Is an MBA Worth the Cost and Time Investment?

[Grands]

I found online that an MBA can boost your career and can gives you the possibility to obtain a high level job.
Classes of MBA's students are very small, like 40 students, while in a normal university class there can be also 150 students.

Anyway, I found out that cost so much, for example there are MBA that cost 7000 €, and others that reach 15.000€, that can be a one-year salary in a great company.
Most of them last 3 years, that means you have to start to be really involved in work after more years of academic preparation.

Do an MBA worth all the money ?
I read that they teach you how to be a manger.
I also found out that can be done by every kind of person that have a master degree.

Thanks.

 

[phinds]

I found online that an MBA can boost your career and can gives you the possibility to obtain a high level job.
Classes of MBA's students are very small, like 40 students, while in a normal university class there can be also 150 students.

Anyway, I found out that cost so much, for example there are MBA that cost 7000 €, and others that reach 15.000€, that can be a one-year salary in a great company.
Most of them last 3 years, that means you have to start to be really involved in work after more years of academic preparation.

Do an MBA worth all the money ?
I read that they teach you how to be a manger.
I also found out that can be done by every kind of person that have a master degree.

Thanks.

You clearly are not in the USA. The prices you quote are WAY low for here:
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/professionaleducation/09/mba-real-costs.asp

 

[Grands]

You clearly are not in the USA. The prices you quote are WAY low for here:
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/professionaleducation/09/mba-real-costs.asp

Anyway, generally they are expensive compared to the local salaries.

 

[phinds]

Anyway, generally they are expensive compared to the local salaries.

And presumably worthwhile compared to local salaries.

 

[Grands]

Anyway, generally they are expensive compared to the local salaries.

A single MBA cost more then the entire academic carrier ( bachelor's + master degree) that's the issue.
It would be more cheap to get 2 bachelor's and 2 master degree then one MBA.

Unfortunately I know no person with an MBA to ask how it helped.

 

[Choppy]

If you're considering the pursuit of an MBA, it's a good idea to question it's value. There is certainly a wide range when it comes to tuitions and certainly the high-end schools seem astronomical.

The core curriculum at the high-end schools is probably not anything any more magical than many of the less costly programs. The core principles of finance are the same whether you learn them at Harvard Business School or some no name school. But the knowledge gained is only one component of the MBA. A lot of the added value comes from less tangible (and arguably quite subjective) elements.

In business, for example, your professional network (and ability to network [verb]) correlates strongly with your professional success. So say a small company wants to grow by hiring an MBA as a manager. If that manager spent a year interning at some of the big companies in your field, he or she might have the connections and soft skills to open doors that someone who interned at a much smaller company would not. In that sense the better connected candidate is in a position to negotiate a higher salary.

As another example, an MBA can be seen as a marketable commodity. So if you have a company that's competing for some kind of business management contract, you can market your managers as "Graduates of X." Again - hugely subjective - but if that makes the difference between getting a contract and getting overlooked, all of a sudden those graduates of X become much more valuable. School name can mean a lot more in the commercial world than it does in the academic one.

 

[Päällikkö]

If you know no-one with an MBA, it probably isn't going to help your career. Like others have pointed out, it is not the skills you learn in the curriculum itself that are so useful they'd make up for the cost, but the network and connections you make. If your network is so restricted that you don't know what an MBA is good for, there are easier and cheaper ways to broaden your horizons, especially if you're still in school.

And because it is about networking, doing a random MBA out of a school in Italy, unless maybe it's that one school (SDA Bocconi), is next to useless.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

The answer to the cost of most expensive things is supply and demand. Prices tend to rise to the level of what a market will bear. If students are willing to pay expensive MBA costs, the price will be sustained. The availability of money to borrow for education tends to raise the price.

 

[jtbell]

If students are willing to pay expensive MBA costs,

Or if their companies are willing to pay. I've heard of companies subsidizing at least part of the cost of an MBA for promising employees that they want to keep or advance on the corporate ladder.

 

[Grands]

There is certainly a wide range when it comes to tuitions

Yes, there are some from 7.000 to 36.0000 €.
Like I said before are a lots of money, if you consider that a bacherlor's degree plus a master degree can't cost more then 4000 € ( tuition fees).

