Should I Get An MBA To Find A Wealthy Husband Or Wife?

Why bother working hard all your life for a chance at financial freedom if you don't have to? Instead of directing all your energy to making more, saving more, and investing wisely, it might be a better use of your time to identify where the wealthy and the potentially wealthy hang out. Therefore, you get an MBA to find a wealthy husband or wife!

Let's say you are sick of your 30 year old Super Motivated Boyfriend (SMB) because he's more focused on his career than you. He cocked things up in his 20s by partying too much. He is now playing catch up if he ever wants to “be somebody” in today's society. Meanwhile, here you are, a lovely 28-year-old woman who just wasted the past two years of your life on this commitment-phobe. What to do?

Go to the most prestigious business school possible of course! For example, my fellow MBA classmates from Berkeley all earn six figure salaries with seven figure net worths seven years out and Berkeley isn't even in the top 5. Their ages range from 35-40 and all of them are also married.

Get An MBA To Find A Wealthy Husband Or Wife

Average MBA Salaries From Top Schools - Should I Get An MBA To Find A Wealthy Husband Or Wife?

Now let's move up the business school ranking ladder and see how some folks at Harvard Business School are doing. To no surprise, I can't think of one who isn't financially well off either.

One fella quit his venture capital job and joined a consumer electronics startup which is now valued at over $3 billion dollars. He cashed out on more than $6 million in stock. Then he bought a $3.5 million dollar mansion at the age of 36. Not bad!

What's more awesome is that his wife also went to HBS where they met. She landed a below median paying job at a large corporate retailer after graduation. A couple years later, she decided to engineer her layoff just five years later to be a stay at home mom. Why bother working for $120,000 a year when the family is worth multi-millions already? Besides, being a mom is a full-time job.

Cost To Go To Business School

Cost for her to go to business school: $150,000 lost salary and $150,000 in tuition, room, and board for a total cost of $300,000. During this time period, she had a whole lot of fun, studied abroad, and met some wonderfully connected people.

Benefits of going to business school: Found husband, lives in $3.5 million dollar mansion, family net worth over $6 million dollars six years after graduation. Divide her family's net worth by two to get her share of the wealth: $3 million. Her return on business school is over 10X in just six years and probably going higher.

Related: The Cost Of A Top MBA Program Is So High

Take a look at the bios of all the top Venture Capital, Private Equity, Money Managers, Fortune 500 CEOs and Tech Titans of the world. A disproportionate majority of them went to top business schools. Here is the Digital Team Page for Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield, Byers to illustrate my point. You don't see many folks who went to Podunk U and didn't get a Masters degree.

Clearly not every MBA grad is rolling in the Benjies. Some are still toiling away at startups that will probably never succeed. While others probably decided to give it all up like me and live a life of simplicity.

But for the most part, I don't know any MBA in my circle of friends who is not doing well. As a landlord in San Francisco, I've seen probably 50 rental applications from prospective B-school graduate tenants who all corroborate the income chart above.

Education + Fortune + Love = MBA

My friends who went to business school full-time all say the two years were some of the best in their lives. Some thought business school was one big networking party. Others found the case studies so intellectually stimulating that they wished there was a third year.

While other suckers like me worked 50-60 hours a week and then attended classes and studied for another 20 hours a week for three years going part-time! I still had a blast because of the team building exercises and study abroad trip I took to Brazil.

Here are the various reasons why going to business school might be the sure fire way to love and fortune for women.

1) Men want love too.

Nobody ever talks about the pressures men face in society. We are taught not to cry or show any type of emotion in public because that is a sign of weakness. Men are supposed to not only be physically strong, but mentally strong as we are called upon to hunt for food at the grocery story, be the main driver on road trips, and more seriously, combat enemies overseas.

Meanwhile, there is an embedded expectation that we must make enough money to provide for a potential family. We are not allowed to rely on a sugar mama to survive because we will be made fun of to no end by our male buddies.

While men are busy busting our pecs trying to get paid and promoted in this cruel world, deep down we are wondering whether we're sacrificing our love lives for our careers. After the 100th consecutive 60+ hour work week, we wonder what the hell is the point if we don't have someone to share our time with.

