Getting into a top business school has never been easy. In fact, many top business schools in the U.S. accept less than 20% of applicants into their business programs, with the best of the best accepting an average of 15.6% (2015). The acceptance rates are even lower for the world’s most elite business schools such as Stanford Graduate School of Business (Stanford GSB) and Harvard Business School (HBS).
Ah, Silicon Valley—the place where your wildest tech dreams can come true. In 2015 alone, dozens of start-ups launched in Silicon Valley and the majority of venture-backed tech startups are headquartered here or have an office here. And let’s not forget that the world’s largest tech and media companies are located in the Valley including Apple, Cisco, Google, HP, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, Yahoo! and Facebook, to name a few.
In early 2016, Apple and Samsung supplier Foxconn replaced 60,000 employees with robots. China's Everwin Precision Technology is in the process of replacing 90 percent of its factory workforce with automatons, and thanks to the da Vinci surgical system, surgeons can now “perform” surgery without ever touching the patient’s body. Futurologists predict that robots “will almost certainly operate on patients independently and replace human surgeons one day.”
The information technology (IT) industry is booming, with an estimated 3.9 million Americans working in the field today. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) expects the industry to add nearly 500,000 new IT professionals by 2024, bringing the talent pool total to more than 4.4 million. While demand for qualified technology professionals is high in just about every area of the computer and information technology industry, computer and information systems management is expected to experience even greater growth for the 2014-2024 decade.
Landing a job that comes with a salary that just 20% of Americans enjoy and a mere 0.8% of the world enjoys is no small feat. And once you get your foot in the door, you face an even bigger mountain to climb. The hours for these $100K a year jobs are often long (typically nine or more a day, plus weekends and working at home), the work is demanding, and work-life balance is nearly impossible. While the average MBA student understands exactly what they're signing up for, what they may not understand is it doesn’t have to be this way.
How about a paid internship at the Happiest Company in the World?
Healthcare is the world’s fastest growing industry with one in eight Americans employed by the industry alone. This recession-proof industry is growing at such a rapid pace, that it is expected to become the largest employing major sector during the 2014-2024 decade, overtaking the state and local government and the professional and business services major sectors. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says that the industry is also projected to increase its employment share from 12 percent in 2014 to 13.6 percent in 2024.
Recently we had the pleasure of discussing West Virginia University's Hybrid Online MBA with Nichole Grossman Director of Graduate Admissions and Recruitment at West Virginia University's College of Business and Economics.
West Virginia University's Online MBA Program is ranked in the top 20 nationally in our 2015 Online MBA Rankings. From your perspective, what differentiates West Virginia University from the other leading online MBA programs?
Recently we had the pleasure of discussing Washington State University's Online MBA with Cheryl Oliver, Assistant Dean of Online and Graduate Programs at the WSU Carson College of Business.
Washington State’s Online MBA Program is ranked an impressive #11 nationally in our 2015 Online MBA Rankings. From your perspective, what differentiates Washington State from the other leading online MBA programs?
Some 43.3 million Americans carry a whopping $1.26 trillion in student debt. Tuition costs are on the rise at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and even average schools now cost more than $100,000 for a four-year degree. Further, according to Bloomberg, the most selective MBA programs were set to increase tuition for the class of 2016 nearly four percent or more, “building on a 37 percent rise in the degree’s sticker price over the past six years. With living expenses and other add-ons, MBA students at top schools can easily clear $150,000 in costs by the time they graduate.”
