BENJAMIN MIGLIURI, C.H.I.A.

520 W. CASCADE WAY SPOKANE, WA

99208
BENJAMINMIGLIURI@GMAIL.COM

C: 509.863.6701

E:

Memo
Date: February 28, 2016
To: Carson College of Business Students at Washington State University
From: Benjamin Migliuri, School of Hospitality Business Management student at Washington
State University
Subject: Recommendation Memo for English 402 Research Project

Purpose
The purpose of this memo is to provide an update on the status of the current research project.
Summary
For the week of February 21-28, 2016, I researched the Masters of Business Administration
programs of two public universities and two private universities within the state of Washington.
The universities studied were Eastern Washington University-Spokane, Gonzaga University,
Washington State University-Pullman and Whitworth University-Downtown.
All universities offer an MBA program that can be completed in one year for full time students as
well as a part time option with night classes offered. Of the four universities, Eastern Washington
University- Spokane is the least expensive at roughly $25,000, but requires more required credit
hours at 48. Whitworth University is the most fixed curriculum as they do not offer any electives.
Washington State University is the only school to offer an online MBA program, however for the
Pullman location, they factor in the students location, which for non-residents of the state of
Washington would cost nearly $50,000.
Introduction
In our education system, for high school students it is almost expected they continue their
education by obtaining a bachelors degree from a college or university. Lately this custom has
extended to college graduates being expected to get a Masters degree from a graduate school. It
seems lately that business students are being asked early on in their secondary education path
where, not if, they plan on getting an MBA or Masters of Business Administration.
Almost every university offers some sort of MBA program so it will be necessary to will need to
narrow the research subjects to two public universities and two private universities to use as
comparisons. I will use the information obtained by my research to analyze the data in order to
recommend to fellow students in the field of Hospitality, like myself, the benefits from
completing a MBA program, if any, or if they should focus their efforts elsewhere.

Research Methods
I performed primary research by meeting with a representative from each Universitys MBA
office on Thursday, February 25, 2016. Due to time and distance restrictions, my meeting with
Alicia Booth of Washington State University-Pullman took place over the phone as well as email
communication. My secondary researched included information from each universitys website
as well as information obtained from the brochures given to me during the previously mentioned
meetings. I met with Tate White of Whitworth University, Roberta Brooke of Eastern
Washington University, Jon Billings of Gonzaga University and Alicia Booth of Washington
State University. During these meetings I asked the following questions.

Questions:
1. How long is the program?
2. How does the admissions process work?
3. What days of the week are classes offered?
4. What is the cost of the program?
5. What test scores are required?
6. What is the class size?
7. What type of majors normally take MBA courses?

Results
Eastern Washington University is the only school that goes by quarters and thus are the only
school with deadlines for admission. They require 48 credit hours of which 40 are required
curriculum and 8 are elective courses.
Gonzaga requires 33 credit hours of which 22 are required curriculum and 11 elective courses.
Washington State University-Pullman requires 32 credit hours of which 18 are required and 14
are electives. This university also requires a 2 week international trip where lectures will take
place from local instructors.
Washington State University Online requires 36 credit hours with zero electives.
Whitworth University has a fixed 38 credit hour MBA curriculum. All courses are to be taken in
a set order, step by step, in six week increments. This means the MBA student will only be in one
class for six weeks at a time. No electives are allowed in order to ensure that all MBA graduates
from Whitworth University have gained the same level of educational information (White). Mr.
White also stated that books for all classes are included in the cost of tuition to Whitworth.
The following table is the information that was gained during my primary and secondary
research phases. It breaks down the type of university (Public or Private), the length of the MBA
program, the cost per credit, the overall total cost of the program, the times classes are offered as
well as the required admission materials.

