No matter what industry you’re in you can benefit from having an MBA degree. Getting an MBA degree can prepare you to be a manager or qualify you to be promoted to an executive position within the company that you work for. You could even learn how to start your own business and work yourself if you have an MBA degree. The biggest reason to get an MBA degree though is because you can earn more money if you have an MBA degree. Statistics have shown that a college graduate with a business degree can expect to earn about $45,000 as a starting salary but a graduate with an MBA can except to earn about $75,000 as a starting salary. Companies know that employees with MBA degrees are going to be an asset to the company and can really help shape the company and guide the company so that the company continues to grow and flourish. People that have MBA degrees usually have the skills and the expertise and the contacts to really move a company forward and most of the time companies are willing to pay high salaries to attract competent employees with an MBA degree. Over the course of an entire career the difference between what your salary will be if you just have a four year degree and what your salary will be if you have an MBA degree can be huge. Wouldn’t you rather invest the time and money into getting an MBA degree and collecting big over the course of your career instead of just sticking with a four year degree and staying stuck in the same rung of the salary ladder for your whole career?

With so many different online MBA programs to choose from it’s never been easier or more convenient to get an MBA so why put off enrolling in an MBA program? You can boost your earning potential by thousands of dollars and move your career to the next level of success just by getting an online MBA degree. If you work in a company that offers tuition reimbursement for continuing education you might not even need to pay for your MBA. Lots of companies these days will reimburse their employees for any education expenses if that education is going to directly benefit the company and certainly getting an MBA would be an asset to any company. Since you would be putting all the skills that you learn in the MBA program directly into helping the company that you work for progress chances are good that your employer would be willing to pay for at least part of your MBA degree if not all of your MBA degree although you might have to agree to stay with the company for a certain period of time if the company pays for the MBA degree. Companies that do offer tuition assistance or tuition reimbursement will often ask you to sign a contract agreeing to stay employed for a set time period, usually at least a year, after getting an MBA degree. That way the company can be sure that you won’t take the MBA degree that the company paid for and quit to go work for another company.



Thanks to Bailey Smith for contributing this article to our MBA blog:

Distance Learning Mba Program

Leadership is the single most important quality that a businessperson can have. Think about it. If you had excellent business knowledge but didn’t have the leadership ability to get others to follow your advice, it would be difficult to know what type of a business you were able to run. Many people find that they only move up so far in a company and then get stuck somewhere in the humdrum world of middle management. To bust out of that area and move into a higher position, it is often necessary to hone your leadership skills. An Executive MBA online is one way that people gain the leadership abilities that they need to move forward in their careers.

An Executive MBA online can teach you many different things. You can use it to learn about specific organizational systems and how to work best within them. You can take courses for the degree, which will apprise you of updated technology for the business sector. You may even improve your ability to do company taxes in a way that favors your business. But the real skill that you get out of a program like this lies not in the content that you learn. It lies in the leadership abilities that you develop as a result of this kind of study. You will learn how to command a room, how to negotiate with employees in a way that keeps them happy but keeps you in charge and essentially how to run a business from the top down.

The reason that many people opt to gain these skills through an Executive MBA online rather than by attending a traditional college is because they don’t want to pause their careers. The goal here is to move forward. Cutting back on work so that you can attend college classes doesn’t help you to achieve that goal. In contrast, the Executive MBA online can be completed on your own schedule. You can get the work that you need to do done during the day and then deal with your classes at night or on the weekends. The best part about this is that you’ll be taking what you learn from your courses and applying it directly to your work. You’ll see your leadership skills go into practice immediately, reaping almost instant rewards from your efforts.

Some people fear that getting a degree in something like leadership through an online program won’t prepare them for that type of real world application. After all, it’s one thing to read a theory in a book and another to actually act it out with real people. But the way that the web world works these days, it’s easy to make a classroom as interactive online as it is in real life. You can incorporate video technology, conferencing options and voice communication to simulate a real classroom. That facilitates putting your leadership skills to the test with real people who will give you live feedback. And it will also translate well to your business since much of your leadership may be taking place online these days.