Plus I know people that with 11.000 € live an entire year, the median salary here is 18.000 €, so if I take the decision of doing it I must ask money from a bank, this is the reason I need to know how useful is the MBA.
By the way, there are football players that have ones, because they have the economical opportunity to afford that cost.

In business, for example, your professional network (and ability to network [verb]) correlates strongly with your professional success. So say a small company wants to grow by hiring an MBA as a manager.

This is something I didn't know.
One of the great roles of an MBA is to help you to meet important people in the business work and create a network of professionals ?

School name can mean a lot more in the commercial world than it does in the academic one.

Yes, but what if a person do a university in a non well-know university and then he took an MBA at MiT or Harvard or Stanford, is more important where you graduated or were you took the MBA?

 

[phinds]

Yes, but what if a person do a university in a non well-know university and then he took an MBA at MiT or Harvard or Stanford, is more important where you graduated or were you took the MBA?

If you are looking for a job that requires an MBA, then it is the MBA degree that is the most important

 

[Grands]

And because it is about networking, doing a random MBA out of a school in Italy, unless maybe it's that one school (SDA Bocconi), is next to useless.

How do you know that?

By myself, consulting online forums I found out that the most prestigious MBA in Italy is the Bocconi's one.

There were also NBA player that joined the MBA:
I know nothing about NBA, neither the game rule or name of players, but I read that those one did the MBA at Bocconi: Danilo Gallinari (Denver Nuggets), Boris Diaw (Utah Jazz), Boban Marjanovic (Detroit Pistons), Wilson Chandler, Gary Harris (both Denver Nuggets), Jordan Clarkson (Los Angeles Lakers), Jerami Grant (Oklahoma City Thunders), Nikola Vucevic (Orlando Magic) e Alexis Ajinca (New Orleans Pelicans), Ronny Turiaf.

 

[Grands]

The answer to the cost of most expensive things is supply and demand. Prices tend to rise to the level of what a market will bear. If students are willing to pay expensive MBA costs, the price will be sustained. The availability of money to borrow for education tends to raise the price.

Yes, but this is something that I think happens only in free trade country where the government don't interfere with the high level education and gives no scholarships.
The best offer I found is 27.000 € from Unicredit, but is not enough for the entire program fo MBA, like I said before an year of the cheapest MBA cost 7000 € and cost of living is not included.

At the same time the median salary of an engineer ( a very well-paid job here) is around 18.000-20.000 €, and I have to spend part of that money to be ready for work( food, clothes, car etc..).

Or if their companies are willing to pay. I've heard of companies subsidizing at least part of the cost of an MBA for promising employees that they want to keep or advance on the corporate ladder.

This is very very important, I never heard about, and can help me to get an MBA.
In this case is all a matter of finding a big company that pay for you?

Thanks.

 

[Crass_Oscillator]

I suspect that in part you're paying for status and prestige. An MBA from Bog Swamp State University isn't useless, but since it's all prestige BS it's worth a lot less than a Wharton MBA, regardless of what they teach you.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

I suspect that in part you're paying for status and prestige. An MBA from Bog Swamp State University isn't useless, but since it's all prestige BS it's worth a lot less than a Wharton MBA, regardless of what they teach you.

Don't be insulting my Alma mater.

 

[Choppy]

One of the great roles of an MBA is to help you to meet important people in the business work and create a network of professionals?

Yes. Not only meeting them, but interacting with them through projects and internships, and learning how to interact with them. Unfortunately not of this will guarantee that you'll be able to have any professional interactions with them in the future. For some people this is worth the hefty price tag. For others, not so much.

Yes, but what if a person do a university in a non well-know university and then he took an MBA at MiT or Harvard or Stanford, is more important where you graduated or were you took the MBA?

This depends entirely on the context. As a rule of thumb where you've done your highest or most relevant degree tends to trump the other place(s) though.

This is very very important, I never heard about, and can help me to get an MBA.
In this case is all a matter of finding a big company that pay for you?

