The Value of the MBA: One-on-One with Georgetown’s Associate Dean of Admissions

As the saying goes: you have to spend money to make money.

But when it comes to going back to school for an MBA, the saying should go: you have to spend a lot of money to hopefully make a lot more money. A full-time MBA degree can run, on average, between $50,000 and $100,000. At some schools, tuition is nearing the $170,000 mark. Couple these costs with the price of stepping off the career track to fully immerse in a program that, unlike law school or medical school, is not required to enter into the business world, and it’s easy to see how a prospective student might feel uncertain about whether or not it’s really worth it to pursue an MBA.

To better understand the cost benefit analysis of the MBA degree, Ivy Exec spoke to Shari Hubert, Associate Dean of MBA Admissions at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. In addition to her expertise as an admissions officer at one of the top-ranked business schools in the country, Hubert is herself an MBA recipient who made the decision to leave her job at a pharmaceutical company and pursue her education full time. Even more compelling, Hubert’s company at that time offered her the opportunity for a sponsored Executive MBA. She turned down the offer to pursue her degree full time, knowing that she needed the fully immersive experience to meet her career goals—a calculus she recommends that other prospective MBAs do as well.

“The MBA was a means of pivoting my career,” Hubert recalls. “Given my learning style, I felt it would be more challenging and more rewarding to have a total immersion experience. It was a completely personal decision and tied into my long term objectives for my career.”

Because, as Hubert notes, MBA students come to Georgetown in pursuit of the degree for a variety of reasons, they must evaluate their educational options in alignment with their own goals just as she did. But across the board, the mission to enhance one’s earning potential is a frequent motivator for many students.

So what exactly is the return on investment for MBA students at Georgetown?

“According to the Forté Foundation, MBAs can expect to recoup a third of their tuition investment in the first year and 100% of their tuition investment in four years. All of this is contingent on the industry, sector and function,” Hubert says. She attributes the discrepancy in post-degree salary increase between the Full-time MBA students and the Evening MBA students to the fact that many of the latter are already employed in management positions within their companies, and are therefore less likely to see as much of an incremental monetary boost initially, than someone transitioning into a new company or firm. In addition, many Full-time MBAs seek initial careers in Consulting or Finance, industries that tend to pay higher starting salaries and bonuses.

But either way, Hubert says the notion that an MBA degree is too expensive is a myth that is frequently and erroneously cited by those who are not looking at the bigger picture.

“People contemplating this transformative academic opportunity overly focus on the short term investment. But the long term payback is very real,” Hubert explains. “Long term, people who undertake MBA degrees grow their networks exponentially and transform their critical thinking abilities, managerial technical skills, confidence and credentials. An MBA degree will allow you to be flexible enough to create multiple, diverse career options over your career lifespan…Look at both the concrete costs and the intangible values created long term through the experience.”

But Hubert knows from her own experience that no one weighing an MBA should rely on the data of average salary raises over the long term to calculate the value of the educational opportunity. Instead, an MBA is only as valuable as the effort the student puts into her education. Like anything in both life and business, the degree comes with no guarantees whatsoever—although it can offer a wealth of opportunities to those who are hungry and capable.

“Business school opens students up to opportunities they might otherwise not have seen or believed they could go after.  The experience is a door opener – no question about that – and once a graduate walks through those doors, it’s up to them to perform,” Hubert says.

But to call business school a “door opener” may be something of an understatement. For many, it can be an outright game changer as students gain instant access to a distinguished alumni network. They also enjoy new visibility to the world’s top employers and a team of career coaches and mentors they never would have otherwise known.

“As an MBA student, you will have more career resources at your disposal than ever before: employers seeking you out; coaching and resume experts at your back; an engaged alumni network; moral support from peers, faculty and administrators. Not to mention [you will gain] newly-earned credibility and more robust technical skills that equip you with the ability to land the job of your dreams, if not in the short-term, then definitely over time,” says Hubert.

Furthermore, the MBA can offer a way forward for career switchers who may not have otherwise acquired the real-world work experience to pursue jobs in their target field.

“Employers are more likely to give MBA’s the benefit of the doubt when their prior experience is not perfectly aligned with a job opportunity,” Hubert explains. “Employers are just more open to taking a chance on pivoting, pre-screened talent.”

So whatever the motivation may be for pursuing a business school education, the ROI for an MBA can certainly be promising—but not without clear career goals and impressive efforts on the part of the student.

Learn more about the Georgetown McDonough School of Business.