Whether you want to accelerate your career growth, expand your global network, completely change your career field, or become an entrepreneur, an MBA (Master of Business Administration) program is the way to go.
It builds valuable business acumen, leadership skills, and new opportunities for you, and these are just a few of the reasons why it is so popular.
The MBA has seen a surge in interest in the past year, and there is a reason for that – historically, demand for this type of program increases when the economy is in recession and the opportunity cost of increasing skills through training decreases.
In evaluating an MBA candidate, emphasis is placed on academic and leadership potential, career development, and professional goals.
Standard admissions criteria include an application form; CV; transcripts; academic and/or employer references; cover letter or essay on a topic specified by the school; proof of English proficiency; and in most cases, a GMAT or GRE score.
Major business schools require a video presentation and an interview with the admissions committee or a graduate student of the university. Most business schools require an application fee for the MBA program.
The criteria for choosing an MBA program should reflect personal attitudes, needs, and desires. Typically, these include: school location, program length, ranking and prestige, admission requirements, accreditation, scholarship and training opportunities, program/classroom participant profile and new connections and connections, and return on investment.
Rankings of MBA schools
There are several different rankings that rank business schools that offer MBA programs. Some of these are from the most influential business and economics publications The Economist, Financial Times and the QS World University Rankings which provide information on ranking schools globally – Europe, North America or Asia, while there are sources such as Forbes and US News in the USA which only rank business schools in the USA.
Which ranking to choose is a matter of personal choice, but it is good to familiarize yourself with their methodology, which is based on criteria such as accreditation, salary level of graduates, number of academic publications by faculty, return on investment in the MBA degree in the first five years after graduation, new career opportunities, personal development, MBA graduate satisfaction and the so-called employability measure – a criterion that measures employability.
Depending on where you choose to study a traditional MBA program, the cost can vary. A determining factor is the length of study and the reputation of the school. It is important to note that in the US, an MBA lasts two years, while in Europe it takes one year.
Tuition at the best business schools in the US, for example, costs over $120,000: MIT Sloan, Harvard Business School; Stanford; University of Chicago: Booth. In Europe, fees range from $80,000 to $110,000 at business schools such as HEC Paris, INSEAD, London Business School.
When deciding on such an investment, it is advisable to take into account other costs associated with studying – tuition fees, accommodation and living expenses at the university, and travel costs.
The popularity of a more budget-friendly option for a part-time MBA program is fueled by the fact that students keep their current jobs and do not deprive themselves of the income it brings. The tuition fee itself is not much lower, but is often partially or fully funded by the employer.
According to The Economist’s ranking of the top 10 business schools offering Executive MBAs in 2020, they cost an average of $137,500. For the seventy institutions participating in this ranking, tuition fees range from $62,000 to $213,000.