Get Ready for These March MBA Deadlines
Be on top of the MBA application process and submit your graduate school applications in a timely fashion. Getting applications in early can increase your chances of scholarships and other not-to-miss opportunities when applying for your MBA. Here’s your guide to the March MBA deadlines in some of the biggest metros. Continue reading…
How Affordable are Baltimore MBA Programs Compared to DC?
A few years ago, the Baltimore Sun published a hilarious list outlining 100 reasons why Baltimore is a better city than Washington DC. Here are some of our favorite reasons:
- We don’t start conversations by asking, “What do you do?” or “Who do you work for.”
- It never takes us 45 minutes to go six miles.
- Our traffic doesn’t lead to clinical depression.
- D.C.’s happy hour is regular price to us.
- Our signature food is crab cakes and pit beef. D.C. has … yeah.
- We weren’t built on a swamp.
- Cal Ripken is 2,632 times better than any D.C. sports figure.
- The NATIONAL Aquarium: Not in the nation’s capital.
Yes, some of these reasons are very tongue-in-cheek, and the list aimed to be light-hearted and irreverent. But if you’re a prospective MBA in the DMV, there are some clear advantages to picking a business school in the Baltimore metro over the Washington DC metro, namely the affordability of programs.
Let’s take a deeper dive and see just how affordable Baltimore MBA Programs are compared to their DC counterparts.
Which MBAs Can You Earn in Baltimore and DC?
Both Baltimore and Washington DC are home to some of the country’s most prestigious business schools and MBA programs. Programs offered in the Baltimore metro include:
- Perdue School of Business – Salisbury University
- Carey Business School – Johns Hopkins University
- Sellinger School of Business – Loyola University Maryland
- University of Baltimore – Merrick School of Business
- University of Maryland R.H. Smith School of Business
Meanwhile, MBA programs offered in the Washington DC Metro include:
- George Mason University School of Business
- George Washington University School of Business
- Howard University School of Business
- Kogod School of Business – American University
- McDonough School of Business – Georgetown University
How Affordable are Baltimore’s Programs Compared to DC’s?
Yes, both metros boast and impressive programs that are sure to provide prospective MBAs with a high-quality business educations, but which city offers the more affordable options?
Here is the average cost per credit hour at business schools in Baltimore.
- Carey Business School Global MBA: $2,174 per credit hour
- Perdue School of Business Full-Time MBA: $392 per credit hour (in-state students), $703 per credit hour (out-of-state students)
- Sellinger School of Business Full-Time MBA: $1,238 per credit hour
- Merrick School of Business Flexible MBA: $824 per credit hour (in-state students), $1,149 per credit (out-of-state students)
- R.H. Smith School of Business Full-Time MBA: $1,658 per credit hour (in-state students), $1,998 per credit (out-of-state students)
Let’s compare these tuitions rates to the MBA offerings in the Washington DC area:
- George Mason University School of Business Full-Time MBA: $950 per credit hour (residents of Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC), $1,751.50 per credit hour (out-of-state and international students)
- George Washington University School of Business Global MBA: $1,837 per credit hour
- Howard University School of Business Full-Time MBA: $1,259 per credit hour
- Kogod School of Business Full-Time MBA: $1,642 per credit hour
- McDonough School of Business Full-Time MBA: $1,880 per credit hour
When looking at tuition costs, Baltimore takes the cake. Even though Baltimore boasts the most expensive full-time program (Carey Business School Global MBA), the average cost per credit hour for both in-state and out-of-state students is about 16 percent lower in Charm City.
Washington DC vs. Baltimore MBA Cost
Baltimore | Washington DC | |
---|---|---|
In-State Cost (per credit hour) | $1,257.20 | $1,513.60 |
Out-of-State Cost (per credit hour) | $1,452.40 | $1,673.90 |
Additional Costs To Consider
Aside from tuition, business students living in the Baltimore area have a lower cost of living then their Washington DC counterparts. According to Numbeo, you would need around $4,541 in Baltimore to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with $6,100 in Washington DC, assuming you rent in both cities. This calculation uses the website’s Cost of Living Plus Rent Index to compare cost of living.
