There are many reasons why pursuing a master’s degree is a worthy investment to consider. You can be a better business owner or perform better in your career with the skills and experience acquired while pursuing the master’s degree. The process of getting the degree itself is enriching, especially if you pursue a degree in a field you are passionate about.
There are a lot of master’s degrees to pursue these days, but a Master of Business Administration, or MBA, remains the most popular of them all. The degree is getting more and more valuable too, plus you can now pursue your own master’s degree in business administration with the help of online programs from top universities.
The big question, however, remains the same. Is an MBA the right degree for you? To help you answer that question, we are going to take a look at some of the benefits you can get from getting an online MBA degree.
More Affordable Than Ever
Let’s take a look at one of the most interesting online MBA benefits, which is the lower overall cost of earning the degree. Online programs are more affordable than the equivalent offline course mainly because universities can run their online courses without the high overhead costs.
If you are looking for a way to earn an MBA while keeping the cost of getting the degree low, online courses are the way to go. Compared to conventional MBA courses, online MBA programs are up to 60% more affordable.
A Career Boost
There is also the fact that an MBA degree can really help you climb the corporate ladder. According to this survey by Jack Welch MBA, 21% of respondents who pursued an MBA for career purposes received a promotion soon after graduating.
The same survey also reveals that 22% of the respondents earned both a promotion and a pay raise, while a further 33% got a pay raise even without the promotion. These are interesting numbers indeed, because they show how effective earning an MBA can be in boosting your career.
The Right Skills for the Market
Let’s not forget that an MBA is the degree for those in business, management, and other fields. It is a degree that works for professionals and business owners alike. The reason behind this is the many skills – market-relevant skills to be exact – that you can pick up while studying for the MBA degree.
If we look at the same survey mentioned earlier, there are some interesting numbers about the skills picked up by respondents too. 45% of the respondents noticed an improvement in their decision-making and management skills. 35% also noticed growth in their ability to present ideas.
As mentioned before, these are market-relevant skills, skills that are in high demand on the market right now. By mastering these skills, you are also securing a better, brighter professional future for yourself. The MBA degree will be more valuable when you can pick up these skills along the way.
Better Communication
The fact that respondents noticed an increase in their presentation skills after completing their MBA programs is interesting on its own. In today’s competitive market, having the right skills and expertise alone isn’t enough. You also need to know how to communicate ideas the right way.
MBA programs are designed to train professionals and executives for future strategic roles. You will learn how to develop ideas from the start and how to communicate those ideas to others. That increase in communication skills is handy in and out of work.
Enhanced Time Management
There is also the fact that MBAs tend to manage their time better. This is a benefit of both pursuing the degree and opting for an online MBA to do that. When you enroll in a top ranked online MBA program, you are given a lot of flexibility regarding how you want to complete the course.
That flexibility means you need to take the program at your own pace, allocate time towards completing course assignments and keep up with the learning materials, and stay on top of the course, even when you have a fulltime job to maintain.
These are challenges that need to be approached with care. Online MBA programs are flexible indeed, but you are required to use that flexibility wisely.
Priceless Management Skills
Lastly, you can choose specific fields to major in when pursuing an MBA degree. These specific fields allow you to sharpen your management skills like never before. Depending on your major (or majors), you can be an expert in manufacturing, marketing, finance, HR and people development, and many more.
So, is an MBA the right degree for you? If you are in business or management, or you run your own business and you want to be better at it, or if you simply want to move forward in your career, an MBA is a valuable degree to have. It is an investment with many great benefits.
