MBAs-More On This

Got to finish C's questions--full or part time?

The answer is...maybe.  Actually the answer is whatever works for you.  Take this scenario--you live in Chicago, work at a company that will pay your way or part of your way or most of your way, and have the discipline to go without a social life for five years.  Maybe not that bad but close.  And the deal is worth it.  Because you get a valuable MBA from Northwestern or University of Chicago, somebody else pays for it, and you save a lot on bar bills. 

Plus you will probably get into a school that you may not be able to get into as a day student because these universities figure out that the company is paying the bill plus the company may donate to the school plus they hire their graduates so if the company calls up and wants to send somebody that is dumb as a post the university will think twice before rejecting the post.

So look around at your city, see what universities offer night programs, see if the degree is worth the effort, see if your company will pay for it and go for it.  But don't expect much to happen at your company once you get the degree.  You are still the same old schmuck you always were but with an advanced degree.  The real value is that your resume looks a bunch better to another employer.  Never quite figured out why a company would make their employees look better to other companies but companies do odd things. 

Full time.  The benefits are that you get it over with, you have plenty of time on your hands, you can spend a lot of time in the bars, you have enjoyed two more years of college.  Or you might meet somebody.  I did so guess it was worth it. 

Downside is the expense and the time out of the workplace.  I really don't like the expense side.  Not just for an MBA but college in general.  Costs are getting out of hand because it is a protected industry.  In what other industry does the government give the customer the money to buy the product and because of this the industry has absolutely no interest in cost control?  Can't think of any off the top of my head.  How does this work?  The student (or more likely the student's parents) get the tuition bill, faint, but when they wake up the university says don't worry about it, get a loan.  And you do at a low rate because the bank is not loaning to you--a bad credit risk--but to the US Treasury--a great or no risk--because the government guarantees the loan.  A license to print money.  Not for you but for the university and the bank.  I haven't seen any studies but I would bet that the high cost of education is a direct function of the availability of student loans.  But the practice isn't going away so I will shut up about it.

Back to the MBA.  What is the cost?  I don't know, I'm afraid to look.  Plus I don't have to worry about it right now.  My son is in the service and he HAS to get an advanced degree but the military (or actually, you, the taxpayer) will pay for it.  Margot just got a great job (did I tell you about this?) where her employer is going to train her in-house.  Plus, Margot is not the kind of person who yearns for her college days.  The social part was fun but she has no desire to see the inside of a classroom in the foreseeable future. 

Is the price, whatever it is, worth it?  A reluctant yes.  If you are serious, if you want to get ahead, if you want to go from Art History major to tycoon, if you want to stimulate your brain instead of watching American Idol, yes it is worth it.

Tomorrow another great question--How important is it to get into one of the 'best' schools?