Why Should I Get an MBA?
Are you trying to decide if an MBA is the right choice for you? An MBA degree has the potential to boost your career in multiple ways. If you are hoping to move into a high-level management position, feel stagnate in your current position, or are considering a career change, getting an MBA degree will increase your chances of achieving these goals.
The Sellinger School of Business at Loyola University Maryland offers both full-time and part-time MBA programs designed to help you develop the expertise you need to reach the next level of your career. Here are five MBA benefits that are well worth it:
- Valuable Skills: An MBA degree develops management and problem-solving skills and provides practical knowledge that can be applied across multiple platforms. It prepares you to meet the challenges of today’s economy and succeed in business. These MBA benefits will serve you well in your future career. Most MBA programs also offer the opportunity for specialization to “focus your studies on a particular aspect of business and prepare you for a career in a specific field,” says Stephanie Farah, a CollegeXpress.com blogger for Magoosh.com. The Professional’s MBA program offers six comprehensive MBA concentrations to help you further develop the advanced skills employers value.
- Higher Salary: Employers are willing to pay more for the highly specialized skill set of an MBA graduate. Additionally, MBA careers require more responsibility and longer hours, which also results in higher salaries. The average MBA career salary is considerably higher than that of an employee with a regular master’s degree. According to MastersPortal, the average salary for MBA jobs ranges from $70,000 to $120,000.
- Influential Network: Pursuing an MBA offers lifelong networking opportunities with peers, faculty and business people at the highest level. These relationships continue throughout your MBA career and into the future. When discussing their success stories, students and alumni of the Sellinger School of Business MBA program agree these MBA benefits have lasting impact.
- Career Opportunities: MBA careers span all industries. Demand for MBAs has increased and is continuing to grow, according to a June 2016 global report by the Graduate Management Admission Council. Specifically, 88 percent of corporate recruiters working with graduate business schools plan to hire recent MBA graduates – an 8 percent increase from 2015 and a 33 percent increase from 2010. A majority of MBA graduates hold advanced positions. Masters Portal estimates that 70 percent of MBA graduates worldwide are senior managers or board directors.
- Critical Thinking: An article published by Forbes details less tangible, but highly personal benefits of getting your MBA, including thinking about problems and situations on both local and global scales, improving and expanding on your knowledge base, and developing a better and more focused self-awareness. These leadership and reflection characteristics are hallmarks of Loyola's approach to business education.
These are just some of the many compelling MBA benefits. If you are considering an MBA, visit our program comparison page to learn which program may be a fit for you.