Well, usually the case is that the company has a vested interest in you developing managerial skills. It's rare that they'll hire a candidate on and immediately enroll him or her in an expensive MBA program, at least, not without some expectation of performance in return. Instead, what tends to happen is that a company will enroll someone who has performed well for them and demonstrated loyalty can who will commit to staying with them for a period of time following the degree - and probably manage some major projects. (And of course, they could require you to pay back the tuition if you leave prior to your commitment.)

 

[Vanadium 50]

Don't be insulting my Alma mater.

Sideshow Bob: You wanted to be Krusty's sidekick since you were five. What about the buffoon lessons, the four years at clown college?
Cecil Terwilliger: I'll thank you not to refer to Princeton that way.

 

[symbolipoint]

Grands, more important to earn an undergraduate degree (like in something technical or scientific) first, and find some employment. MBA degree may wait for later. Fist you want a degree and a few years of work experience.

 

[Päällikkö]

How do you know that?

By myself, consulting online forums I found out that the most prestigious MBA in Italy is the Bocconi's one.

There were also NBA player that joined the MBA:
I know nothing about NBA, neither the game rule or name of players, but I read that those one did the MBA at Bocconi: Danilo Gallinari (Denver Nuggets), Boris Diaw (Utah Jazz), Boban Marjanovic (Detroit Pistons), Wilson Chandler, Gary Harris (both Denver Nuggets), Jordan Clarkson (Los Angeles Lakers), Jerami Grant (Oklahoma City Thunders), Nikola Vucevic (Orlando Magic) e Alexis Ajinca (New Orleans Pelicans), Ronny Turiaf.

I think something might've been lost in translation. So just to clarify, what I was trying to convey is that if you want to get an MBA in Italy, go to Bocconi, and conversely: If you can't go to Bocconi, don't do an MBA in Italy.

MBA is about prestige amd connections, and in any case you should be applying to one only after spending a couple of years in the industry (and so, maybe saving some money), and so if you realize that you need one to get to where you want to be, this in particular is the part of education that you do not decide based on costs alone (or rather, on the knowledge gained/cost metric).

 

[jtbell]

An MBA from Bog Swamp State University isn't useless,

It may very well have a good reputation within the state of Bog Swamp, and in neighboring states, i.e. among local and regional businesses. Not so much among Fortune 500 companies in New York, Los Angeles, etc.

It depends on what kind of career one aspires to. The potential fame and fortune of big cities and mega-corporation executive life are alluring to some people. But there are nevertheless a lot of people out in "flyover country" who need goods and services, and companies to provide them, and people to run those companies.

 

[PhysicsMarco]

The only value of an MBA is that you can say that you have an MBA. It's all about credentializing. The knowledge you gain through the MBA can also be gained elsewhere for free or very cheaply.

 

[symbolipoint]

Interesting word, that "credentializing". It reminds me of "educationist".

A genuine credential will have an official group well governed by very knowledgeable people who decide what the credential means and how the credential holder is qualified and what he is allowed to do.

 

[Grands]

Yes. Not only meeting them, but interacting with them through projects and internships, and learning how to interact with them. Unfortunately not of this will guarantee that you'll be able to have any professional interactions with them in the future. For some people this is worth the hefty price tag. For others, not so much.

So the courses of a MBA are not only earning and following the lessons but also interacting with professionals ?

As a rule of thumb where you've done your highest or most relevant degree tends to trump the other place(s) though.

An MBA is considered a degree?

Well, usually the case is that the company has a vested interest in you developing managerial skills. It's rare that they'll hire a candidate on and immediately enroll him or her in an expensive MBA program, at least, not without some expectation of performance in return. Instead, what tends to happen is that a company will enroll someone who has performed well for them and demonstrated loyalty can who will commit to staying with them for a period of time following the degree - and probably manage some major projects. (And of course, they could require you to pay back the tuition if you leave prior to your commitment.)

So in your opinion is better to join a great company hoping that someone will pay for you for the MBA or is better to get firstly the MBA and then start to work?

Is it not to long the process of getting a bachelor's degree, a master degree and then an MBA, without getting no work experience?

I think something might've been lost in translation. So just to clarify, what I was trying to convey is that if you want to get an MBA in Italy, go to Bocconi, and conversely: If you can't go to Bocconi, don't do an MBA in Italy.

I get this message, I just asked you why I should take in consideration only the master of the Bocconi?