University

Eastern
Washingto
nSpokane

Gonzaga
University

Type
of
school
Public

Number
of
credits
48-50

Cost per
credit

Total cost
($)

GMAT
Score

Times
offered

450
(resident)
846
(nonresident)

25,994
(residents)
54,924
(nonresidents)

1050

1 night
per
week
for 3
hours
40
minutes

$955

22
required
.
11
electives

1 year
Full
time
3-4
years
part
time

33,165
(FULL
TIME)

No
minimum
but proof
of taking
test
required

MonThursd
ay
nights
for 3
hours
per
night

40
required
8
elective

Private

33

Length
of
program
1 year
full
time
2 years
part
time

11,055/
YEAR

Washingto
n State
University
- Pullman

Public

32

1 year

765.62
(resident)
1531.25
(nonresidents)

24,500
(residents)
49,000
(nonresidents)

1150

Washingto
n StateOnline

Public

36

2 years

833

30,000

1150

Online

Whitworth
University
Downtown

Private

38
required
fixed

1 year
full
2 part
time

865

30000

Only
required
for
financial
aid

Two
nights a
week
for 2.5
hours

Admission
Materials
Required
$50 app fee
Essay
Resume
References
Transcripts
GMAT/GRE
Scores

$50 app fee

Essay
Resume
References
Transcripts
GMAT/GRE
Scores
$75 app fee
Essay
Resume
References
Transcripts
GMAT/GRE
Scores
$75 app fee
Essay
Resume
References
Transcripts
GMAT/GRE
Scores
Essay
Resume
References
Transcripts
GMAT/GRE
Scores

Conclusions
All universities researched required, an online application (with fee), resume, professional
references, transcripts, most recent GRE/GMAT scores, and finally a letter of intent essay which
requires the applicant to explain why he/she wants to attend graduate school. All universities also
require the student applicant to go through an interview with the dean of the school before being
fully admitted to the graduate school. Most universities researched participate in rolling
admission except Eastern Washington University which requires acceptance and admission
before the start of each term. Rolling admission means there is no set deadline to submit
application materials but since classes are filled on a first come first serve basis, they may be full
if the applicant waits to apply. Eastern Washington University is the only school that has terms
determined by quarters instead of semesters like the other universities researched.
All schools offered classes at night to provide the opportunity to working adults. The MBA
student should expect to spend anywhere between three and a half to six hours in class per week.
All schools also suggest that the student both works and goes to class part time or they go to
class fulltime but stay unemployed. All staff members I met with strongly discourage working
and going to graduate school classes full time.
The two public universities, Eastern Washington and Washington State, both factor in the
residency of the student in terms of fees for tuition. For out of state students (non-residents) the
cost of tuition nearly doubles versus being a resident of the state of Washington.
Recommendation
Whether you are a resident or non-resident, based off my research, Whitworth University seems
like the best option. It is a smaller university so the counselors are able to focus one on one with
the graduate students. Also, because of the 38 credit fixed curriculum, you are guaranteed
completion of your degree within 22 months because you will not have to worry if the elective is
offered during a specific term period since electives are not offered. Every student takes the same
classes in the same order so by the end of the 22 months you will have been with the same group
of students the entire time.

Works Cited/References

Billings, Jon. "Gonzaga University." Personal interview. 25 Feb. 2016.

Booth, Alicia. "Washington State University." E-mail interview. 25 Feb. 2016.
Brooke, Roberta. "Eastern Washington University." Personal interview. 25 Feb. 2016.
"Gonzaga University, Spokane Washington." Master of Business Administration. N.p., n.d. Web. 21
Feb. 2016. <http://www.gonzaga.edu/Academics/Colleges-and-Schools/School-of-BusinessAdministration/Graduate-Programs/Prospective-Students/academicprograms/MBA/default.asp>.
"Graduate Programs - Carson College of Business." Carson College of Business. N.p., n.d. Web. 21
Feb. 2016. <https://business.wsu.edu/graduate-programs/>.
"Graduate Programs." EWU. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2016. <http://www.ewu.edu/grad>.
"Master of Business Administration | Whitworth University." Master of Business Administration
| Whitworth University. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2016.
White, Tate. "Whitworth University." Personal interview. 25 Feb. 2016.