Originally Posted by
todd1200
I don't know much about Riddle or other online MBA programs, but for any school, I would take a close look at their employment stats. Most highly ranked/reputable schools will tell you exactly how many people started their program, how many finished, how many had jobs at graduation, average & median starting pay, bonus, industry, etc. Then you can get a clear picture of what the potential payoff will be for sacrificing your time and money going through the program. I'm sure online programs will be different, because most people are employed while going through the program, but they should provide specific data about the number of students receiving raises or promotions and amounts, etc. I know UNC offers a fairly well-regarded (though expensive) online MBA, so that may provide some kind of reference point to compare programs.
VERY sound advice.
I am intimately familiar with the MBA industry and offer the following additional insights:
1. An MBA is the price of admission to middle and upper management in many Fortune 250 companies. It is required for a position in the elite consulting firms. It is not required, and may actually be a detriment, for entrepreneurial efforts.
Airlines recruit MBAs from the top tier graduate business schools (i.e., the schools ranked in the top ten by Business Week or US News and World Report (although there are many other entities that rank B-schools, the BW and USN&WR rankings are given the most credence by employers)).
2. Some schools, like Harvard and Notre Dame (and there are a number of others) have incredibly strong alumni networks that are actually more valuable than the classroom education because the network opens so many doors.
Beware, however: many graduate schools, including some that are ranked in single digits, have terrible alumni networks. If you attend one of those schools you've effectively thrown away $100,000.
3. Most two year full-time programs are designed and taught by people who have never worked in industry or owned or managed a business themselves. The vast majority know nothing about management per se, but may be brilliant in analytical techniques, financial theory, economic theory, organizational theory, etc. In short, most of the faculty who teach in two year full-time programs are into mental masturbation and self-glorification, and they become terribly tedious after the first semester.
4. If you really want to learn about business and you want applied, not theoretical knowledge, go to a weekend executive MBA program. In these programs executives typically attend several classes crammed into a three day weekend, then go back to their day jobs for two weeks, and then return for more classes. During those two weeks at their day jobs the students have many opportunities to test in real time the material their professors lectured about.
The professors who don't know a damn thing about business are quickly exposed, and over time low end-of-course evaluations get them removed from the weekend executive programs. Over time, the only professors who stay in weekend executive programs are the ones who actually have an understanding of how business REALLY works (and the rejected professors are transferred into the two year full-time programs).
Don't be put off by the title Weekend Executive program: you don't have to be an executive to gain admission to these programs.
5. An MBA is not a guarantee of a high paycheck.
6. There are many, many people who earn an MBA and then find that the degree has no meaningful effect on their earning potential. Put another way, there are loads of MBA diploma mills that will do you no good, but will relieve you of tens of thousands of dollars.
Todd1200 gives very sound advice.