Codie SanchezFounder @ Contrarian Thinking

Should You Do An MBA?

10 Oct 2023 · 1 min

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Short YouTube commentary by Codie Sanchez (uploaded Oct 10, 2023) arguing that, from a financial perspective, getting an MBA often doesn't pay off. She presents a back-of-the-envelope calculation: average MBA cost and lost wages while studying versus salary uplift after graduation, concluding it takes roughly 7.8 years to recoup the MBA investment and therefore she is generally skeptical of MBAs.

Questions this video answers

$108,000

About two years

$44,000 per year

$69,000 per year

$196,000

Chapters

Jobs are like underrated MBAs, especially right out of college. Let me show you why. The average MBA costs you $108,000 and takes about two years. The average job for somebody who doesn't have an MBA pays you 44k a year, times two years equals $88,000. If you go and get an MBA, you're missing out on those 44k a year plus the 108k, which is $196,000. How long will it take you to make up this $196,000? Well, the difference between somebody who has an MBA and who just has a college degree. This person makes on average 69k a year, while this person makes 44k a year. So there is a 25k a year difference. This 196k, if you divide it into 25k, it'll take you 7.8 years to make your money back on your MBA. That's why more and more, I don't believe in MBAs. By and large, the numbers don't lie.