What Graduating MBAs Say

One of the things everybody considers before deciding to go for an MBA is what the value of the degree will be to them.

We thought it would be helpful to your decision making to learn what MBA students about to graduate say about what the MBA means to them.

We know from our surveys that despite varying backgrounds, schools, and career aspirations, most graduating MBAs feel that the overall value of the MBA degree is high, and most say they are satisfied with the benefits of the degree. MBAs also report that they have more career opportunities and a significant boost in pay as a result of their degree.

Each year, the Graduate Management Admission Council® surveys thousands of graduating MBAs to ask questions about—

• what they expected from their MBA programs and post-MBA employment,
• how satisfied they are with their degree, and
• what career paths they chose.

This article is based on information we received from more than 5,300 MBAs from the graduating class of 2008 who participated in the Global MBA® Graduate Survey. These MBAs come from a variety of full-time, part-time, and executive MBA programs and schools around the world. Although the information we share in this article is from our 2008 survey, it is largely consistent with what we have heard from graduating MBAs every year since we first conducted the survey in 2000.

Most graduating MBAs are very positive about the value of their degree, compared with the monetary cost of earning it. Sixty-six percent rate the overall value of their degree as outstanding or excellent, and another 26% rate it as good.

But what does "MBA value" mean to the class of 2008? When the graduating MBA students we surveyed rated the value of their degree, they took into account three different kinds of benefits of the degree: the instrumental benefits (what the degree would help them achieve), the personal benefits (how the degree helped them grow as individuals), and the intellectual benefits (what they were able to learn).

The most important influences over how highly people rate the value of their degree are the quality of their school and program (particularly the curriculum, faculty, and school culture) and how they feel about the benefits of the degree (for instance, how it will increase their earning power and job opportunities, help them improve personally, and help them develop their knowledge and skills).

So, when it comes time for you to choose your MBA school and program, remember that quality counts, and be sure to know what you are looking for in terms of the benefits of the degree—it's likely to make you happier with the value of your MBA once you graduate.

But what about those salary perks? We've learned from surveys of corporate recruiters and MBAs that the salaries paid to MBA graduates are higher than those paid to people right out of college and people who graduated with other kinds of master's degrees.

The typical MBA in the class of expects a 54% increase over their pre-MBA salary–an  immediate return on the MBA investment.

Of course, the typical salary is an average of all salaries; the range of pre- and post-MBA salaries includes some that are much lower and some that are much higher than the average. Factors that will affect your actual post-MBA salary include the following:

• your post-MBA job function
• the industry you work in after graduation
• the geographic region in which you work
• your pre-MBA professional experience (including whether your experience base is in the field you pursue post-MBA)

Armed with all this information about the value of the MBA to you and out in the marketplace, you'll be better able to make some good decisions about where to attend school, but it may also be helpful to know how most MBAs have found their schools.

First, you should know that 63% of graduates in the class of 2008 would definitely recommend their schools to someone else who is interested in the degree and 28% would probably recommend their school—so we know they believe they made good decisions. What factored into their school choices? Historically, the biggest influences have been—

• the quality and reputation of the school, 
• the financial cost of the school,
• personal fit (whether the school was right for them as individuals), and
• location.

There are a few things you might want to think about when you are shopping for the right school. The first is that, to people choosing an MBA program, good school quality and reputation are assurances of a return on investment upon graduation; low-quality programs are not likely to offer the kinds of benefits and opportunities high-quality programs do.

Another consideration in your choice of schools and programs will be cost. You might assume that those who paid a lot for their degree would have a harder time saying it was all worth it, but the exact opposite is true—those who felt they paid a lot valued the degree most. Some of this may have to do with consumer psychology, which tells us that things that are expensive are more valuable than things that are inexpensive. But another explanation for this phenomenon could be that those who did not let high prices discourage them from attending the school they really wanted to attend were glad they made the financial sacrifices to go to the school of their dreams. We're not saying you should go broke to get your MBA, but we are suggesting that there may be some trade-offs in exchange for choosing the less expensive school.

One more thing you may want to consider as you approach a school decision is how you will use published rankings. For instance, when we asked the class of 2004 how they rated the value of the MBA, we found only one factor that caused people to value their degree less, and that was their use of published rankings in their school decision. That is to say, the more the graduates had depended on published rankings to help them choose their school, the less likely they were to give the value of their degree a high rating.

This finding might suggest that when people focus on school rankings, they don't necessarily investigate the attributes and quality of a business school for themselves. It's important that you define quality for yourself, and that you make sure that the school you choose offers the curriculum, faculty, and services you will need to further your career goals. (For more information about choosing the right school and program, see the Find Your Program section of this site.)

Every step you take in the beginning to find the school that matches your needs will increase the likelihood of your being one of the majority of graduating MBAs who say the degree delivers on its promise.

To read the full Global MBA® Graduate Survey report, click here.