You’ve heard you need a graduate degree — either to advance your career or to break into a new one — but will going to business school really be worth it? Depending on your goals and interests, the skills and experience you gain in a business graduate degree program could be essential. What you learn during a graduate program and how you can leverage it to meet your goals is ultimately what will determine whether business school is worth the time and money to pursue it.
Some of what you learn in business school as a graduate student will depend on what you study as a core subject. You can choose to focus on a wide range of concentrations, like accounting, finance, project management, information technology (IT), human resources, marketing or logistics, just to name a few. But some experiences and skills you’ll learn in business school as a graduate student are universal. Here are some things you can expect to learn when you pursue a master’s degree or higher in business.
The networking time and access to experienced faculty you’ll find in business school could be the stand-alone reason to pursue a business graduate degree for some people. The connections you make with other professionals in your courses and time you spend bumping elbows with industry experts and faculty can easily turn into job opportunities, collaboration ideas or future partnerships.
You should have ample opportunities to exercise and strengthen your critical thinking skills whether you’re pursuing an MBA or master’s in finance. Your classes and interactions with other students and faculty will help you learn to manage uncertainty, use deductive reasoning and see opportunities where others see obstacles.
The ability to make decisions that are fair, just and responsible is key to professional success, regardless of your field. When you study business at the graduate level, you’ll have opportunities to explore ethical standards of behavior and develop your own frame of reference to guide your professional behavior.
If you’re the kind of person who wants to see the numbers, recent data shows that MBA graduates in the class of 2020 earn an average salary of $101,034. According to The Princeton Review, MBA graduates also receive an average overall starting bonus of almost $16,000 – and if you'd like to learn more about the value of an MBA, explore this post from the Wall Street Journal: A Graduate Degree That Pays Off: The M.B.A.. Though we know that not every graduate student in business school earns an MBA, you can use these numbers as a starting point when thinking about your own ROI.
Keep in mind that there’s more to these numbers than what you see at face value — the business school from which you earn your degree can play a big role in career, salary and bonus opportunities. So while you consider where to pursue your degree, consider also whether earning a graduate degree will help you achieve your professional or personal goals outside of monetary gain.
While some experiences and opportunities of business school are universal, where you choose to earn your graduate degree can make the difference in how much return you get for your investment in a degree.
At Sacred Heart, ranked as one of the Best Business Schools in 2022 by the Princeton Review, we’re pioneering the integration of business and technology in education. Our forward-thinking curriculum and cutting-edge teaching labs incorporate a rich range of experiential, cross- and multidisciplinary learning opportunities. The fusion of these formerly distinct fields makes sure you’ll graduate prepared for the 21st-century career landscape.
Learn more about how we’re changing the way the world thinks about business and technology. Download our guide to