There are 437 graduate business schools in the U.S. that award Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degrees according to U.S. News and World Report. Are they worth attending? Yes, if you are someone who envisions pursuing a career in the fiercely competitive corporate industry sector.
In addition to teaching you necessary skills like accounting, finance, economics, management , marketing and operations, a graduate business school is a valuable exercise in networking. These programs give their stgudents an introduction to the school’s other MBA students, alumni and faculty; this can be very useful when you are looking for a job or starting to develop and leverage business relationships within your career.
An MBA will also make a huge difference in the salary you get paid and your options for career advancement. In many corporations an MBA is an actual prerequisite for promotion.
Applying To Graduate Business Schools
Finding the graduate business school that’s right for you is a huge project that requires researching information to find the school that’s right for you, studying for and taking the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and submitting school applications and applications for financial aid.
Keep your selection list short. Only a small number of school will turn out to be a good match for you in terms of your career-related ambitions, your academic talents and your personality.
Criteria For Selecting a Graduate Business School
The criteria you’ll be looking at to determine whether a particular school is the right fit for you include:
Cost
How much does it cost to attend this particular school? The average cost of a graduate business school program including tuition costs, estimated loss of salary, travel costs, living expenses and other academic-related expenses ranges from approximately $80,000 to approximately $130,000 for the two year period.
Clearly it’s worth paying towards the upper end of this scale for one of the top graduate business schools: The median salary for a corporate executive with an MBA from one of U.S. New and World Report’s top fifteen graduate business programs is $135,000. Would it be worth paying the same amount for an MBA from a school whose graduates make considerably less? Only you know that.
Location
Where is the school located? Would you be willing to move there in order to attend the school?
Prestige
How well known is the school? Graduate business schools that rank in U.S. News and World Report’s Top 20 are very prestigious. If the faculty consists of Nobel Prize winners and CEOs who’ve retired from corporations that led their sector, so much the better. It’s also worth seeing what information you can glean about who ends up hiring the school’s graduates.
The school’s prestige is important because it affects the quality of networking opportunities available to you through that school.
What Type of Graduate Business School Program Is Right For You?
Graduate business school programs generally fall into one of four categories:
Full time Programs
Attending a program full time allows students to immerse themselves in the graduate business school experience, taking full advantage of all the educational and networking opportunities that present themselves. This graduate business school option typically takes two years to complete.
Part time Programs
The same coursework can also be spread out over a longer interval that may take as long as several years to complete. Classes are generally taught on weekday evenings or weekend days because many of the students are professionals holding down full time jobs elsewhere.
Executive Programs
Executive programs are specially designed for executives who have a long work history spent at the top of their profession. Executive programs are known for their intensive focus on management strategies.
Distance Education Programs
Distance education programs are online learning modules in which course materials are taught over the Internet. These programs are perfect for students whose busy lives make it impossible for them to attend a campus.