Here’s a closer look at how Numbeo creates its Cost of Living Indexes, and a breakdown of a few key stats to look at when comparing Baltimore to Washington DC:
- Consumer Prices in Baltimore, MD are 14.78 percent lower than in Washington DC
- Rent Prices in Baltimore, MD are 39.97 percent lower than in Washington DC
- Groceries Prices in Baltimore, MD are 15.70 percent lower than in Washington DC
- Local Purchasing Power in Baltimore, MD is 10.21 percent lower than in Washington DC
The case for Washington DC
So Baltimore’s MBA offerings are, on average, more affordable than Washington DCs. But what if money isn’t an issue, or you happen to get into a program in DC? Here are a few ways that the Capital City has the Monument CIty beat, according to Thrillist:
- Culinary Scene: DC is experience a craft beer renaissance with four breweries opening in recent years: DC Brau, 3 Stars Brewing, Chocolate City, and Bluejacket (soon). Meanwhile, notable restaurants such as minibar (Andres), Le Diplomate (Starr), Kapnos (Isabella), Range (Voltaggio), and Casa Luca (Trabocchi) have also opened. Baltimore isn’t really known as much of a foodie town.
- Public Transit: The Metro is one of the most efficient, most convenient, and cleanest public rail lines in the country. Baltimore’s metro runs East to West only, and doesn’t link up with either of the two other rail systems.
Oh, and remember that Baltimore Sun article we reference at the top of the page? Enjoy DC Inno’s slightly more punchy response.
How Can You Earn a Career at Deloitte?
In 2017, Deloitte placed 11th out of “Fortune’s 100 Best Companies” to work for. It achieved its top slot thanks to the company’s focus on work/life balance where “you decide how fast paced/slow paced you want to take it.” In fact, 91 percent of Deloitte employees say their workplace is great with:
- Great challenges (96 percent)
- Great atmosphere (95 percent)
- Great rewards (94 percent)
- Great pride (97 percent)
- Great communication (95 percent)
- Great bosses (94 percent)
So, it’s no wonder that Deloitte is a top career choice for many MBA students. The company fits the 33 percent of 2016 post-graduate MBAs who want to work in consulting according to the 2017 Prospective Student Survey conducted by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC). And Deloitte also falls into the Big Four—KPMG, EY, PwC, and Deloitte—a prestigious place to be.
In addition, Deloitte is a major MBA recruiter with a depth of different career opportunities including Strategy & Operations, not just consulting. According to Transparent Career—a GlassDoor for MBA students—Deloitte ranks as the seventh best consulting company to work for with a composite score of 81/100.
Why You Should Consider Deloitte
So, why should you consider Deloitte as your next career move?
- Culture: For 18 years, Deloitte has been on Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list. That indicates consistency.
- Giving Back: Deloitte supports more than 5,000 nonprofits each year through its workplace giving program. Plus, workers gave more than 440,000 volunteer hours in 2016.
- Inclusion: Approximately 2/3 of Deloitte’s new hires were women and minorities, and DiversityInc ranks it as one of the “Top 50 Companies for Diversity” and has done so for 13 years.
Deloitte also pays very well. In fact, according to a recent Business Insider article, Deloitte is ranked as the fifth best paying consulting firm for MBAs. Deloitte Consultants can expect a total compensation package of $221,250. The break down is as follows:
- $25,000 signing bonus
- $149,000 base salary
- $2,500 relocation local or $10,000 relocation out-of-state
- Up to $37,250 in performance bonuses
As for what working at Deloitte is like, according to efinancialcareers, “People say they love working for Deloitte because of its ‘dedicated workforce, dynamic and exciting work environment [with] opportunities for professional growth and advancement,’ as well as its ‘flexibility and mobility’ and ‘interesting assignments.’”
And one current employee described Deloitte as “invested in learning and development” saying that “partners and directors are very approachable” while coworkers are “well-educated and professional.”
Life at Deloitte
What’s a day in the life of a Deloitte new hire look like? It depends on where you work. Deloitte isn’t just a consulting company. MBAs can work in a variety of industries including banking, energy, national defense, real estate, and entertainment and in a variety of functions from mergers and acquisitions to audit and assurance, tax, and financial advisory.
