Even in times of a less-than-stellar economy, a business degree is seen as a valuable pursuit, according to the results of a recent study.
Kaplan, the largest provider of test preparation and admission consulting services, released the results of its "2003 Pre-M.B.A. Snapshot," survey earlier this month.
Based on the responses of 654 students nationwide who prepared for the Graduate Management Admission Test with Kaplan in 2002, the survey found a continued -- if not increased -- respect for MBAs as a valuable credential, despite a less-than ideal job market. Fully 55 percent of those surveyed said they believed the MBA was more valuable than it was 20 years ago.
"In every economic down cycle, in every downturn, people go back to school," Kaplan Executive Director of Graduate Programs Albert Chen said. "It makes sense -- you don't have a job, you want to better yourself and be more competitive."
Chen traced a pattern of credential-building from the seventies to the present, noting that, three decades ago, "you could have a high school diploma, work at Boeing, and work at a job for $80,000."
Recession then forced so many job-seekers into college that, according to Chen, "In the '80s and '90s, the college degree was the status quo degree."
Now, to be competitive, one or more professional degrees are becoming the norm.
"The reason people value MBAs so much is this -- a professional degree has become the status quo degree," Chen said.
Predicting a "glut of MBAs" and law degrees in the next two to three years, Chen said that the overabundance of degrees would not devalue the credentials so much as render them mandatory.
"The reality is this," Chen said. "If there's a glut of MBAs and JDs, the expectation is that you will have one."
Its intrinsic flexibility makes the MBA especially valuable, according to Director of Admissions and Financial Aid for the Wharton School's MBA program Rosemaria Martinelli.
"You can go into about any industry... and use the skill sets you learn from the MBA and make a difference," she said.
"No matter what you do in life you're going to be managing resources -- people, finance -- and they're all limited."
Martinelli maintained that advanced degrees were, nevertheless, not viewed as mandatory in the business world.
"Talent is talent and a degree is a degree," she said. "It's a credential, but it's really about the person. People hire people."
The survey also showed that 49 percent viewed a school's ranking as factor that weighed weighed "most into their decision making when choosing a business school" -- far outstripping location, which came in second at 22 percent, and counseling, a distant third at 9 percent.
"I'm kind of tired of everyone wanting the 30-second approach to getting an answer," Martinelli said in response to the figures, adding that applicants should exercise "due diligence" and perform meaningful research, using the rankings only as a starting point.
"That blew me away," Chen agreed. "It's an easy way to think that you've done research, because other people have done it for you."
Chen stressed that top ranked schools wouldn't necessarily guarantee their graduates' success, especially given the importance of local networking.
"If you're in Akron [Ohio] and you want to do business there, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to go to Harvard," Chen said.
