locals.

"Part-time students who have other commitments such as jobs and families don't really want to travel more than 30 or 40 miles to an evening class. Their best option may well be the local new university," says Peter Calladine, educational services manager for The Association of MBAs.

New universities, recognising that part-time students have to fit their studies around work, offer flexible learning with day or block release and weekend courses. "Our part-time MBA offers managers and their employers a flexible pattern of study, ensuring minimal disruption to work schedules. In practice, this means study on one late afternoon or evening per week," says Dr Gareth Griffiths of Manchester Metropolitan University Business School.

The new universities also often have good links with local businesses and industries as a legacy of their polytechnic days. Dr Ken Russell, director of the MBA programme at Bristol Business School at the University of the West of England, says: "Because we are The Association of MBAs accredited, the course is academically rigorous but we also have the advantage of the old polytechnic heritage with its emphasis on teaching rather than research. I think we can hold our own against the older universities."

New universities also offer value for money – they are often half the price of the top business schools. Dr Griffiths says: "The only other The Association of MBAs-accredited institution in the region is Manchester Business School and that costs £18,000 part-time and around £24,000 full-time. Our course costs £10,000. It's still a considerable investment but is a cheaper alternative."

Les Willmore, head of recruitment for the MBA programme at Leicester Business School says that some students are attracted to Leicester because of its world reputation for textiles, others because the city has reasonably priced accommodation. "Not everyone wants to be in London or can afford it. Living costs here are a third to half the cost of London and that is certainly a consideration if you are financing yourself."

Those opting for new universities are not cut off from international experience. Manchester Metropolitan University Business School runs an annual trip to Beijing so that students can see a completely different business culture at first hand. Kingston meanwhile, runs an international programme for those employed in multinational companies. The Kingston MBA is offered at Haarlem Business School in the Netherlands, ICBS Thessaloniki in Athens and the Academy of the National Economy in Moscow.

Bristol runs a European MBA in conjunction with ICN in Nancy, France and the Georg-Simon-Ohm-Gachhochschule, Nuremberg, Germany.

Andreas Burger, who recently completed the course, says: "It was a particularly attractive proposition because it enabled me to study at three well-established and well-known universities. It was also great to celebrate Christmas in typically English style, to eat the best French food in Nancy two weeks later and sit in a Nuremburg beer garden in June."