Your career path at Deloitte will depend on where you’re hired. If you’re thinking of a career in management consulting, then joining the Strategy & Operations program as a Business Analyst is a smart move. As an MBA, you’ll start at the senior consultant level for two to three years. From there, you’ll move to manager for three to six years, senior manager for 406 years, and then finally reach principal/director. Within this career path, you’ll help market-leading client organizations tackle their complex business programs to drive results. You’ll be exposed to a variety of industries, clients, and projects.
There are quite a few other options as well. You can join Deloitte as a:
- Senior Consulting in Technology, where you’ll make strategic decisions where technology intersects with business strategy. In this position, you’ll use technology to help companies grow and evolve.
- Human Capital Consultant, where you’ll help clients develop solutions across their enterprise looking beyond human resources.
- Audit Staff Assistant, where you’ll work with a team to navigate the difficult landscape of auditing first-hand.
Depending on your previous experience, MBAs at Deloitte can work in one of eight divisions:
- Audit
- Consulting
- Financial Advisory
- Internal Client Services
- Real Estate
- Risk
- Tax Consulting
- Technology
Landing a Deloitte Career
Landing a job at Deloitte starts with their Deloitte Consulting Immersion Program, Client Service Internship, and various competitions. In each of these programs, MBA students will have the opportunity to interact with higher-ups at Deloitte who are responsible for hiring.
During the internship, MBA students will spend eight to ten weeks working in one of four business functions: risk and financial advisory, audit and assurance, consulting, and tax. On the other hand, the Immersion Program is just three days in length but provides MBAs with the opportunity to evaluate the depth, breadth, and quality of the job opportunities at Deloitte. As for the competitions, the National Case Competition and the National Consulting Case Competition are held at Deloitte University each year—inviting top students from MBA programs around the world.
Still, landing a job at Deloitte isn’t easy. Heidi Soltis-Berner, the Managing Director for talent at Deloitte, told efinancialcareers:
“We’re always looking for the best talent, and we’re pretty selective in who we hire. Overall, our applications were very similar to last year—we got around 500,000, and in the fiscal year 2016 we hired approximately 18,000 individuals, about 50 percent to 60 percent were from a campus setting, which equates to about a 4 percent hiring rate, pretty close to what it was last year.”
Specifically, at the graduate level, Deloitte added 6,400 new hires in 2016—most of those post-internship. According to the Deloitte website, qualified MBA candidates looking to earn a Senior Consultant position should have:
- 3-5 years work experience (preferably in a large company)
- A high level of personal and professional experience and history
- Superior analytical skills
- Willingness to travel
- Leadership capabilities and solid teamwork skills
- Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills
Toronto News: Ivey Students Come to the UN, and More
Let’s visit some of the biggest news coming out of Toronto business schools this week.
François Neville Unpacks Why Some Minority Groups Won’t Seek Business Loans – DeGroote Communications Department
François Neville, Assistant Professor of Strategic Management at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University, recently investigated whether certain minority entrepreneurs become discouraged when it comes to entrepreneurial activities such as seeking capital. Neville’s has published a study in the Journal of Management Studies breaks down how years of mistreatment have led to many minority business owners not wanting to begin the process of seeking a loan.
“There is a fairly established body of research offering compelling evidence that minorities are subject to inequality in the workplace and entrepreneurship, despite numerous policy initiatives to curb this,” Neville told the school.
You can read more about Neville and the study here.
Ivey Students Participating in UN Conference – News@Ivey
Two Ivey Business School students were given the special opportunity to take part in a United Nations (UN) conference earlier this month. Emma Hogeterp, HBA/Huron Global Studies ’19; and Sanket Mehta, MBA ’18 , participating in the 2018 Winter Youth Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York City from Feb. 14-16.
“The purpose of the conference is to not only discuss ideas, but also how they can be applicable in your country,” said Mehta. “What works in one country might not work in another because every country has a different set of economic indicators, such as life expectancy, income levels, and population.”
Learn more about the Youth Assembly and the Ivey students attending the summit here.
Student Trading Competition Celebrates its 15th Anniversary at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management – Rotman Media Centre
The Rotman School of Management is hosting the 15th annual Rotman International Trading Competition (RITC) from February 22 to 24 in the Rotman School’s BMO Financial Group Finance Research and Trading Lab. Teams from 52 different universities spanning the globe will participate in various activities including electronic and outcry trading cases, seminars with industry practitioners, and social events with their fellow competitors.
