An MBA Is Not All It Should Be

Professional education in business is a good idea, badly executed.

Something to celebrate?

Photographer: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
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It’s graduation season in America and a good moment to admit an uncomfortable truth: Too many grads are walking across campus quads to accept an MBA. I should know -– I’m one of them.

Last year U.S. universities conferred more than 185,000 master’s degrees in business administration, more than degrees in medicine and law combined. Their popularity isn’t surprising: Business degrees still offer the best return per instructional dollar, and many students are willing to pay the $200,000 price of admission. But all is not well in the land of management education.