[spookthesunset]

> Why do I need a degree to read financial reports? Can't I get a book or just Google it?

It isn't just "how to read financial reports" but learning how companies can game those financial reports. It is learning that the most important stuff you'll get out a financial report isn't the top level balance sheet but in all the footnotes where they describe how they derived some top level figure.

Accounting is way, way more than simply counting numbers. It is every bit as much of an art as it is a science. For example, learning all the different ways to recognize revenue and, more important, how the particular revenue recognition strategy you use can incentivize behavior--both good and bad.... you probably aren't gonna get that out of a book. You need to be made aware of it.

That is the value of a good MBA program. Sure you can "learn it all out of a book", but not in a holistic way.