“Given the challenge associated with each competition case, participants build models to apply theory, process information to separate the signal from the noise, quantify uncertainty and manage risks. Teams who combine those skills with good decision making do the best over the weekend.” Prof. Tom McCurdy, the Bonham Chair in Finance and academic director of the lab and the competition, said.
You can read more about RITC here.
The Differences Between a Full-Time MBA in New York City and Toronto – MetroMBA
We stack up the best of the best when it comes to NYC and Toronto MBA programs, and where each city stands out. Not surprisingly, Toronto MBAs are more affordable, and the cost of living in the city is infinitely more reasonable, but NYC programs have more prestige and potential financial reward.
Even for those who do not pay extra for room and board, expenses for U.S. residents studying at many NYC business schools will be higher than their neighbors to the north. According to Numbeo, the cost of living in Toronto is 24 percent less than the cost of living in New York City, and rent is nearly 40 percent less.
However, the value of the individual school tends to favor New York City programs over its Toronto counterparts. NYU Stern is currently the 12th overall on the U.S. News & World Report 2018 ranking, with CBS coming even higher at 9th overall. The ranking comparison remains consistent with The Economist as well, with CBS coming in 9th (again), Stern coming in 14th. The highest ranked Canadian program in The Economist ranking—Ivey Business School—came in 59th.
Check out the rest of our comparison here.
The Differences Between a Full-Time MBA in New York City and Toronto
New York and Toronto are the largest cities in the United States and Canada, respectively. Both are major financial and cultural centers, and home to millions of hard-working students, employees, and businesses.
Both metros are also home to a number of quality business schools, each with their own prestigious full-time MBA programs. How do New York and Toronto compare as cities and as destinations for your full-time MBA studies? Let’s take a deeper dive and see.
Location
The most bustling and populous metro in the United States, New York City is is the capital of the business world. More Fortune 500 companies are headquartered here than in any other city. The Big Apple is not only home to Wall Street and the world’s largest financial institutions, but also media, marketing and advertising companies. New York is an enormous city and, unfortunately, expensive to live in, so it may not be for everyone.
When looking at metros with bustling financial sectors and companies, New York is often is the first to come to mind. But how about it neighbor to the north? Toronto is also considered one of the world’s fast-growing financial hubs. An article on the Huffington Post explains how Toronto has risen into the top 10 of the world’s most important financial centers. According to the Global Financial Centres Index from Z/Yen Group and Qatar Financial Centre, Toronto has surpassed Chicago and Boston to become the second-most important financial center in North America, and eighth in the world.
According to one unidentified New York banker quoted in the Global Financial Centres Index survey, “Toronto seems to get stronger and stronger. A number of our rivals have opened up subsidiaries there.”
New York City Full-Time MBA Programs
- Columbia Business School
- Stern School of Business – New York University
- Gabelli School of Business – Fordham University
- Zicklin School of Business – Baruch College
What stands out about these programs?
A Columbia MBA opens up countless career options and is sure to pay off in the long run. The median starting salaries for Columbia MBAs is $125,000, with 34 percent of full-time MBA of graduates being employed in the financial services industry. Students may assemble their own elective tracks, but the school also provides recommend course tracks for students interested in careers in entrepreneurship, healthcare, marketing, media, real estate, value investing, and social enterprise.
Meanwhile, Stern’s MBA curriculum gives students tons of flexibility, and allows degree seekers to choose one or two MBA specializations, NYU allows up to three specializations from 20 plus options. Stern makes sure that all students enrolled in the full-time program are ready for business school: Stern hosts a mandatory two-week orientation program in August called “Launch” as well as a special “Summer Start” program that allows students the school believes may need additional preparation to earn up to six credits before starting courses with their classmates in September.
Both Gabelli and Zicklin’s full-time programs feature cohort-based structures. Gabelli’s program features a New York immersion experience where, over the course of five days, students are exposed to a number of company visits with corporations like Deutsche Bank, Money.net, and Hewlett Packard. As an alternative to completing a major, Zicklin students may pursue a joint JD/MBA in conjunction with Brooklyn Law School or New York Law School.
