MBA salaries

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I was wondering how many people on here have an MBA. And if so could you please mention what it cost to get the MBA? How much were you making before the MBA? And how much of a salary increase if any did you get afterwards? Did you work during the MBA or go to school fulltime?

This is hard to ask IRL, so I might as well post here.

Thanks.

[pearlieq]

I took two classes toward an MBA and then stopped the program. I just couldn't buy into the value prop for an MBA, especially in my field.

While there are certain fields where they're important, I don't think that's the case for many (or even most) of the students in the programs. I honestly think the value is diminishing in many fields as MBAs become more prevalent. When they were rarer they were more impressive. Now that they're a dime a dozen, hiring focus is moving back toward experience and personal merit.

Since I was interested in my field, what I did was look up 3-4 levels in my company. What kind of degrees did they have? Where did they go to school? Then I looked at our competitors and associates and asked the same questions. I didn't find many MBAs and while my superiors were supportive of the goal, it was more of a "good for you" rather than a "ooh, you'll be so much more valuable".

To be honest, my MBA classes weren't any more taxing than undergrad and were somewhat out of touch, as is typical for academia. I don't think I would have gotten much out of them except a piece of paper and an opportunity to network.

To answer some of your questions, my MBA program would have cost about $18k, plus books and fees. My employer would have covered 80%, up to 5k per year. If (and that's a big IF) the MBA would have been the direct reason for me being promoted to the next level of my job I would have realized a 10k/year raise. However I don't really think the MBA would have been viewed as anything more than a "nice to have". It certainly wouldn't have automatically gotten me promoted. As it was I moved into consulting and make 20k more per year.

The program would have taken 2-3 years, part time. I would have had to spread it over 3 years in order to get the most reimbursement, or pay more of it out of pocket.

I have 2 friends who finished their MBAs around the same time I was in school. One moved up quite highly in brand management and is having a stellar career. The other became SAHM who has no intention of returning for a very long time. I honestly think the same would have happened with or without the MBA.

I would think very carefully about going for the MBA. Are you in a field where it's more valued (brand mgmt, analytics) or one where it's less useful (sales, business tech)? How much money do you have to spare? Will someone else be paying for the bulk of the costs? Can you afford to go to a "name" school?

Good luck with whatever you decide!

[jIM_Ohio]

I've had many a "Bachelors-Masters-college degree-advanced degree" conversations before. Here's my take.

The number one most important thing is be good at what you do.

My brother in law has no college degree and is a store manager at Sams club, clearing 6 figures with around 10-15 years experience.

I have a Bachelor's in Mechanical Enginneering and don't complain about salary.

My wife has a BS in Human Resources Management. Her starting salary was 2/3 what my starting salary is. Her "ceiling" based on colleagues/ friends is probably 2X what mine is (I will probably cap ~150k by the time I retire, my wife has friends making that now).

Here's the kicker. My wife is a licensed worker (she has a pHR). That pHR kicked in about 8k per year within a year of getting it. Took 10 hour course, passed a test with another 20-100 hours of studying. She can now provide legal guidance on certain issues and other workers comp type issues. She is going for her LAH which will allow her to adminster health benefits next month and that would be another 8k/40hour course/20-100 hour prep for an additional license.

I am sure an acountant will tell you the CPA is more valuable to them than an MBA.

A series 7 is more important to a business major than an MBA.

Passing the bar is more important than advanced degrees for a lawyer.

In Engineering, a person can get a PE license, and that is worth something... Engineers commonly go for MBA's, and what I am told is a Masters in Engineering is more important, especially if the Masters is in a high demand field within Engineering (like Environment, Acousitics or less common field). Comes back to being good at what you do, not what piece of paper you have. There isn't any (or few) "acoustics engineering" bachelors programs. Anyone specializing in that field needs a Masters or lots of experience, for example.

The masters degree will be expensive (15-30k). It will also take time. 2-3 years. If someone takes 2-3 years away (from earning a starting salary of 35k) to get a Masters and earn a starting salary 3 years later of 40 k.

Cost them 3*35k in slary, plus 30k of debt, so that's 135k of lost wages one needs to make up. The extra 5k salary gets this back in 27 years. If the masters puts person on "fast track", so raises come quicker, then that 27 years is shortened. But is Masters helps you "be better at what you do", then the price isn't as relevant.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I was hoping to get real numbers from people who do it. But you make lots of great points Jim thanks.

