A survey focusing on the perceived value of an MBA has found that the vast majority of alumni rate their degree of significant worth.
The Financial Times survey asked 1,370 MBAs who had graduated in 2007 to rate their management degree on its worthiness between one and five, with five being the highest. The average score returned was 4.4, with 56% of the respondents rating their MBA program five out of five.
Meanwhile, the same poll found the average MBA cost to be US$132,600 including course fees, living costs, interest on loans and loss of earnings while studying.
Perhaps unsurprisingly as a result of this cost, more than three years after their graduation in 2007, 69% of the MBA alumni who took out loans for their studies were yet to pay the full debt back.
MBA job opportunities
Notably, the Financial Times survey was conducted during one of the worst global recessions in recent years, where MBA graduates in particular suffered a significant decline in job opportunities. This makes the survey results all the more interesting, with MBA job opportunities, and therefore the return on investment of an MBA set to pick up over the next year.
"The global financial crisis and subsequent economic depression have had profound effects upon what types of jobs are available to MBAs and how those hiring needs are filled," explains Sheryle M Dirks, associate dean for career management at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.
Dirks continues, explaining that MBA recruitment in the past year has been characterized by: "Fewer companies recruiting on campus, fewer visits to campus by those companies that are recruiting, and more candidates competing for positions, including those in recent graduating classes who were laid off or unemployed."
Jacqueline Wilbur, senior director of the MBA Career Development Office at MIT Sloan School of Management says that, "After experiencing a significant decline in opportunities for our students between fall 2008 through fall 2009, we saw a return to normal recruitment levels this past fall that has been maintained."
With a return to pre-recessionary levels of MBA job opportunities, students' perceived value level of an MBA should rise in the future. However, with an average level of 4.4 out of five, or an 88% MBA satisfaction rating it's difficult to see the figures rising much further.
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