MBA costs

MBAs aren't cheap and it's worthwhile considering the real cost. The real cost includes a number of factors. The obvious ones are the fees, and any extra costs associated with books, overseas trips, etc. If you're considering a full time MBA you also need to take into account the opportunity cost of the salary foregone while you're on the course. For example, for someone with net (after tax) income of £2,000 a month the opportunity cost over the course of a year will be £24,000. There is also the opportunity cost of not having a year's business experience, but it's likely that this is offset by the benefit of the MBA.

The two examples below show the different real costs for a one year full time MBA and a part-time two year MBA.


One year full time course

Fees for MBA	£15,000
Books, electives, etc	£2,000
Salary foregone	£24,000
Total costs	£41,000

Two year part time course

Fees for MBA	£20,000
Books, electives, etc	£2,000
Salary foregone	£0
Total costs	£22,000

While the part time course works out considerably cheaper when the opportunity costs are taken into consideration, they course may well be more challenging as you'll have to carry on working at the same time. While the pace of work varies among the part time courses on offer many are very intense and may mean re-balancing your work life. It's certainly worth discussing the options with your employer such as switching to a four and a half day week or introducing similar flexibility, not just to cope with last minute essay crises but also the sheer volume of work that has to be done. One of the most common comments we've heard is it's not that the work that's tough, it's the workload.