For The MBA Degree, Surprisingly Good News From LinkedIn

No matter where your school landed in this week’s new LinkedIn MBA ranking, the most positive news from the social media platform has to do with the MBA itself. Plumbing its massive database of professional profiles, LinkedIn found that the MBA is not merely alive and well. It’s thriving. The value of an MBA is proven once again.

The percentage of senior leaders hired each year with an MBA degree has increased by 25% globally since 2010, according to LinkedIn. “The growth isn’t just among those looking to climb the corporate ladder though,” concludes the platform’s editors. “The percentage of entrepreneurs with the degree has increased even more: surging 45% over the same time period.”

The data, adds LinkedIn, “shows that the degree is hardly a relic of the past.” No kidding.

THE VALUE OF AN MBA: THE DEGREE REMAINS THE MOST POPULAR GRADUATE OPTION IN THE U.S.

That is refreshing news for business education which largely considers the full-time MBA to be a mature product whose best days are behind it. Rarely a week goes by when yet another naysayer disses the degree, questioning its cost and value as much as what students learn while going through an MBA experience.

Even so, the MBA remains the most popular graduate degree in America. Most U.S. schools will be reporting increases in applicants this fall, following the record volume of candidates this past year for the full-time MBA program at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Some schools in Europe also see increased demand for it (see An MBA Slump? Not For IESE Which Is Increasing The Size Of Its MBA Intake By 20%). The starting salaries of MBA graduates are at record levels at most business schools, even as tuition inches higher.

The remarkable 45% jump in entrepreneurs with MBAs also signals that the degree is an excellent launching pad for those who want to do a startup, given the vast amount of investment schools have made in entrepreneurship over the past quarter of a century (see The World’s Best MBA Programs For Entrepreneurship In 2024).

WIDESPREAD ACCEPTANCE OF THE MBA BY EMPLOYERS AND INVESTORS

The reason for the degree’s continued success is its widespread acceptance by employers as well as investors. An MBA on a resume reflects one’s aspirations and ambition to live a more meaningful and fulfilled professional life. Who in the increasingly competitive world of work could disagree with that?

What has changed since the heyday of the MBA in the 1980s is how people get the degree. More and more students are opting for flexibility, choosing hybrid and solely online programs that allow students to keep a job and earn paychecks while studying for their degree. The full-time, residential MBA experience may be less favored by many applicants today, but it is the premium ice cream on the shelf of business education.

This chart, run by LinkedIn, says it all: