Today marks a monumental day in my life. Today is the beginning of the rest of my life. Today I finished the last class, in the last course of The Capital MBA program.
- Marriage
- Birth of two beautiful girls
- Deployment to Iraq
- New job
Throughout all of those challenges, my support system still helped me reach it to the promised land. A MBA!!
The possibilities are endless (at least in my mind) after this point. I can only hope to maximize my potential to match the great learning experiences I have endured with a rewarding position.
What can a MBA do for you? Well, that depends on a variety of factors, most notably the school you attend. Granted, anyone who finishes any type of graduate studies deserves a standing ovation, but MBA programs are not created equal (at least in the “perceived quality”. There are the obvious top tier schools (Harvard, Kellogg, Wharton) that will certainly position its graduates for the best positions. On the second level, schools like THE Ohio State University fall into the second tier of MBA programs, but still relatively well respected. Then you have schools like Captial, which have accreditation, but lack the representation that other schools enjoy. On the hand, some for-profit MBA programs such as the University of Phoenix or Franklin University experience great success in enrollment.
According to statistics complied at the University of Texas, the average MBA graduate is earning approximately $80,000 with an average signing bonus of $14,000. This is a hefty chunk of change, especially considering the report was done in 2005.
The question is at what point is a MBA needed? If you attend one of the top tier schools, your education should pay for itself rather quickly. Those who attend the other institutions, may face additional trouble. Or do they?
Check out a recent post by Dan Schawbel on his Personal Branding Blog. He believes that a MBA could be a waste of time (and money) if you do not attend a top program. His friend, Ryan Healy, even believes that you could learn more from outside experiences. In my opinion, however, Corey Norman had it right:
Grad schools give you an opportunity to network with a wide variety of people and to truly get to know them. It would seem like an opportune time to really start building your personal brand when you can begin to show it to 70 or more people at once. Spending a year or more with these people will pay off more in the future than you think
Now, I must put this MBA to work for me!
Is an MBA worth the investment in your opinion? What if the MBA was from a lower tier school?
Posted by James Seay 
