MBA in USA for
international students
The decision to study in
a top MBA program in the USA is no longer as simple as it once was. Along with
the attraction of the American Dream, The number of questions is growing
and concerns about today make it more tough and confusing to decide the
right thing. Is an MBA in the USA still worth it? What are the pros and cons of
studying in the United States? Which are the best MBA programs in the USA? What
are the average salary, tuition and cost of living?
The USA has the largest
number of internationally prestigious institutions and it has done an
incredible job of turning their names into high quality brands over the years.
Being one of the most attractibe and lucrative professional degrees out there,
the MBA degree program enjoys a particularly privileged status especially when
this MBA degree is obtained from the Elite American universities. As we know
that most of the top MBA employers belong from the USA, the country has a great
advantage in employment opening for MBA graduates, adding to the already
convincing reasons for why an MBA in the USA can be a pretty good idea. Over
50% of the top 100 MBA programs, ranked by the Financial Times’ Global MBA
Rankings, are from the US. And there is good reason for America’s uncontested
dominance on business education.
The MBA degree itself
originated in the country as a means to provide a scientific approach to
business management. It was the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School
which began its first version of the degree, back in the late 1800s, covering
diverse aspects of managing a successful business – including marketing,
finance, accounting, operations, legal, and more. Dartmouth’s Tuck took
it further to an advanced degree while it was none other than Harvard Business
School which conferred the first MBA degree.
The rest of the country,
and gradually the whole world, began to appreciate this American model of
providing its students, and the future managers, with academic training, as
opposed to letting them figure it out on the job. But producing excellent MBA
graduates would be meaningless unless there’s a demand for them. That’s where
the next point comes in. The USA is the largest economy in the world with the
highest GDP per capita.
This flourishing economy
is home to large corporations with impressive revenues. In the list of the
biggest companies in the world, over 40% are American. These corporate giants
are also some of the largest employers in the country, creating a large demand
for MBA trained management professionals. So, there is a balance in the system,
which builds some of the finest management graduates to be engaged by some of
the most successful corporations.
And that is one of the
reasons for the prosperity of the reputed US B-schools. While the country may
be grappling with some uncertainty around the topic today, the American society
has always been popular with immigrants. Well, that is how the USA, as we know
it now, essentially began. It is not only its multicultural lifestyle, media,
arts, music, sports and education system have made a very big consciousness on
the rest of the world.
In fact, an
exposure to the US media since childhood helps people in most countries get
familiar with the sights, sounds and the general idea of an American life. As
you can imagine, the country offers world-class education resources and a wide
scale of opportunities for international students who want to pursue a career,
after graduation. One of the major challenges that students face is managing
the cost of education, especially for an MBA.
There are multiple ways
to finance your education including scholarships, fellowships, assistantships,
and even education loans. However, if you are able to combat the tuition costs,
the MBA salaries are extremely rewarding, often ranging from $100,000 to almost
$200,000, if you are lucky. This is one of the reasons that drives many
applicants who are working with MBA Crystal Ball. Several of them already have
an MBA degree, but they apply for a second MBA in a top American B school for
all the advantages it offers apart from salary.
With a high paying job
after an MBA, you can expect a quite comfortable life enjoying all the comforts
and convenience of the famous American lifestyle. Getting a job is not a
guarantee though, and we’ll come to that soon. If you can get into the elite b
schools, take a look at the average salaries after MBA in the USA.
Here's a list of the
best full-time and part-time MBA programs in the USA, along with the program
duration and tuition cost. And here's a list of the best executive MBA programs
in the USA. Besides these Executive MBA programs, some universities in the USA
organize various short terms, often customizable, certification programs for
working professionals. The idea of this video was to give you a balanced
picture, and not just to make you happy. Before you get carried away by the
American dream, it’s also important to understand the pitfalls of studying in
the US.
American universities
and b-schools began to see international students as a source of much-needed
funds. Foreign students also gave them high selectivity. The number of slots
for international students may be less, but they can all be filled up with
excellent candidates. Foreign students give their campuses additional diversity
and perspective, which helps b-schools prepare their students for professional
lives in an increasingly globalized world.
Foreign students are
particularly eager to study in b-schools that can place them in consulting and
finance jobs that offer higher salaries and international opportunities,
perhaps more than any other MBA job. The tuition fee in American b-schools is
also much higher than that for domestic students. But foreign students are
ready to pay to achieve their dreams; often in full, as scholarships are not so
readily available to them. On their part, b-schools go the full distance to
make the local culture and environment welcoming for foreign students. They
offer visa services, bank facilities and cultural amalgamation programs to
international students. But because of the US government’s new restrictions on
work permits and visas, quite a few students will have to return to their home
countries with big debts.
Unless the policy makers
get their act together, this will eventually rob US b-schools of their
attraction for international students. Apart from work-permits, international
students struggle with a variety of other problems too. We’ll share a list in
the description below. Coming back to the big question. Is an MBA in the USA
worth it? At MBA Crystal Ball, the number of applicants aiming for good MBA
programs in the USA still tops every other country.
However many applicants have
come down from the stance that they’ll only attend a Top 5 MBA program or
nothing. And that’s not surprising either. The general feeling among return on
Investment conscious
applicants are this. When there are no guarantees that come after paying such a
high premium, why not aim for programs that balance quality, cost and return on
Investment. So the answer is – yes, an MBA in the USA is still worth it – for
the exposure you can get to the best-in-class teaching, students, and growth
opportunities. But, you’ll have to play your cards well and aim for programs
where your career and personal goals are well-aligned.
