Top 50 Affordable Human Resource Management Schools

Choosing an Affordable HR Management College

Emotion often enters the decision of which university or college a student may choose. Some students think that they need to attend an expensive, well-known university for their degree to mean anything. However, these students may be overlooking the fact that, when they graduate, they will have a big student loan to repay. Its true that networking in a better-known college or gaining access to a great alumni network can be a huge advantage in some situations. But it is not always the most important thing when you are considering college options.

If a student doesn’t get that scholarship to attend Harvard, or the nearby private university they were hoping to attend, all is not lost. One way to parse the remaining college options available to you is by student outcomes. Some schools publish the average income of their graduates. By considering this average income of a school’s graduates vs. the cost of attending the school, you can find the likely return on investment (ROI) for the money you will pay for your education.

You’ll also want to pay attention to things like accreditation and the net price of the school. Accreditation will mean that a student can receive federal financial aid and is required for many scholarships as well. The net price, which denotes the average amount students at the school pay after financial aid is factored in, helps high school graduates see how good the school is at helping their students find or apply scholarships, grants, or federal student aid.

As we’ve already mentioned, an in-state public school is often a better investment than an out-of-state school because public schools are subsidized by local governments to lower the cost of education for local students. This is not the case for out-of-state students. However, there is more to it than this. Students attending school outside of their own state will also need to consider how much transportation costs will be to return home for vacations or breaks. If you’re only a couple hours from home, that’s one thing. If you need to fly, that’s a whole new cost you’ll have to consider.

Online Options

Some students may have no option but to enroll in an online human resource management degree program. They may already be employed full-time and need to maintain their income, or they may have to help take care of a family member. There are even students who choose to enroll online to keep their travel and living costs lower by staying at home while keeping up with their studies.

A human resources management degree is one that easily adapts to either on-campus or online formats. A student who knows what topic they want to study and specialize in can choose an online program that offers them the degree they’re looking for. With the steady improvement of the online format, assignments, and student-professor interaction, students who are attending online classes can gain as much value as their on-campus counterparts.

Online degree programs have increasingly good reputations, especially when they are offered by colleges and universities that offer on-campus programs. Much of the material taught to on-campus students is exactly the same as that offered to students who are attending their program fully online. Looking at a human resources management degree program, online students will learn the same material as on-campus students, they will be able to apply to similar job openings, and they will find the same success in the workplace as long as they are able to complete their program.

Students who are concerned about accreditation should ask about this for each school they are interested in. A human resources management program may be accredited by a regional accrediting agency, overseen by CHEA, or the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP).

HR Management Graduates Earn More After College

A professional with a bachelor’s degree in human resources or human resources management earns an average of $58,000 annually. Their annual salary is almost $10,000 higher than that of an HR generalist. If they are promoted to the director’s position, their annual salary may be as high as $79,000.

HR professionals who earn a graduate degree in human resource management, they earn a higher average annual salary of $64,000. HR directors earn an average annual salary of $83,000. As with most other careers, gaining a higher level of education will often allow you to earn a higher salary. Should a professional continue learning in this field or gaining certifications, they may increase their annual salary to $81,000 or even $107,000 annually in the position of a senior human resources business partner.

A Master of Business Administration (MBA), in Human Resources Management can increase your income if you also have the experience to go along with it. Those with this degree earn an average of $69,000 annually. If they become the director of their HR department, their annual salary increases to $89,000.