Do You Really Need An MBA?

Photographed by Christy Kurtz..
Mark Zuckerberg being hauled before Congress is a signal to some people that at 33 years old, the tech founder is finally "growing up." So, maybe it's also time to retire the idea successful entrepreneurs should drop out of college to get ahead. (After all, companies like Facebook are called "unicorns" for a reason.)

What It Is For?


Twenty years after graduating, how do you run a team of thousands of people under you?

Sabah Khan, an MBA admissions officer, at the Stanford Graduate School of Business says students learn about finance, accounting, strategy, operations through unpacking hundreds of business cases, but they also learn how to make high-level decisions and direct a company's future.
"It really comes back to the interpersonal skills [students] gain of how to inspire people and lead huge teams," she says. "Twenty years after graduating, how do you run a team of thousands of people under you? Or 10 years later, when you have to fire someone for the first time, how do you do so in a way that doesn't undermine your organization?"
The other big benefit of an MBA is the robust rolodex of people students and grads can tap for internship opportunities during the program and assistance with landing a job or getting a new business idea funded after graduation.

How Much Will It Cost?

There's no point being delicate about it: MBAs are expensive.
In an analysis of a 2016 GMAC report, Fortune found that "MBAs who got their degree part-time, at an average tuition cost of $25,000, took just two-and-a-half years to earn back their investment, as did executive MBA grads who paid roughly the same tuition." These programs have many shapes and forms, and that can impact the cost as well. For instance, Value College's ranking of best-value MBA programs revealed degrees can be specialized (organizational behavior and HR management or global supply chain marketing?), format (full time, part time, off campus?), and region.

What About The Gender Pay Gap?

But don't forget that the gender pay gap may offset some success. "Women who are considering earning an MBA can expect the same post-degree salary bump as their male classmates" — amounting to a $20,000 bump, GMAC found. But that halo dissipated in time: The median salary for female b-school grads in the U.S. was lower compared to men's median salaries, across all job levels — up to 80 cents to the dollar at the executive level.

There are easier, cheaper, more efficient, and shorter ways to incubate a business idea.

Is There Another Way In?

Rather than thinking of what you could potentially do with an MBA, it might be wiser to have an idea in mind and then consider if an MBA will get you there. Do people who have your dream jobs all seem to have that credential? Then it may be tacitly or overtly necessary for you to follow the same path. But if there are a variety of ways in, an MBA may not be necessary.
"There are easier, cheaper, more efficient, and shorter ways to incubate a business idea, and that's not what we're designed to do," Khan says. "We're not the graduate school of entrepreneurship; we're the graduate school of business. If you have the expectation of [getting] a paying customer in hand for your idea, you could probably better serve yourself by joining YCombinator or StartX or another program that's designed to help you do that."
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