The MBA Degree: Is It Really Worth It?

Reasons behind the strong positive assessment of the value of a graduate management education are multidimensional and span all aspects of alumni’s personal and work lives. Business school alumni report that their graduate management education was personally rewarding (94%), professionally rewarding (90%), and financially rewarding (77%), a finding consistent with previous results of GMAC alumni research.

‘MY MBA RANKS NEAR THE TOP OF MY LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCES’

As one survey respondent told GMAC, “Getting my MBA ranks near the top of my life-changing experiences, along with having kids, a house fire, and growing up in Africa.”

Alumni assessment of the value of their graduate management education remains high, no matter what their present employment status. Overall, 94% of alumni currently working for an employer rate the value of their graduate management education as good to outstanding, compared with 95 percent of self-employed alumni, and 83% of alumni seeking employment.

The ultimate test of satisfaction, perhaps, is whether an alum would recommend their school to others. Some 95% of alumni said they would recommend their graduate business program to others, and 96% are proud to have attended their graduate business program.

In fact, the higher the position that alumni have in an organization, the more likely they are to recommend and express pride in their program. This is another signal that the value of a graduate management education advances with time, the GMAC report says. Even still, among survey respondents, 87% of alumni in entry-level positions said they would recommend their program to others and 92% expressed pride in their alma mater.

As one alumnus told GMAC, “The friends I have from the program are lifelong friends and we have provided career guidance, life coaching, friendship across the miles for each other…We provide each other with networking opportunities and business opportunities as well as career counseling, even if I am in Asia, and they are in US, and work on non-profit groups together.”

That’s a pretty strong vote of confidence.

DON’T MISS: MORE MBAS LOVING THE ENTREPRENEURIAL LIFE