Benedictine University's two-year, $10K M.B.A. program makes an education more accessible to students in Central Illinois and Southwest Arizona

MESA, Ariz., Feb. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- What would you pay for an M.B.A. degree? $40,000? $60,000? $80,000?

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Although studies indicate that most graduates feel earning a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) is worth the investment – according to the U.S. Census Bureau, adults with graduate degrees earn about $400,000 more during their lifetime than those with a bachelor's degree – the average cost of an M.B.A. degree is somewhere between $80,000 and $130,000.*

The high cost of earning an M.B.A. has contributed to student loan debt that has reached $1.2 trillion – prompting President Barack Obama to call on Congress to advance new reforms giving more hard working students a fair shot at pursuing higher education, while emphasizing that the government, states and schools all have a role to play. There is also a need for leaders who can solve ethical issues in the workplace, demonstrate empathy in business practices and possess a high level of emotional intelligence.

Benedictine University, an accredited, nonprofit private Catholic institution, believes that a quality education and an advanced degree should be both accessible and affordable.

To respond to the need for more affordable education and to honor the Benedictine promise of creating values-based business leaders, Benedictine's National Moser Center for Adult Learning is piloting its Next Generation Learning M.B.A. to experienced business professionals in underserved populations in Central Illinois and Southwest Arizona for just $10,000 – an unprecedented higher education pricing strategy.

"The Benedictine promise meets needs with character and ethics," said President William J. Carroll, Ph.D., of Benedictine University, named the fastest-growing university in the country by The Chronicle of Higher Education and among 10 universities in the nation on the cutting edge of tech for 2013 by education and technology blog edcetera.

Students enrolled in the two-year, $10,000 M.B.A. will receive the same high quality program and follow the same curriculum offered at the University's main campus in Lisle, Illinois, but in an updated format featuring technology-enhanced, problem-based learning. Benedictine's M.B.A. program has been preparing students for executive and managerial positions for more than 35 years. With more than 5,000 alumni, it ranked as the fifth-largest M.B.A. program in the Chicago area in 2013 by Crain's Chicago Business.

Learn more at ben.edu/news/2014/10k-mba.cfm.

* – according to www.mba360.com.

SOURCE Benedictine University