An Examination of Off-Campus Master's Degree Programs in Business Administration/Management Conducted on Air Force Installations

摘要

The purpose of this study was to examine master's degree programs in business administration/management conducted on Air Force bases. Two specific objectives were identified: determine which postsecondary institutions sponsored such on-base graduate programs; and by analyzing three indicators of academic quality assurance, determine if requirements of on-base programs are consistent with requirements of similar in-resident programs of the parent institution. Three significant findings were noted. During 1976-1979 eleven institutions accounted for 80.7 percent of the degrees awarded. Though granting an overwhelming majority of the degrees, these institutions comprised only 20 percent of the institutions participating in this kind of nontraditional education. In terms of three indicators of academic quality assurance, inconsistencies between quality requirements of an institution's in-resident and on-base graduate programs were noted with all eleven institutions analyzed. Inconsistencies ranged from minor deviations for in-resident school policy to obvious indications of double standards for off-campus and in resident programs. Finally, through a comparison of the on-base quality assurance practices of eleven institutions, extreme disparity among the institutions was noted. Such disparity reflects the varying degree of quality assurance exercised by each institution in the on-base graduate education environment. (Author)