[Daylily]

I did an MBA. I already had one master's degree. My employer paid for all the tuition - somewhere in the neighborhood of $17,000. I took classes in the evening and on weekends. I ENJOY school and I ENJOY learning new things. The point of the MBA for me wasn't necessarily to try to earn more money. DH travels a lot and I decided I needed something to do to fill my time so I did the MBA program. It took four years to complete because sometimes I only took one course per semester.

While I was employed I didn't necessarily see an increase in my salary as a direct result of completing the MBA. Sure I got a promotion and a raise, but other people received promotions too and they hadn't done an MBA.

Here's what I think is the biggest benefit of my MBA: Networking.
Because I am an older student and because the MBA program was an evening/weekend program, all the other students were also a bit older (30-45) and also had full time jobs. Well, I lost my job a couple months back because of a corporate merger. I have an interview next week at a nearby company as a direct result of knowing someone at the company that I met in my MBA program!

[sweeps]

I have an MBA. It cost $50,000 in which my employer paid $30,000. Honestly if I had to pay for the whole thing myself I might not have done it. At $20,000 it was a good deal though. I did the MBA at night while I worked full time. Took 5 years to complete. I was promoted to management shortly after graduating and it earned me about a 20% salary increase.

I do agree with some of the others who say an MBA is not a good value for some. For example, an accountant who just wants to be an accountant should be getting his CPA way before thinking about an MBA. On the other hand there are lots of occupations where you top out unless you move into management. It's much easier to do so when you have that MBA in hand. Also you can make some good connections when going through an MBA program -- you'll find a lot of movers and shakers there.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

any other MBAs out there?

[MonkeyMama]

IT really depends. I am not a MBA but I know quite a few who have MBAs in California - who are accountants. In California it is a useless degree and you do not get paid more if you are an accountant. In fact, in many areas, a Bachelor's degree in accounting is more favorable than an MBA. I have heard many a MBA whine and complain that they were so much better, and not paid more. In reality they did not have the specific training we did at the BAchelor's level and they floundered - were paid less in the end really. They had non-business lower degrees and went for the MBA to break into accounting - I have never seen this as a smart move. A CPA is FAR more cheaper and beneficial in this field. BUT I have relatives (CPAs) in other states who seem smart and swear they need an MBA to get anywhere - I think it is a state by state thing. OR maybe they are dreaming, I don't know.

I only throw that out there because any response you get will really depend on what field you are looking at, what your experience is, what your lower degree is, what you want to do. & where you live!

Sorry - I know you want a response from a MBA. But had to share.

If you want to move into management I think it can be a good thing. But I know too many MBAs who are extremely frustrated. They are told in school they are the cream of the crop and will go far, and then they don't know what to do in the real world, that has been my experience at CPA firms. IT seems to me the biggest problem with MBA programs is taking people with no experience in business and telling them they will be the top, right out of school. These people truly believe they will graduate and get a management job in an industry they have never worked in (they have NEVER worked in business). They are always the ones whining they deserve a bigger paycheck for the same work and never last long. The have annoyed the hell out of my employers frankly - LOL. Coupled with experience, an MBA can push you farther ahead, but then again often the experience is more important. Then I think it comes down to what your goals are and if you are happy with the degree and learning, regardless of increase in pay - which might not materialize.

[threebeansalad]

This USA Today article was published in January 2006:
USATODAY.com - New MBAs finding education pays off big time

[b4freedom]

I have a friend that was making $60 to $65k in florida as a DBA. He got his MBA and moved to NJ and commutes into NYC. He makes about $110k now. However, the cost of living in NJ is much higher then where he was at in Florida. He also works crazy hours. He's at work at 7am every morning, which means he's typically up by 4:30. Most days he doesn't get home until 7:30 - 8:30 at night. He typically only sees his kids on the weekends. Is that worth an extra $50k in salary?

Personally, I'd have to say no. Most MBA's gear you toward this type of lifestyle.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

DH is not an accountant or even business related field. He's a scientist in pharma. He wants to either be in business/finance side of it, or move up in management quickly. I'm just wondering what the financial benefits are. He makes a nice amount now, more than the average MBA in the article.

But was told by the business people that it would allow him to make the jump over and get promoted faster when he talked with some of them. So he figured it is worth it. But I'm not sure.

