Several friends who have done MBAs have all told me the same thing: When you do an MBA, you pay for two things. First, for the network of alumni. Second, for th

Several friends who have done MBAs have all told me the same thing: When you do an MBA, you pay for two things. First, for the network of alumni. Second, for the badge in your resume. In both cases, obviously the more prestigious the school, the better (and more expensive). Since that's what would carry more weight as a brand name (i.e. Harvard) and also richer / more influential people will attend as alumni, thus those personal connections being more valuable. Recently I heard about some MBAs called "Executive MBA" or something like that, which were basically shorter (1 year) and more expensive. They justified this by saying they were targeted at people already on the workforce, usually in management, who wanted to move up, and would really appreciate 1 year titles instead of 2 years. But again, it's for the same reason. More expensive title => "Wealthier" alumni => Looks better on your resume. And to top it off, you just have to spend a year "studying".