4 ms·

I think a lot of the problem comes down to MBA students who have zero critical thinking or problem solving ability. I see it all the time in my program - stude

I think a lot of the problem comes down to MBA students who have zero critical thinking or problem solving ability. I see it all the time in my program - students take everything they learn verbatim and act like it is gospel. In reality, they should always be questioning what they are learning, thinking about how it might apply in the real world, and what the benefits/consequences are. For example, my Entrepreneurship class is making us write a business plan with the sole intention of gaining funding. That's nice - but at the same time I'm using it as an exercise to also see what the plan would look like as a lifestyle or small (37signals-ish) business. Secondly, MBA programs are just now beginning to (somewhat) teach that pure profit maximization is not the only goal of a business. It will take a while for this to catch on, and not all MBA students are going to adopt this way of thinking, but there are some of us out there who do. This is happening with both social ventures and sustainability-focused businesses.

dmh 16y ago
Let us not forget that MBA programs are one of the biggest, and quickest growing, forms of graduate education in the country. They're also one of the most expensive, offer few scholarships compared to other para-professional training, and cost very little to operate. And questionable online-only programs are sprouting up, and not just from bullshit schools. Training high-paying MBA students is a huge financial gain for the school doing the teaching. Yet, there are few standards and core concepts to ensure quality education, leaving a huge spread in the quality of graduates. Your MBA, oftentimes, pays off more for the school more than for you.
- slantyyz 16y ago
  Around the time I was finishing up mine (1994), the prices skyrocketed. I think my fees were just over $2K CDN/semester x 4 semesters (back when the US dollar was super strong), and then universities started introducing accelerated "executive MBAs" that cost well over $20K for 6 months. I got my ROI a long time ago, but if I had to do it again today, I wouldn't bother. You have access to so much information these days (BBS's were how you communicated back then, not the www, and the idea of youtube was just c-r-a-z-y) that it's hard to justify the high costs of tuition.

dmh 16y ago

Let us not forget that MBA programs are one of the biggest, and quickest growing, forms of graduate education in the country. They're also one of the most expensive, offer few scholarships compared to other para-professional training, and cost very little to operate. And questionable online-only programs are sprouting up, and not just from bullshit schools. Training high-paying MBA students is a huge financial gain for the school doing the teaching. Yet, there are few standards and core concepts to ensure quality education, leaving a huge spread in the quality of graduates. Your MBA, oftentimes, pays off more for the school more than for you.

slantyyz 16y ago
Around the time I was finishing up mine (1994), the prices skyrocketed. I think my fees were just over $2K CDN/semester x 4 semesters (back when the US dollar was super strong), and then universities started introducing accelerated "executive MBAs" that cost well over $20K for 6 months. I got my ROI a long time ago, but if I had to do it again today, I wouldn't bother. You have access to so much information these days (BBS's were how you communicated back then, not the www, and the idea of youtube was just c-r-a-z-y) that it's hard to justify the high costs of tuition.