By Rachael Perrotta
Deciding whether to return to school to earn a business degree is a multifaceted choice that can be stressful and confusing. This decision gets even more muddled when you must leave a full-time job to return to school. We spoke to Emily Anderson, Senior Director of the Career Management Center at Vanderbilt Business, about the factors to consider in the decision-making process.
Leaving a full-time job to earn a graduate business degree has pros and cons. Anderson explains that this situation is most common for students returning to earn an MBA. Students in specialized master’s degree programs typically have less work experience and more frequently enroll immediately after earning their bachelor’s degree.
“Students that choose to do the MBA usually have about 5 years of work experience, but the range is anywhere from about 2-10 years,” Anderson said.
Benefits of leaving work to return to school
Emily Anderson
Returning to school can be beneficial for those looking to transition careers or industries. Anderson says quitting a full-time job to earn an MBA or similar business degree can often be the only way to move up in a company or particular field, such as investment banking, brand management, and consulting.
“People who come back after a few years are much more focused on what their next step is,” she said.
She points to the professional benefit of co-curricular and extracurricular activities offered as part of full-time MBA programs, highlighting leadership and networking opportunities that come along with them. Anderson added that students in Vanderbilt’s MBA program are required to participate in an internship to graduate. Most of these students receive return offers from the firms with which they intern.
“It’s a place where you have a pool of recruiters that are looking for particular types of people, particular talent bases, that are gravitating to these residential, 2-year [MBA] programs,” Anderson said.
Potential disadvantages of leaving work to return to school
Anderson emphasized the monetary aspect of deciding whether to quit a full-time job to attend business school. She explains that the market can play a factor in this decision.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, she said many companies gave salary raises infrequently, increasing the motivation for employees to return to school to make a career (and salary) shift. After the pandemic, she stated that companies have been offering salary increases on a more regular basis, complicating the decision to leave a full-time job.
“The main drawback is your personal situation,” Anderson said. “Can you leave your job for 2 years? Can you pick up and move?”
Anderson notes that students can earn scholarships to help offset the cost of attendance, and that they typically earn more in their chosen field once receiving a graduate business degree.
She added that those who are interested in returning to school but are not able to or cannot afford to relocate should explore online programs, many of which may be part-time, allowing them to keep their job while in school. According to Anderson, these programs typically do not offer the co-curricular, extracurricular, internship, and networking opportunities that in-person programs do.