"Less Success Than Meets the Eye?" The Impact of Master of Business Administration Education on Graduates' Careers

Some negative rumblings about Master of Business Administration (MBA) education have lately been circulating among business journals and magazines. To test the validity of such rumblings, the authors surveyed 309 graduates who obtained MBAs between 1996 and 2002 from an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International-accredited college of business regarding the short- and long-term impact of MBA education on their careers. The findings indicate that the AACSB International-accredited MBA education has a positive impact on its graduates' employment, annual income, and job promotion in both short and long terms. In addition, MBA graduates believe that they are better performers than their peers without MBAs are in the areas of problem-solving, leadership, and team collaboration.