Is an MBA Worth It?
9 July, 2020
You’ve reached that educational fork in the road. On one path, you can travel into your new career, working your way up the corporate ladder. The other path leads to earning an MBA. The decision as to which fork in the road to take largely hinges on answering the question “Is an MBA worth it?” The answer evolves from describing current MBA conditions, analyzing the MBA return on investment (ROI), and taking a look at one program that allows students to earn a degree in less than two years while continuing to gain experience in their chosen fields.
Current Conditions for MBAs
In 2012, a Wall Street Journal study concluded that 92% global MBA graduates found employment within three months of graduation, a rate that increased six percentage points from the previous year. While many pundits point to a decline in post MBA salaries, the fact remains that MBA graduates earn a whopping 121 % more after receiving an MBA than they earn by working with only a bachelor’s degree in their education arsenal. However, the costs of earning an MBA have increased on average seven percent over the past 15 years. MBA students who enrolled in 2012 paid a whopping 62% more in student fees than newly enrolled MBA graduates paid in 2005. Rapidly rising costs significantly impact the measurement of an MBA ROI.
Online MBA Return on Investment
Much of the analysis of an MBA return on investment centers on students who attend traditional brick and mortar colleges in programs that run the standard two years. Online MBA degree programs, which students can complete in less time, present favorable answers to the question, “Should I get an MBA?” Computing the ROI of an MBA program requires more than simply computing salary and benefits versus program costs. “Is an MBA worth it” is a question with intangible parameters that include gaining knowledge, the participation in professional networks, and the development of leadership skills. Yet we know that money talks, and many prospective MBA students measure the ROI on an MBA degree in terms of dollars and cents. An online MBA can open career doors such as promotions, new jobs that pay more money, and most important, raises that automatically kick in after graduation.
The UNOH MBA Return on Investment
The current cost of tuition to earn a University of Northwestern Ohio MBA online runs $26,400 for a program that you can finish in as little as 18 months. One of the benefits of earning an MBA online from UNOH is that textbooks, which can run students over $1,000 per term, are included in the cost of tuition. This is an important financial factor to consider when calculating the financial ROI of a UNOH MBA. Moreover, unlike full-time MBA students, you maintain your income as you progress through the UNOH MBA program.
Therefore, you can earn back more than the current amount of the $26,400 spent on tuition. Perhaps the greatest merit of earning a MBA from UNOH is that you can attend every class lecture, take every test, and participate on every student project online. You save both money and time by not having to commute to and from school.