MBA Degrees: Mastering the Business of “Business”
A Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree is one of the most useful, adaptable, and widest-reaching degrees in any education system. Core principles are identical, regardless of industry, application, or location. While laws may change from place to place, effective management and leadership paradigms remain basically the same.
Things to Know about Business Degrees
Several key considerations bring MBA degrees to the highly-valued class of career advancement potential:
1. Easy to Obtain: Most schools, including some community colleges, offer MBA programs.
2. Extremely Employable: An MBA can open many doors that are otherwise closed and locked. Whether applying to a small or large organization, an MBA degree is a universal platform.
3. Career Change Launches: It is always easier to restart a career along a different path than it is to gain a higher platform and then launch a new career. Basic principles inherent in an MBA can be transferred from field to field. Additional courses may be necessary to advance in a different field, but the basic paradigm courses in an MBA transfer smoothly. Hospital Administration differs, for example, than Human Resources or Accounting, and they do require different MBA courses, but core instruction melds into all.
4. No Extra Certifications Absolutely Required: Graduating with MBA will immediately elevate applicant qualifications with no additional schooling required and often at a higher entry level than those with lesser degrees.
5. Current Employment: Many students work full time or part time while obtaining MBA degree; ensure program scheduling allows non-standard scheduling.
Considerations in Choosing a School
Several factors are paramount in choosing the right school, a some are helpful, and some are convenient:
Degree Focus: An MBA is a general education level within a field. Does a school offer the specialty focus wanted?
MBA Program Reputation: How does the business community locally and at large view the MBA program at that school? What kinds and levels of positions offered, salary, advancement potential might be possible with an MBA from that institution? What prominent alumni attended previously?
Flexible scheduling: Are courses offered at times convenient to current employment, such as weekends and nights? Are online options available, in part or in full? Is there a minimum time required to obtain an MBA degree or can it be reasonably self-paced?
Location: Is a commute or complete relocation required? Is housing available for a Masters program student?
Program costs: How expensive will an MBA be at various schools, and what payment options are available?
Total program cost is such an important area that it deserves greater detail. For example, “Big Name University” has a very reputable MBA program. Unfortunately, realistic total costs can be daunting. At some schools an MBA can be extremely expensive. The average tuition of an MBA degree at an Ivy League school is over $33,000 per year as of the 2010 school year. Room and board can exceed $10,000 per year. And that doesn’t include books and additional fees and costs.
Is That High Cost Worth It?
Only a student can answer that question. Look closely at course listings and descriptions from small and larger schools. Remember that course names might change, but the central material may be the same. Take as many credits as possible at lower-cost schools, which are often community colleges. (Even if a course or two must be retaken at a larger school, consider the prior cost worth the ease of “learning” the larger school’s material.)
How to Pay for an MBA Degree
Several options are available to enable Master degree programs; they range from scholarships, grants, loans, and self-pay. But one more option still exists, which many overlook: An employer’s higher-education benefit.
Most larger businesses offer incentive for higher education degrees. So long as the degree pursued can directly and positively impact the business, itself, or the industry, Masters students often find employers not only agreeing to engage the cost-reducing benefit but also actively encouraging the employee to take the courses!
Summary
With proper planning, investigation, and patience, obtaining a Master of Business Administration degree can be easily accomplished and can broaden virtually any business student’s horizon.