MBA: Is it worth it?

Business Week's "Debate Room" tackled an important issue this month: Are MBAs worth it? In this post, I'll summarize both sides' arguments, and then I'll give my own conclusions.

The side that says it's not worth it says MBAs cause graduates to become more narrowly focused on formulaic conditions. Instead of using questions to drive solutions, MBA holders tend to rely too much on their own knowledge, which is unsuitable for highly dynamic industries.

On the other hand, the "return on investment" speaks for itself. MBA holders do earn more non-graduate degree holders, and they enjoy a high post-graduation employment rate.

My opinion is that it depends on your situation. I got a full tuition scholarship for the University of Hawaii's China-focused MBA program; to have turned it down would have been stupid.

That said, it wasn't the miracle cure for my career. I believe that to get the full value of an MBA, you must be at a point in your career where you're -- to use military terms -- transitioning from the operational to the tactical. You've learned enough about the technical aspects of your industry that you're ready to move up and handle decisions that affect 50 or more people.

If that's your situation, then an MBA might be suitable because it will teach the hard financial skills that you may not have earned otherwise. Does a decision make sense? Is it conducive to the long term growth of the department? These are things that MBA graduates can analyze.

True, "gut" decisions may trump business analysis in fast-growing, innovation-driven industries, but on the whole, an MBA is rarely a bad idea.

For me, it's a tricky thing. Very few lieutenants have advanced degrees (for that matter, very few officers come into the Army when they're 33, either). As a company grade officer, it's useless, but for senior captains or majors it starts to make a difference. At the moment, it's a nice conversation piece, but while my future counterparts will be trying to finish graduate school, I'll be available to take on key assignments.

And of course, the Chinese aspect to my degree was a nice bonus. Although one year of Chinese was just a start, it's a good foundation for future study and may pay off in the long run if I can be a Foreign Area Officer or a diplomat. Even if I only get foreign language proficiency pay, it wouldn't be too bad.

So while it's true that it's not paying off right now, I still think getting my MBA was a great idea. I got a scholarship, learned Chinese, and went to China. Even though I racked up another $30,000 in student load debt in the process, the Army ended up paying all that off through the student loan repayment plan anyway.

In the end, I'd say it worked out pretty well.