Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below 
*DROP OUT NOW AND START GROWING SOME CASH CROPS!*
Some say MBAs no longer worth extra cash
By Del Jones, USA TODAY
When college graduates apply for a job at California marketing firm Panagraph, those with an MBA assume they are worth an extra $10,000 to $15,000. Panagraph CEO Mark Astone, who has an MBA, says they're not: Even those with MBAs from prestigious Stanford "get real delusional" about their capabilities.
"If you put the same effort into a job, career and getting experience, you'll be better off," he says.
Astone's not alone among chief executives. "Most people with MBAs can't manage themselves out of a paper bag," says Winans International CEO Ken Winans, who has an MBA from the University of San Francisco (1987) and teaches MBA students at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, Calif.
Gary Griffiths, CEO of tech company Everdream, told his 25-year-old son to save his time and money. Tom Griffiths, who worked at a dot-com that went belly up, is a sales consultant at FactSet Research Systems selling financial information to institutional investors.
Don't interrupt a career unless you are bogged down in a dead-end job, says Gary Griffiths, who has an MBA from George Washington University (1979).
These are not the best of times for MBAs. A big blow will land with the September issue of Academy of Management Learning and Education, in which management scholar Jeffrey Pfeffer, of Stanford, no less, examines 40 years of research and concludes there is scant evidence those with an MBA better their careers or fortunes.
Management consultant McKinsey & Co. still competes for top MBA graduates. But the percentage of its hires with MBAs has dropped from 61% in 1993 to 43% today, because it finds students with law, medical and other degrees equally successful.
"We don't believe the world's best talent is exclusively locked up on MBA campuses," says McKinsey spokesman Andrew Giangola.
Even President Bush, the first president with an MBA (Harvard, 1975), is finding the degree has lost some shine after Enron and other corporate scandals.
Jenet Noriega Schwind, CEO of Empyrean Asset Management, was studying for an MBA when she dropped out to get a doctorate in industrial psychology. She says the MBA will go down as a fad.
MBA critics concede the degree is often necessary to get some jobs, such as in investment banking. And MBA graduates of prestigious schools such as Harvard are often followed by headhunters throughout their careers.
CEO Jim Brown has a Harvard MBA (1995). Most valuable are the friendships he made at Harvard with future leaders, he says.
As far as running the company? The MBA is worthwhile, he says, but his 1997 law degree from New York University taught him critical thinking that he relies on more when running telecommunications software company InvisibleHand Networks.
Some say MBAs no longer worth extra cash
By Del Jones, USA TODAY
When college graduates apply for a job at California marketing firm Panagraph, those with an MBA assume they are worth an extra $10,000 to $15,000. Panagraph CEO Mark Astone, who has an MBA, says they're not: Even those with MBAs from prestigious Stanford "get real delusional" about their capabilities.
"If you put the same effort into a job, career and getting experience, you'll be better off," he says.
Astone's not alone among chief executives. "Most people with MBAs can't manage themselves out of a paper bag," says Winans International CEO Ken Winans, who has an MBA from the University of San Francisco (1987) and teaches MBA students at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, Calif.
Gary Griffiths, CEO of tech company Everdream, told his 25-year-old son to save his time and money. Tom Griffiths, who worked at a dot-com that went belly up, is a sales consultant at FactSet Research Systems selling financial information to institutional investors.
Don't interrupt a career unless you are bogged down in a dead-end job, says Gary Griffiths, who has an MBA from George Washington University (1979).
These are not the best of times for MBAs. A big blow will land with the September issue of Academy of Management Learning and Education, in which management scholar Jeffrey Pfeffer, of Stanford, no less, examines 40 years of research and concludes there is scant evidence those with an MBA better their careers or fortunes.
Management consultant McKinsey & Co. still competes for top MBA graduates. But the percentage of its hires with MBAs has dropped from 61% in 1993 to 43% today, because it finds students with law, medical and other degrees equally successful.
"We don't believe the world's best talent is exclusively locked up on MBA campuses," says McKinsey spokesman Andrew Giangola.
Even President Bush, the first president with an MBA (Harvard, 1975), is finding the degree has lost some shine after Enron and other corporate scandals.
Jenet Noriega Schwind, CEO of Empyrean Asset Management, was studying for an MBA when she dropped out to get a doctorate in industrial psychology. She says the MBA will go down as a fad.
MBA critics concede the degree is often necessary to get some jobs, such as in investment banking. And MBA graduates of prestigious schools such as Harvard are often followed by headhunters throughout their careers.
CEO Jim Brown has a Harvard MBA (1995). Most valuable are the friendships he made at Harvard with future leaders, he says.
As far as running the company? The MBA is worthwhile, he says, but his 1997 law degree from New York University taught him critical thinking that he relies on more when running telecommunications software company InvisibleHand Networks.
) in my future..
) NOT to increase my earning potential. 