The only value of an MBA is that you can say that you have an MBA. It's all about credentializing. The knowledge you gain through the MBA can also be gained elsewhere for free or very cheaply.

Where and how?

 

[symbolipoint]

So the courses of a MBA are not only earning and following the lessons but also interacting with professionals ?An MBA is considered a degree?So in your opinion is better to join a great company hoping that someone will pay for you for the MBA or is better to get firstly the MBA and then start to work?

Is it not to long the process of getting a bachelor's degree, a master degree and then an MBA, without getting no work experience?I get this message, I just asked you why I should take in consideration only the master of the Bocconi?Where and how?

The impression I am taking from the reading here, is that MBA is not as important as other things, such as a meaningful undergraduate degree. MBA appears to not be anyone's primary goal.

(Grands, "MBA" stands for Master's Of Business Administration.)

 

[Choppy]

So the courses of a MBA are not only earning and following the lessons but also interacting with professionals ?

I haven't actually done one, though I know people who have. The details of what you do vary from program to program. In some cases they can be very much course-based. (All will have some coursework element). Others will have what essentially amount to co-op placements or internships. This is where the student is placed with a company for several months. Usually they are assigned or assist with a specific management project within the company such as developing a marketing strategy, assisting with a product launch, policy development and implementation, etc. This is where you gain experience, make network connections and develop what are commonly referred to as "soft skills" - communication skills, learning how to deal effectively with irate customers, etc. Some MBAs will also have a research component to them. So the student might do a project assessing expected growth in a particular market, or look at how a free trade agreement might a given industry.

An MBA is considered a degree?

An MBA is a master's degree. It's a master's degree in business administration.

So in your opinion is better to join a great company hoping that someone will pay for you for the MBA or is better to get firstly the MBA and then start to work?

There is no universally ideal case. It's just important to recognizing the advantages and disadvantages of different ways of doing things. Sure, it would be great if a company would pay for you to do an MBA. But it's important to recognize this this is very rare in the current economic environment, and if it does happen, there are strings attached. The company would expect a commitment from you in return.

I think what a lot of MBA-types are facing right now though is that because the economy has been so slow for so long, you have a lot of people who simply went and got an MBA because they didn't have many job options and now there's a flood of MBAs on the market. So they're stuck competing for entry-level positions with a high level of education and very little practical experience.

Is it not to long the process of getting a bachelor's degree, a master degree and then an MBA, without getting no work experience?

I can only speak from my perspective as a Canadian. I know things are different in Europe. Here, as a rule of thumb...
bachelor's degree: ~ 4 years
master's (STEM) degree: ~ 2-3 years
MBA: ~ 2 years

So yes, that's a considerable time investment. But the good news is that as a student deciding on a bachelor's program, you don't need to make any of those other decisions until later. Choose the best undergraduate program you can. Then when as you get near the end of that, decide on the next step. You may find that there are opportunities you didn't even know about that are waiting for you a few years down the road.

 

[Grands]

So yes, that's a considerable time investment. But the good news is that as a student deciding on a bachelor's program, you don't need to make any of those other decisions until later. Choose the best undergraduate program you can. Then when as you get near the end of that, decide on the next step. You may find that there are opportunities you didn't even know about that are waiting for you a few years down the road.

We have to study less years.

Bachelor's degree 3 year;
Master degree 2 year;
MBA: 2-3, at most 4 years.

With doing an MBA you don't have to invest only money but also your time, which is very important when you are young.
Anyway, there is another option form what I understand, there is also the PhD which in some cases, if I'm not wrong, is appreciated by companies, and is cheap.

An MBA and a PhD are very different degree, the only thing they have in common is that you can do them after your master degree.
I think we all agree that a PhD can be orientated on a specific subject, while an MBA is an MBA, that means that is something for those people who want an administrative position I believe.

Although they are different, can a PhD give the same advantages of doing an MBA?

Thanks.

 

[symbolipoint]

Grands asks:

Although they are different, can a PhD give the same advantages of doing an MBA?

Different kinds of degree. Different purpose. Different kinds of advantages.

 

[donpacino]

It may very well have a good reputation within the state of Bog Swamp, and in neighboring states, i.e. among local and regional businesses. Not so much among Fortune 500 companies in New York, Los Angeles, etc.

