MBA or MS Project Management?

Graduate School Business School - MBA
1

I have an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and have been working the past seven years as a project/operations engineer overseeing the operation, repair a maintenance of heavy industrial facilities and machinery. My company will help pay for a masters which I intend to do online. I’ve ruled out an engineering masters since I already have adequate engineering knowledge for my job and I have no intention of going into design or R&D work. Plus trying to relearn all the math and theory would be brutal. I decided a business or management masters would be more appropriate and applicable.

I want to get either an MBA or a MS in project management. Most of the project managment masters prepare you to sit for your PMP cert which is a nice bonus. Some MBA programs offer a project management concentration but are generally second tier schools.

MBA would be a broader degree and prepare me morefor future executive positions, which I would love to do, but PM masters is more applicable to my current job.

Should I

  1. Get into the best MBA program possible regardless of PM concentration (most expensive)
  2. do one of the MBA programs in project management but accept going to a second tier school (middle expensive)
  3. do a MS in project management (cheapest)
2

Doesn’t seem like there are any bad choices on your list since you already have lots of professional experiences and your employer is helping to pay for your degree. I would just question your preferences for an online program. There are better MBA programs that are hybrid programs - some online with an occasional weekend in person. Are there any programs like that in your area? If you are going to spend the time getting the degree, you might want to try to benefit from the networking aspects of it which are harder to do online.