Toronto’s Full-Time MBA Programs
- DeGroote School of Business – McMaster University
- Ivey Business School – Western University Canada
- Schulich School of Business – York University
- Ted Rogers School of Management – Ryerson University
What stands out about these programs?
DeGroote’s full-time MBA is a 16-month program ideal for candidates who are early in their career and want to gain advanced business knowledge in order to have more job opportunities. McMaster is one of only four Canadian universities ranked among the top 100 in the world, including by premiere publications like The Financial Times.
Ivey’s full-time program stands out because it can be completed in one year. During the year, students will learn business essentials from Canada’s only case-based MBA program. Students are able to experience real-world business scenarios through more than 300 cases a year, providing them of hands-on experience for how to best handle a variety of business scenarios.
The Sculich School of Business full-time MBA program is non-traditional due to its amorphous teaching format: The organization, pedagogy, and style of classes is determined solely by the most effective way to teach a particular course. This means that while some course instructors make extensive use of case studies, others do not. Other approaches to delivering courses include in-class presentations, role-playing exercises and visiting speakers and business leaders.
Schulich’s program, however, is on the more expensive side when it comes to Toronto metro business schools. The current full cost of the program in 2018-19 is $77,900 CAD for Canada residents, and $99,400 for international residents. While the tuition costs are actually higher than the likes of NYU Stern or the Columbia Business School full-time programs, because of the cost of living in New York City, the price is actually negligible—especially for Canadian residents.
Schulich/NYU/Columbia Full-Time MBA Costs
York/Schulich | NYU/Stern | Columbia Business School |
---|---|---|
$57,000 (Canada Residents) | $69,086 USD | $71,544 USD |
$77,900 (Full Cost, Canada Resident) | $110,562 (Full Cost, U.S. Resident) | $107,749 (Full Cost, U.S. Resident) |
Ryerson’s full-time MBA stands out thanks to its Management of Technology and Innovation (MBA-MTI) program, which provides graduates with skills in problem-solving, critical thinking, communication and collaboration. Despite it’s technical sounding name, the MBA-MTO is not a technical program. Instead students enrolled in this track graduate with the skills needed to manage within companies that are focused on tech and innovation.
Breaking Down the Numbers
Even for those who do not pay extra for room and board, expenses for U.S. residents studying at many NYC business schools will be higher than their neighbors to the north. According to Numbeo, the cost of living in Toronto is 24 percent less than the cost of living in New York City, and rent is nearly 40 percent less.
However, the value of the individual school tends to favor New York City programs over its Toronto counterparts. NYU Stern is currently the 12th overall on the U.S. News & World Report 2018 ranking, with CBS coming even higher at 9th overall. The ranking comparison remains consistent with The Economist as well, with CBS coming in 9th (again), Stern coming in 14th. The highest ranked Canadian program in The Economist ranking—Ivey Business School—came in 59th.
NYC/Toronto MBA Rankings
School | Financial Times Ranking (2018) | The Economist Ranking (2017) |
---|---|---|
NYU Stern | 23 | 14 |
Columbia Business School | 7 | 9 |
Ivey | 90 | 59 |
Schulich | NR | 69 |
The higher rankings and costs tend to, unsurprisingly, have a high correlation with financial output. MBA graduates from higher-ranked NYC metro schools tend to do better in terms of salary and bonuses. As previously mentioned, CBS Class of 2017 MBA grads pulled in a median annually salary of $125,000. Class of 2017 Schulich grads, in comparison, made an average median salary of around $90,000 USD.
For more information on the best full-time programs, check out our New York City and Toronto metro pages.
How to Get Your Employer to Pay For Your MBA
Earning an MBA holds tons of value in the business world—an advanced business degree can open doors that may otherwise have been closed, and boasts a high return on investment thanks to the top-level salaries that MBAs command.
Graduate school—and all of the coursework that comes with it—can be an intimidating challenge, but paying for it doesn’t have to be. Aside from scholarship, grant and fellowship opportunities at business schools across the country, more and more companies are placing a higher importance on tuition reimbursement programs, and expanding opportunities for paid MBA tuition reimbursement.
How can you get your employer to pay for your MBA studies? Let’s take a closer look.
