The Nonprofit FAQ

What is the practical difference between Certification and an MBA?
Jane Garthson wrote:

I just finished [a certification program] at York University. It was
great, and great value, and an enormous amount of work.

As I see it, the main differences between the MBA and certificate
programs are:

- the MBA costs a lot more
- the MBA take much longer to do
- the reason the MBA takes longer is that many participants have no
hands-on nonprofit management experience; the certificate course builds on
the knowledge people bring to the course
- the MBA is recognized better by those who don't know better



BRAND@melia.qut.edu.au added Tue Nov 15 1994:

Jane and Scott,

Glad to hear you had positive experiences with certificate programs.

What I would like to know more about is details about *how* the
certificate has aided you and why you chose that route over a full
masters of nonprofit management.

A few years ago, when mulling over some career choices, the general
opinon of NPO leaders I talked with was that certificate programs added
very little value to an staff member unless 1) that person already held
a masters in a closely related field (MSW, MPA, MBA) or 2) that person
had extensive experience (10+ years) in nonprofits. In the years since
then, I've experienced general consensus that in leadership positions,
the majority of NPOs want people with a well rounded graduate education.
There apppears to be a level of skepticism surrounding graduate
certificate programs by personnel committees, executive directors and
even many academics.

To what extent have NPOs been receptive to your certificate and is your
certificate complimented by other graduate level education? What
positions did you hold before and after your certificate program? Did
the education makes a difference? What would you say to someone who is
debating the certificate vs. masters issue?

It might be time for some of us to revaluate our thoughts regarding
certificate programs. Scott made a strong point about the relatively
small cost of his certificate education - there may be real value for
money factors that need to be reexamined.

I'd like to hear your thoughts in greater depth.

Regards,

Michael

PS - Jane, regarding your comment about grad programs being so lengthy
because few of the students had "hands on" experience - when I was
pursuing a Masters of Nonprofit Organizations, of the 30 people accepted
into the program I think only 4 were coming straight out of their
undergraduate program. Maybe half of us were over the age of 30. My
classmates were quite a mix of program managers, fundraising officers,
community organizers and other mid-level nonprofit staff. There was even
an executive director or two.

While there are some grad programs with large numbers of inexperience
students, I don't think that's the reason for lengthy degree
curriculums.




Posted in 1994