[zerkten]

> Then there were about 30% of students that actively chose to pursue an MBA. These students almost all had actual, real-world experience and actively chose to get an MBA because of specific needs or circumstances they had.

Coming from the UK my assumption was that MBA degrees were only open to those with some type of actual experience. That is based on my own research around 2002 where I found that Master's in Finance, Management, etc. were the only options for someone with limited real-world experience.

Is this a case where the entry requirements have shifted, or is this a regional thing? I went down the Master's path, but found an opportunity to come to the US on an H1B so I dropped out. I found what I've learned to be incredibly useful, but given how far I made it through I can't justify an MBA for reasons other than the credential or networking.

[cosmie]

The reasons are mixed. In some cases, it's a shift in entry requirements. One institution's admissions standards is another institution's market opportunity. Which is partially a regional thing, due to the sickening willingness of unsustainable institutional growth on the back of ever increasing amounts of student loan debt (which has special status in the US that makes it both incredibly easy to qualify for and almost impossible to ever discharge via bankruptcy).

But a more globally-applicable path is sideloading into an MBA. Many institutions offer "dual degree programs", where you get an MS in Finance or Management or what have you. And because the requirements overlap so heavily with an MBA, for an additional semester or two of classes you can get an MBA as well. So you get in for just the MS, then after you start you switch to the dual degree track. By that point you're already past the general qualifications, already within the graduate school, and already a student. It's mostly an administrative change internally, and as long as your faculty like you it's pretty easy for them to push through.

[yardie]

The MBA programs of the 70s and 80s had business experience as one of the requirements, with GRE and undergraduate degree as the remainder. Since the 90s a lot of programs have completely dropped the business experience requirement. Quite a few have gone to integrated 5 year (BBA + MBA). Makes it easier to expand an expensive program from a cadre of rich, impressionable undergrads rather than a workforce who understand value for money.

[chrisweekly]

"can't justify an MBA for reasons other than the credential or networking"

I suspect those two reasons constitute a sizable portion -- maybe even a majority -- of a typical MBA's value proposition. At the elite schools, the networking component alone might justify the costs.

[mathattack]

At the top 6-8 schools in the US, networking plus the placement office justified the bill. But if you’re an @$$hole then the networking won’t help.