Note: Regional businesses can be HUGE companies with local offices. Companies, especially when not in a major hub for their field, will often pull from local talent due to the fact that they are more likely to stay.

 

[donpacino]

An MBA and a PhD are very different degree, the only thing they have in common is that you can do them after your master degree.

an MBA is a masters degree, in business administration

 

[Choppy]

Although they are different, can a PhD give the same advantages of doing an MBA?

This is comparing apples to oranges.

Let's say you get to a point where you've completed a master's degree in physics and you're trying to decide what to do with your life.
In principle both directions will increase your earning potential. I can't say by how much though.

If you go the PhD route and eventually end up in industry, a lot can depend on the specifics of the PhD. Largely though, physics PhDs are hired for their technical skills - programming, data analysis and number crunching, internal research and development projects, engineering or technical problem solving. MBAs are hired for their management skills: organizing people and/or projects, chairing meetings, making business-related decisions such as which products to market, how to market them, which customers to target, etc.

 

[StatGuy2000]

This is comparing apples to oranges.

Let's say you get to a point where you've completed a master's degree in physics and you're trying to decide what to do with your life.
In principle both directions will increase your earning potential. I can't say by how much though.

If you go the PhD route and eventually end up in industry, a lot can depend on the specifics of the PhD. Largely though, physics PhDs are hired for their technical skills - programming, data analysis and number crunching, internal research and development projects, engineering or technical problem solving. MBAs are hired for their management skills: organizing people and/or projects, chairing meetings, making business-related decisions such as which products to market, how to market them, which customers to target, etc.

As an aside, and at the risk of going off-topic, I do wonder whether an MBA degree actually does an effective job of teaching people management skills of the people I've bolded above.

 

[donpacino]

As an aside, and at the risk of going off-topic, I do wonder whether an MBA degree actually does an effective job of teaching people management skills of the people I've bolded above.

Although I'm on the younger side (5 years in industry now) through my experience and talking to people in industry, an MBA does a good job reinforcing skills that people already have, and good at refining people already in industry. Most people (at least that I have dealt with) do not think as highly of people who directly get an MBA with no experience, because they do not have the real world experience yet to back it up.

To take the above example. If you have never made business decisions as to which product to market, an MBA might give you tools to do it, but you still won't understand the industry.

 

[Choppy]

As an aside, and at the risk of going off-topic, I do wonder whether an MBA degree actually does an effective job of teaching people management skills of the people I've bolded above.

I wonder that myself sometimes.

Obviously a lot can depend on the program and instructors in it. And the students as well. Teaching a skill is one thing. But developing a skill, and producing a skilled graduate is something very different. Skill development comes from practice, constructive feedback, and the internal motivation of the student to get better. And to donpacino's point, experience can play a big role as well.

 

[StatGuy2000]

I wonder that myself sometimes.

Obviously a lot can depend on the program and instructors in it. And the students as well. Teaching a skill is one thing. But developing a skill, and producing a skilled graduate is something very different. Skill development comes from practice, constructive feedback, and the internal motivation of the student to get better. And to donpacino's point, experience can play a big role as well.

You raise great points. It is certainly true that skill development takes practice, constructive feedback, and internal motivation, along with experience. I suppose my contention is whether those particular management skills can be acquired just as easily without the added expense and time of an MBA degree.

Obviously, mileage may vary greatly on this matter.

 

[Choppy]

I suppose my contention is whether those particular management skills can be acquired just as easily without the added expense and time of an MBA degree.

In my experience people can acquire them without an MBA. Certainly there are a lot of examples of great managers who haven't received any formal training. In terms of making career decisions though, the MBA is a way of credentialing those skills. We live in a world that is very much "credentialized." And so if the OP or anyone else wants to do this kind of work, obtaining those credentials certainly increase the chances of getting work in management, or getting promotions once in a management area.

Whether that credential is worth two years of your time and tens of thousands of dollars is another, and very important question. I don't think it always is. There are a lot of people who go through all of that and end up on the other side with the credential and no great job prospects, and in some cases they may even put themselves into a position where they are less employable because they're overqualified for other jobs. These are all things a potential MBA grad should ponder before making any decisions.