More and more professionals are going back to school to build their skill set and make themselves more attractive to future employers. But is an MBA training the sound investment many believe it to be? Is an MBA worth all the trouble? More to the point, will you benefit enough from your master’s studies to make the investment worth every hour, every cent? If numbers are the sole criterion to make judgment calls by, the answer is yes.
A recent survey of employees in the finance sector compared the earning power of Chief Finance Officers without a degree, CFOs with a Bachelor’s degree, and CFOs with an MBA. The finding? CFOs without a degree have an average salary of $39,000 while those with a Bachelor’s degree earned twice as much. CFOs with MBAs, on the other hand, raked in approximately $105,000. Clearly, even in a volatile economy, the return on investment on master’s studies – whether online or off – is well worth the money and the time spent.
Reality, however, is not as cut and dry as numbers. Pursuing master’s studies involves a trade-off. First, there’s the expense. You could use the money you funnel into pursuing master’s studies – whether in the field of psychology, finance study, herbal research, public administration, or something else – to pay off the mortgage, renovate the house, or start your own business. Then there’s the time element involved. You could work full-time instead of spending a few hours in school.
Thankfully, online studies provide a viable alternative to the traditional on-campus master’s degree program. You can now take MBA classes online, making it easier for you to juggle both master’s education and a full-time job. An online master’s program gives you a lot of flexibility to review your course materials and attend classes virtually. Moreover, you get to save on costs, too, as you need not commute from home to campus to attend obligatory class meetings. You know what the best thing about an online master’s program is, though? It’s designed for working professionals like yourself so it comes with features like accelerated programs and shorter courses. Bottomline: online courses are for students with full-time jobs so your 9 to 5 schedule doesn’t get in the way.
Of course, online MBA training doesn’t always translate to a high-paying job. What it does, however, is increase your odds of getting better-paying work. At the same time, it prepares you for more advanced leadership roles in business or government. Then, too, learning is its own reward. If that doesn’t make higher learning sound rewarding enough, what would?
