The real cost of grad school

Graduate School Business School - MBA
1

<p>The true cost of an MBA would include not just the tuition and incidentals for the two years you’ll go through it but more importantly the two years of lost income and career possibilities you have foregone just so to earn the degree. While common if not customary that people resign from their current job to take grad/MBA studies full time and with the top programs kicking close to 100K/yr, and if you are closing in at 90K salary in a year, your cost of attendance would be almost 400K. Is this a worthwhile investment in today’s climate? Are today’s MBAs capable of recouping these expenses? This is from a 2009 grad with a solid 4yr career track in public finance policy.</p>

2

<p>What about a program that would allow you to complete your MBA without leaving your current job?</p>

3

<p>ADad, it is true that there are part-time programs and in-house programs for those whose companies provide them, but nothing beats the depth and wide industry acceptance of the grad/MBA from big caliber schools. While I appreciate the importance and the obvious need to further one’s knowledge for career advancement; I feel the gravity of loss career opportunities - two years worth of rungs to climb on the career ladder so to speak. Those two years you are earning your degree is hard to make up in the years ahead. This is truly a dilemma for me. I’ll will be heavily reliant on loans and the prospect of a big payoff once you get your degree is iffy for the moment. Big decision point for me right now, because if I get another raise or promotion this will tug me away from the “go for the degree” decision.</p>

4

<p>In terms of the MBA program, I am also factoring in the wide breadth of students in today’s MBA programs, from the fresh out of college kids to the few years of work experience crowd (like myself) to the older folks, age and career wise. With these in mind, is it possible grad/MBA programs are calibrating their curricula straight down the middle to accommodate everyone’s life and academic experiences? Or am I over thinking this and should be a non-issue to begin with?</p>