Loyal readers may recall that I've been working on my MBA (master of business administration) degree through the University of Phoenix Online. Other MBA students from more traditional graduate schools are often surprised when I describe the amount of work required for the degree. I have a little less than a year left if I continue without a break, but will the hard work be worth it?

There are still some people who believe that a degree from an online program isn't as valuable as a degree from a traditional brick-and-mortar school. The very few people who have expressed that opinion to me have had one thing in common -- they have no experience with interviewing or hiring people and base that belief on their own biases. Everyone's entitled to their opinion of course, but when the time comes, the only thing that matters is the attitude of the person who is making the hiring decision.

A Wall Street Journal subsidiary, the CollegeJournal, published an article about the top employers for MBA students. A survey was conducted to determine the students' ideal employers. Here are the survey results (top 100). I notice that my company isn't listed but a couple of our majors competitors are.

The article in CollegeJournal also notes that more MBA graduates are expected to be hired this year than last year and men expect to earn $89,933 (plus a signing bonus of $18,028) while women expect $81,962 (with $15,415 bonus) at their first post-MBA job. The expected salaries about double after five years.

Here are more articles and data on MBA salaries:
* MBA Salaries on the Rise, January 2005, and related survey
* CareerJournal B-school surveys, 2004
* MBA Applicants are MIA, BusinesWeek, April 2005

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