- Nearly half of students in leading MBA programs borrowed at least $100,000 to complete their degree, according to a 2019 Bloomberg Businessweek survey.
- Instead of an MBA, certificate programs, specialized master's degrees, and other alternatives can be more economical and aligned to your goals.
- Many hiring managers are looking for tangible skills over fancy degrees.
- As a result, investing your money in building a business, networking, or taking a certification course may be more beneficial in the long run.
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For anyone looking to grow or start a business, the idea of getting an MBA may seem like a great stepping stone toward your goals. But while it may be the most obvious choice, it's not always the best one.
For starters, there's the biggest deterrent: cost. Higher education is incredibly expensive in America and is only increasing in price — at a rate of almost eight times wage increases, Camilo Maldonad, cofounder of The Finance Twins, reported in Forbes. While paying for an undergraduate degree can be difficult enough — a fact that forced 69% of the class of 2018 to take out loans, according to Student Loan Hero — graduate programs are often even more expensive. A recent Bloomberg Businessweek survey of 10,000 2018 MBA graduates found that almost half the students attending the best business schools had to borrow a minimum of $100,000 in order to complete their education.
As the focus on fancy degrees dims compared to tangible experience, it becomes increasingly hard to justify putting that much money toward an MBA.
"An MBA is a huge financial investment and requires two years of full-time school to attain. Pursuing an MBA puts students in debt and can slow down their career trajectory by removing them from the workforce," said Dennis Shirshikov, a financial analyst at Fit Small Business, a company that provides advice and resources for small businesses. "The great thing about taking the alternatives approach rather than getting an MBA is that they don't remove an MBA as an option. If my career requires an MBA in the future it's still an option, but at that point, I will be positioned to leverage it for maximum impact."
With all that in mind, it's worth considering other avenues for success. Which begs the question: If you're not going to get an MBA, then what steps can you take instead? When it comes down to it, your end goal determines which alternative to an MBA is best for you. Check out these other great options, and why these successful people chose each.
1. Complete a certificate program
You may find that you can learn everything you want in a short and cost-effective certificate program, an option offered by most colleges.
"I was seriously considering getting my MBA from Wharton, but ended up doing their digital marketing certificate program and it was awesome," said Jessie Nichols, director of marketing and public relations at All Things Equal, an original games company. In making this decision, she said the time and financial commitment factored in (the program costs only $2,340), as did her desire to obtain a more industry-specific education.
"In digital marketing, things are advancing and changing every day. I needed really top-notch instruction and I was really comfortable investing in the Wharton certificate," she explained. This also allowed her to keep working with clients while pursuing the certificate.
A certificate course also allows you to test the waters before diving into a large commitment like an MBA. For more information on online MBAs, check out these stories from students from Harvard Business School online and The Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon, which has one of the top online MBA programs in the US.
2. Take a qualifying exam
Depending on what your end goal is, you may be able to substitute out an MBA for an exam.
Take Lou Haverty, a corporate banker, who debated getting his MBA.
"For me, it came down to price and what gave me the best chance of getting into the industry I wanted to pursue," he told Business Insider. "The CFA exam wouldn't require any debt and probably gave me the best chance to get into a competitive industry. If I went down the MBA path, I would have taken on extra debt and I may not have gotten into one of the top tier programs."
That's another great thing about these tests — anyone can study and take them. Whether you want to be a CFA, certified public accountant, civil servant, or something else, there are plenty of careers in which taking a qualifying exam is all you really need.
3. Get a more specialized master's degree
Maybe a master's degree is the right move for you, but an MBA just isn't. Depending on what you're looking to accomplish, putting your money toward a more specialized master's degree is worth considering.
"I chose to pursue a master's degree in risk management and financial modeling [at Queens College] instead of an MBA because it offered greater specialization, lower costs, shorter time commitment, and quicker growth for my career," said Shirshikov. "Unlike an MBA, the total cost of a master's degree in a specialized field is often much lower, and it left me with a much more specialized and sought after skill set."
He explained that when he was looking for jobs after graduating, this specialization made him more attractive to employers than if he had completed the more general MBA program.
"Employers were able to see that I was a subject matter expert in financial risk management, rather than a generalist with an MBA," he said. "This specialization landed me several interviews within risk departments across a variety of industries. It's unlikely I would have had the same opportunities with an MBA. Considering that the degree was a fraction of the cost of most MBA programs, the return on investment for the degree was also much higher for me," he said.
4. Start your own business
As Ray Bradbury once said, "Sometimes you just have to jump out the window and grow wings on the way down." You could fail with or without an MBA, so why not invest your money into growing a business instead of a big, fancy degree? You'll be surprised how much you can learn on your own.
"There is no teacher like necessity and a small budget. YouTube, late nights, and time will teach you most, if not more, than MBA students learn," Hannah Maruyama, owner of cosmetic tattoo company YAMA Studios, told Business Insider.
From marketing and networking to sales and investments, there are so many skills you can gain as you build your own business. Sure, you will get tripped up at times, but you'll learn and adjust course as you do.
"It took me years of failure to learn to focus and how to work, but now I'm an author and business owner and I have people with an MBA apply to intern with me. It just goes to show that the way education works is slowly being turned upside down," Maruyama said.
5. Attend networking events
It's true that getting an MBA gives you the opportunity to connect with teachers, fellow students, and visitors to your school. While this is undoubtedly advantageous, it's also possible to recreate on your own.
"Rather than spending $100,000 or more to get those connections, it can be valuable to attend conferences and meetups with other professionals both within and outside the field," Shirshikov said. "Personally, I attended conferences held by top universities within a reasonable driving distance and had great success with meeting both current MBA students and other professionals. In my experience attending open houses for MBA programs and speaking to graduates, there are fewer industries and skill sets represented in the program.
Alternatively, Shirshikov said that going to a range of conferences has exposed him to new people in his industry and new perspectives.
"I've done this with conferences including everything from investment opportunities on the African Continent to the rapidly growing market for antique cars," he explained. "A network of people across multiple lines of work is more applicable to business today, especially as we become more networked and the problems that leaders face are more complex. Importantly, it's also easier to stand out as the only risk or finance person at an AI conference than if you are one of the hundreds with that skill set at an MBA program."
Putting yourself out there can certainly be hard, but think of it this way: It's a lot easier than paying back all that debt.
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