I have a Masters of Business Administration and have been working for the last 5 years in the aerospace and defense industry in data analytics, program management, finance, and material management. I have a working knowledge of Python and am taking Calc 2 right now at a community college (blew through Calc 1 with a high A). Needing to take Calc 3 and Differential Equations before getting accepted into a degree. Florida Tech Dean of Mathematics suggested taking these prerequisites at the community college instead of the university for cost.

My goal is to get an education in machine learning, neural networks, statistical modeling, stochastic modeling, and financial/stock market analysis. End goal is a PhD for level of knowledge and for job opportunities. I am already a Level 4 at L3Harris Technologies and hope to have moved up within the next 5 years before getting my PhD.

Harvard Extension School has an online Masters of Science in Data Science with an option to get a certificate from MIT in Statistics. If I did this program, it would be entirely online and would finish in about 2.5 years. My plan would still be to continue at Florida Tech to complete the PhD (about another 3 years).

My other option is to start at Florida Tech and, instead of getting a masters (33 credits) and a PhD (42 credits) separately, I would start in the PhD program (72 total credits). This would be entirely in person.

Classes will be fully paid for by my employer. I will be working full time during (but I worked about 60-70 hours a week during my bachelors and masters degrees). My MBA classes will not count towards my PhD due to not being in the same field, so either way I will be starting as if I had a bachelors degree.

I guess ultimately, which do you think would 1) be a better education and 2) look better to employers

A) an MBA from Florida Tech, an MS in Data Science from Harvard Extension School and MIT, and a PhD in Operations Research from Florida Tech

or

B) an MBA from Florida Tech and a PhD in Operations Research from Florida Tech

Is it worth going through separate schools, adding 1-3 more classes overall, and having the first 2.5 years online instead of in person in order to show Harvard and MIT on my resume?