An Executive MBA online isn’t the only way to develop your leadership abilities. You can attend leadership seminars, read books and work by the practice makes perfect approach. Consider what your goals are and whether the credibility of a degree will assist you in meeting those goals. And when the going gets tough, focus on the fact that you really don’t want to be languishing in middle management forever. There is no reason that you have to let anyone else be the boss of you. You can be your own boss and lead others as well.



Thanks to Andy West for contributing this article to our MBA blog:

Best Online Mba Program

As challenging as business school can be, tension often starts well before the first class. Students taking standardized tests to secure a slot with prestigious programs are left wondering which examination is preferred. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE)? The Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT)? Or perhaps both? Although there’s no clear answer, the battle rages on for admissions and profits.

The 411 on Standardized Testing

For those who are unfamiliar with either of these two college entrance tests, the differences between them are subtle. Both the GRE and GMAT are computer-adaptive tests (CAT) that adapt to your performance as you take the test. Both assess of verbal and quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and writing. However, the GMAT touts its ability to accurately predict how a student taking this exam may do in the first year of business school. Consequently, MBA hopefuls have traditionally preferred it over the GRE for this reason.

The New York Times highlights some of the contrasts in the two tests:

•    Price Points. The GRE costs $140, where the GMAT stands at $250

•    GRE in the Numbers. Over 600,000 students take the GRE annually, and it’s scores are valid for a five-year period

•    GMAT in the Numbers. Over 1,800 business schools accept the GMAT, and it’s been the admissions norm for over 50 years

Today, a storm is brewing between the GRE and GMAT for business school supremacy.

Battle of the Higher Ed Organizations

Not surprisingly, the fight is over both tradition and money. Nearly 250,000 students take the GMAT on an annual basis, which accounts for $62.5 million dollars in testing revenue. The Educational Testing Service (ETS) used to administer both tests. However, ETS lost its rights over the GMAT to ACT, Inc. in 2003 and has been appealing to business schools to accept the GRE in its stead ever since.

In fact, ETS launched a comprehensive campaign in early 2008 to begin winning over business schools. This plan included a variety of tactics from lobbying business schools to revising the GRE to make it more applicable to business programs. According to BusinessWeek, some of the modifications include adding more reading comprehension to test inferential reasoning, more data interpretation questions and real-world problems, and a soft skills measure called the Personal Potential Index. The transformation seems to be working, as several high-profile MBA programs are consenting to the change.

Inside Higher Ed reports that much of the ground gained by the GRE in recent years–115 business schools now accept the GRE–is due in part to misconceptions about the GMAT. Contrary to popular belief, the GMAT does not focus on finance, accounting, or business strategy. Also, students wishing to hedge their bets, and who have the financial means, are choosing to take both tests. That way, they’ve got both scores ready no matter which one is preferred by their particular school of choice.

The Final Word

While the debate rages between business school deans, educational experts, and testing proponents, the decision to choose between GRE and GMAT continues to fall on the student’s shoulders.

Personal preference and convenience may come into play as you decide the test that’s right for you. With the immense amount of research completed on these tests as well as the proposed up-and-coming changes, choosing one or the other before finding out all of the facts might just be the only mistake you can make. The most practical and easiest way to make a decision is to check with your desired program and ask them for their preference.

Hopefully, they’ll have an answer.



Thanks to Kelli Smith for contributing this article to our MBA blog:

Making Money Online

Can you answer CLK_2006’s question about MBA?:

I would like to work while I get my MBA. I still want to get my MBA from a good school. However, I work and live in an area where there are not any good schools. Finding a list of good MBA programs is easy. Finding a list of good MBA programs with distance learning is hard.

Mba Business Schools

Can you answer Vigneshram.S’s question about MBA?:

I have finished UG in physics. I decide to continue my higher studies in MBA through distance education. Kindly let me know which is the best one to study MBA through distance education in India.

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