MMU is one of the top former polytechnics and has been a long time player in the MBA market. MMU is well respected in the city and the school's research profile again marks it out as one of the stronger former polytechnics.

You don't mention any goals, but often students want to maximize the opportunity to get a competitive edge over other MBAs in the market with deeper academic experiences, stronger networks from the cohort, powerful careers services, active alumni networks and extensive brand equity. As the pricing shows, MMU doesn't notably outperform its peers on those measures. A triple crown uni with better resources and a stronger alumni network might meet some goals better.

The added investment would pay off hugely if you were targeting entrepreneurship or traditional MBA employers.

Hi Duncan,

Thank you for the quick and comprehensive response to my post. At present I work for a large engineering firm and plan on staying put. It’s a great place to work with many opportunities opening up, but most are project management and general business management. There are not as many technical and specialist engineering roles available.

You mentioned my goals. Well the motivation for going down the MBA route is spread over a number of reasons.
1. I would like gain a better understanding of how a business should work.
2. How best to manage the people.
3. Move into better management roles within my organization.

My initial 3rd level qualification is from a polytechnic so I have no hang ups about taking an MBA from MMU or any polytechnic uni.

An MBA from a triple accredited business school would be great but I think they might be a bit outside my price range right now. The alternative would be a course in project management but the I think the MBA would provide broader reference.

It’s difficult to know what is the correct path to follow.

I think that options like Illinois or the OU could be interesting, but also non-MBA options like the graduate entry BSc from the LSE available from the University of London, could be useful. But do you need a degree? The Maryland MBA core and the Illinois Coursera specialisations could be great.

It doesn't sound like your goals include making large career transitions, so an online program could be ideal.

However, learning how to manage people and other soft skills like this does take some hands-on learning. Maybe a program that has some in-class residencies? Or an EMBA / part-time MBA from an accredited school?