To most people , Jack Welch might not be a celebrity and the name might not even ring a bell. For those who do not know, Jack Welch is the former CEO of the company General Electric. Due to this, it would make good sense that if he was going to invest money in a college program, that it would be a business program and that’s exactly what he has done.
Jack Welch has donated two million million dollars to Chancellor University System LLC, which equals having a 12% share in the university. Chancellor University System LLC was created after Myers University went bankrupt and the school plans to offer most of their courses online. The Master’s in Business Administration Degree that began in January of 2010 is offered to those wishing to pursue an MBA degree without having to step food in the classroom. This is no surprise, since many students and schools are now open and at ease with earning their entire degrees on the Internet .
The MBA program did not start out on its best foot though and the start date to the program was ultimately delayed by several months . It was earlier slated to begin in August of 2009, but Jack Welch had some health problems, which included an infection of the spine and that delayed the start of the degree program. Chancellor University had the idea that if a big name was connected to the program, that it would draw more students to the program and to online education .
Compared to other MBA programs, the Jack Welch MBA costs only slightly over $21,000, which is rather cheap. There are of course college fees and that amount drastically goes up once a student adds in the first four years of their education prior to starting the MBA program .
Celebrity endorsements of schools, colleges and degree programs seems to be a new niche that has been forming . The trend however seems to point towards colleges and universities using the names and faces of celebrities that graduated from their school. Regardless, using a name and a face that most people can associate with has been a marketing maneuver for all types of industries.
Since Jack Welch has put his name on an MBA program, this is a celebrity niche to keep watching. You never know who will be the next well known face or name to have a degree program named after them.