[safari]

MBA only makes sense for certain careers; otherwise, it's a waste of time and money. I have a friend who got his MBA at Wharton, and he only did it because it was required to do what he wanted to do (he works in mergers and acquisitions). He didn't learn much in his classes, but that wasn't why he went to Wharton. He needed an MBA from a prestigious school and he wanted to build networking, in which he succeeded. Granted, he now works crazy hours (14-hour work days and weekends are pretty common), but he is well compensated. This is definitely not for everyone. For those of you who are thinking about getting an MBA, you should only consider good schools, even though they are much more expensive. An MBA degree from schools like University of Phoenix is worthless and won't get you anywhere. Experience is a lot more important.

[jIM_Ohio]

Experience is the leader whether you do or don't get the MBA.

If you get an Masters degree, my experience has been the school matters. Getting a Masters from Harvard is much harder than getting a Bachelors from Harvard, IMO.

[pearlieq]

I strongly agree that the school matters for an MBA. You could make a value prop for carrying a degree from Wharton, Chicago, Kellogg, etc. It's harder to make a case for the MBA from Podunk State U or, heaven help us, Online College R Us.

One isn't going to learn too much in an MBA program. Everyone's field is so specialized that you'll actually learn your job skills at work. It's not going to be the best and the brightest (at most schools). The less bright still have money that's green and will be accepted freely, especially at local schools. I had friends who got around 525 on the GMAT and had no trouble at all getting accepted to multiple local schools.

What you're going to get out of an MBA is a network and means to try to impress someone. That's what you're buying.

Does you husband want to stay with his company? What do their job reqs look like? Have you checked the career sections of the websites of major competitors/future employers of his. How are their job reqs written?

[baking23]

I have an MAT, master's in arts of teaching, it cost 13 grand which I paid in cash. I wasn't able to get a teaching job with it, and wish I could go back, not have gone to grad school, but had just gone out and gotten a full-time job right after my BA.

I think my lack of experience has been more of a stumbling block than a help with having the MAT.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

He wants to look outside the field so I'm wondering what the price versus the value is worth.

[sweeps]

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

He wants to look outside the field so I'm wondering what the price versus the value is worth.

I guess the previous anecdotes weren't satisfactory, so here's the answer. It depends. On a whole lot of factors. For some people it's going to be a total waste of time and money, for others it's going to push them well into a 6-figure salary or maybe even into upper management.

[Saving in So Cal]

If you Google the topic, you'll find lots of information that might help you decide. Every article I've read on graduate education, whatever the degree, has stated that people with graduate degrees tend to get paid more over their lifetime. That has also been my personal experience thus far. Unfortunately, I am not an MBA, so my specific figures would not be relevant. However, I recently read an article placing the starting salaries of MBAs, depending on school, job location, and employer size, at between $60k and $100k. If you have no job experience at all, you may get less.

Based on these numbers, it would be hard to justify a second graduate degree with a simple cost-benefit analysis. However, if you want to change careers completely, a second degree may be the best way to gain an entrance into a new field.

[all4money]

Don't know if it will help or not, but here is my personal experience...

I have a bachelor's in business management/finance from graduating in 1996. I went to work straight out of college and am doing what I really enjoy. Did I need an MBA to get hired at my current job? No, because I had experience behind me. Do I need to get an MBA now to keep my current job? No. But, I decided, for myself, I wanted to get my MBA and therefore, I enrolled and this is my first semester. I am taking my classes strictly online as I cannot miss work but the university I am enrolled in is a top notch in-state university that is very well known here as a great distance education school. I would not ever enroll in a University of Phoenix type environment. I'm estimating that it will cost me around $10-$12K to get my MBA when it's said and done. I am also estimating that I will receive a slight raise afterwards ... I work for government so to expect much more would be a pipe dream but again that wasn't my main objective of getting the MBA.

So, as I already have a business degree, the MBA was a natural choice for me. For those that don't have a business undergrad and want to get their MBA to try to step into management roles in their fields, that's great. For those that don't have a business undergrad and want to get their MBA to try to change careers altogether into accounting, finance, marketing, etc. then I am quite wary. In this instance if I were hiring someone, I would look more at directly related experience vs. an MBA title.

LivingAlmostLarge, based on what your DH is looking at, maybe an MBA would help him in getting to the management level that he's interested in and would be a good choice.

[pearlieq]

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

He wants to look outside the field so I'm wondering what the price versus the value is worth.

I don't know what else to tell you. No one can come on this thread and say if your DH gets an MBA he will make X amount more.

I don't even think it possible to directly attribute any salary change to an MBA. In some fields an MBA may open up a new career path that may prove to be lucrative. But even then there's always hundreds of factors that go into each job decision.

It's a complex decision and every situation is unique.