Getting Your Employer to Pay For Your MBA
First thing’s first: You need to find out if your current employer offers tuition reimbursement to its employees. The terms of reimbursement vary depending on the company, with some corporations not offering any sort of program at all. Those that do offer some sort of compensation may do so on a course-by-course basis, or as a lump-sum reimbursement package for coursework in relevant degree plans.
“Organizations typically support MBA pursuits for two reasons,” J. Todd Rhoad, managing director of Atlanta’s BT Consulting, told USA Today. “Employee development and succession planning. In the first case, companies support the cost of MBA programs as part of their commitment to employee training and development.”
If you want to convince your employer that your education is worth investing in, you’ll need to show that earning an MBA will further your business acumen and understanding of your industry, and ultimately help your company reap those benefits.
“Usually, an employee has to already been delivering great results within the company,” Roderick Lewis, international relations director at the ISCTE Business School, University Institute of Lisbon, told Business Insider.
“If you haven’t already convinced your company, then asking them to [sponsor your education] becomes really difficult,” Lewis says.
USA Today also outlined a few checkboxes to hit when determining how valuable earning an MBA would be for your organization:
- Do current members of middle or upper management hold advanced business degrees?
- Does your company have the available revenue to invest in employee education?
- Would someone with the type of advanced training you seek bring clear advantages to the company?
If those point hold true in your situation, then start researching which programs specialize in providing the skills that your company needs. Keep in mind: You do not have to limit yourself to business schools in your metro thanks to popularity of Online MBA programs. There may have once been a stigma against online programs, but the of the matter fact is that many of the top online MBAs on U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings also rank highly on the publication’s top campus-based graduate business programs list.
Some of these schools include:
- University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)
- Indiana University – Bloomington (Kelley)
- Temple University (Fox)
- Arizona State University (Carey)
- University of Florida (Hough)
- Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
- University of Texas – Dallas
Once you’ve found the right program, you’ll want to craft a brief proposal for your employer. In it, you’ll want to mention how you fit the company’s tuition reimbursement policy, and list the advantages that continuing your education can bring you and your company. Don’t shy away from providing data on how much assistance you may need and how this investment will pay off for everyone, while also ensuring your employer that you’ll remain committed to the company during your degree program, or won’t jump ship after earning your degree.
“A proposal should address the benefit to the company,” Rhoad says, “(including) areas where the company could improve and how you will help them, a review of the courses to be taken and how they will provide knowledge that can help improve the company’s performance.”
Companies That Provide MBA Tuition Reimbursement
Investopedia recently compiled a list of companies have stated that they place a high value on their tuition assistance benefits, and provide tuition reimbursement for the educational costs of an MBA.
According to Investopedia, consulting companies lead the market in tuition reimbursement programs for MBA courses. These firms also pay the highest salaries for MBA alumni. Deloitte has the most robust tuition reimbursement plan, providing employees with up to $10,000 per year in MBA reimbursements. The firm requires two years of work with the company and a commitment to work for the company after graduation in order to receive the tuition assistance benefit.
Financial institutions and banks also place a high value on employees with MBAs, and provide tuition assistance. One example is Bank of America, which provides employees with annual tuition assistance of up to $5,250 for advanced degree coursework. Wells Fargo also has a track record of paying for MBAs, doling out up to $5,000 annually for tuition expenses.
The booming tech sector is also hiring MBAs left and right, with some firms developing their MBA talent in house by offering to pay MBA tuition expenses. Apple tops the list of tech companies offering tuition assistance, providing reimbursement of up to $5,000 annually. MBA degrees are even more coveted in the the specialty defense technology sector, as Raytheon, one of the top defense technology companies in the world, offering to pay up to 100 percent of employees’ college tuition for graduate school.
Other leading companies offering tuition reimbursement to employees include:
- Chevron: A market leader in the energy sector, Chevron offers offers tuition reimbursement of up to 75 percent for its employees.
Ford: Ford’s education tuition assistance program provides employees with tuition reimbursement of up to $5,000 annually for an MBA. - Procter & Gamble: This firm has one of the leading tuition reimbursement benefits in the consumer goods industry, providing reimbursement for up to 80 percent of educational costs with a limit at $40,000.
- AT&T: This telecom giant provides employees with up to $5,250 annually for tuition assistance, for a maximum reimbursement of up to $25,000 for graduate school courses.