Comments on: MBA Degree Stampede 2008: A Questionable Financial Strategy

By: FinancePuzzle

FinancePuzzle — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:52:53 +0000

Great article…Agree on the ROI comment…I am a huge fan of getting your employer to pay for your education, this is one of the best finance decisions you can make…I am currently in grad school and my employer pays 100% of the bill…it is an awesome perk…

Enjoyed the site, any interest in exchanging links?

By: MasterPo

MasterPo — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:21:17 +0000

Curt – I wouldn’t go to a CFP who didn’t have some kind of business related college degree. That would be like taking your car to a mechanic who doesn’t have a driver’s license. Or taking SCUBA lessons from someone who is afraid of water!

By: Mr. ToughMoneyLove

Mr. ToughMoneyLove — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:10:19 +0000

Curt – I sincerely hope that your predictions about an increase in non-college training options is accurate. We have way too many folks in college who are unprepared going in and come out with no better job skills than when they started.

By: Curt

Curt — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:51:57 +0000

I agree – MBA program are no longer a good ROI. Your points are right on.

I took it a step further with an article I wrote a few weeks ago explaining how College is no longer a good investment.

Becoming a CFP is a good option and I think as the economic continues into recession and more jobs are lost and it becomes harder to get financial aid and student loans, college enrollment will drop. The need for alternatives will grow. I think this trend will lead to an opportunity for new employment training options like the CFP. On the job training programs will become common. Intern programs will grow.

By: Mr. ToughMoneyLove

Mr. ToughMoneyLove — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:54:20 +0000

MasterPo – I agree with your sentiments. On the other hand, too many people look at an MBA program as a pure money play.

Regarding job qualifications, indeed there are some jobs out there for which an MBA is a pre-requisite. However, the supply of MBA grads greatly exceeds the numbers of those jobs.

By: MasterPo

MasterPo — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:05:14 +0000

I don’t think you can quantify an education that way. Having a degree, especially a graduate degree, encompasses much more than just pay tution today, earn more tomorrow (maybe).

Besides the personal accomplishment (maybe you’re the first person in your family to get a Masters level degree), you don’t know where the twists and turns of life will take you. Having a Masters in a business field can totally make the difference between just being able to apply for certain jobs or even promotions/alternate positions or not.

As you point out the costs of going back to school, if you had a Masters outright you’d already be a leg up on the competition.

Life isn’t always as cut&dry as an ROI computation.