Key Takeaways

• Earning an MBA is always a significant time investment.
• Consider career goals and costs before enrolling in an MBA program.
• An MBA may lead to salary, promotion or job market benefits.

An MBA is a game changer for many professionals – a way to build specialized skills, make salary gains and valuable professional connections, or even change careers.

But it's not the right fit for everyone. Before committing to graduate business school to pursue a master of business administration degree, it's important to consider the time commitment, costs, potential return on investment and your personal career goals, experts say.

"You don't do it because you don't have anything else to do," says Sue Oldham, associate dean of MBA operations at Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management in Tennessee. "You are doing it because you really want this career pivot and you want to be doing something different."

A full-time MBA program typically takes two years, although accelerated full-time programs can take a single year. Executive and part-time MBA programs, designed for professionals who are attending school while working a full-time job, vary in length depending on how many credits a student takes each semester. Online and hybrid programs are also options, but every pathway to an MBA is a significant time investment.

Students should consider whether it's the right "season of life" to commit to an MBA program, Oldham says.

"Are you at a place in your life where you can step out of the workforce for two years (for a full-time MBA) and invest in yourself like that?" she says. "I think that's why part-time MBA programs are a much better option for people that are like, 'Listen, I can't take two years off. I've got to work. I've got a family. I've got a mortgage.'"

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Before applying, build a list of schools that meet your educational requirements, such as location, class size and academic tracks that align with your career goals.

"Unless you are definitely bound and determined and headed toward one of the very few slots available........

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