Thank goodness there's a new study from Pew Research highlighting that moms are the breadwinners of 40% of all households. Finally, men can get some sort of pressure relief. You don't know how many of us men wouldn't mind giving up the corporate world to stay at home, take care of the household, and work on a hobby or side business. Stay at home men of the world, UNITE!

2) Business school is a second chance at life. 

Meet bachelor #1 who has done everything by the book since high school. He studied hard, went to a great university, found a respectable job, got paid and promoted over the next 3-6 years and just wants to do something new. Then there is bachelor #2 who messed up in high school, took six years to graduate from State, lived with his parents until they kicked him out, and never found a job that required more than a high school degree.

Both types of men go to business school to find new careers. By the age of 28 (the average first year b-school student), men become very introspective as they mature. When you are giving up two years of salary and your time, you're going to take your future more seriously.

A woman doesn't have to deal with as much bullshit from immature men in their early 20s. Instead, a woman can find someone who has put much of their baggage behind and knows what he wants to do in life. When a man has a vision, he becomes more confident. When he's more confident, he makes time for love.

3) Business school graduates make more money.

College graduates make more than high school graduates and business school graduates make more than college graduates. It's just a fact that more education brings in more income up to a certain point. The income doesn't address the various debt level differentials, but I can tell you that even being $200,000 in student loan debt isn't that bad if you are going to make millions more over your career. Six figure salaries are a dime a dozen for business school graduates.

If women go to business school, not only will they probably make more money in their careers, they increase their chances of finding a spouse who also makes more money than the average college grad. Take two $125,000 a year business school graduates together and voila!

This 30 year old couple now has a $250,000 a year household income to start. Their incomes will only continue to grow over time. Together, they can really turbo charge their wealth and easily provide for their family.

Income by education - Should I Get An MBA To Find A Wealthy Husband Or Wife?

4) You make more graduate level connections.

Relationships rule the world. Managers from Zimbabwe will take care of other employees from Zimbabwe in your organization. Alumni of Dartmouth will give preferential treatment for hiring fellow Dartmouth graduates. Women will show preference over women. And men will show preference over men, hence “the old boys network.”

If more and more top level executives have business school degrees, then it is an inevitability that there will be continued favoritism for those with MBA degrees. MBA grads will see going to business school as a right of passage. If you don't have one, then you're not one of them.

Once the MBA degree is saturated, like the common undergraduate degree, society will then move on to doctorate degrees. Connections make getting what you want that much easier. If you can't find a suitable man in business school, then surely you will have friends who have single male friends who will make introductions.

5) Men fear gold diggers.

A lot of my single male friends who make healthy incomes drive understated cars and keep their occupations vague during social settings because they fear women liking them for their money. There is nothing better than finding someone when you are both broke college students because you know the relationship is pure.

If a MBA student can meet a fellow MBA student during school, that alleviates the fear of money being an important reason for the relationship. Women say they like men with drive all the time. You won't find a more driven group of men than you will in business school due to the cost and time sacrifice.

Men find drive in women equally as attractive. By meeting each other on an equal playing field, both sexes can do away with the fear of gold diggers unless one side is already very wealthy.

Related: How To Get A Rich Man To Be Your Boyfriend Or Husband

6) More selection of highly-motivated people.

Finding love is a numbers game. If  you get your MBA there is no risk of men who have Masters or Doctorate degrees ignoring you for being “undereducated.” It may sound snobby to hear that some men won't date down on the educational chain, but it's true.

I've heard from a number of MBA and medical doctors who said they'd highly prefer someone with a Masters degree. It seems like women with graduate school degrees are even pickier on the education attainment of men. On the flip side, if you don't care about your partner's education, you can date people up and down the educational food chain.

Related: The Most Illogical Reason To Go Back to Business School

7) The pool of applicants is screened.

Only 8% of the United State's population has a Master's degree, putting you and your potential husband in elite company. Not all of the 4-6% (not all 8% are men) will be amazing men, but at least you know they have enough drive to take the painful GMAT and strong enough ambition to maximize their careers.

The same thing goes for meeting a man who works at any of the top employers in the world who accept a small minority of people e.g. Google, McKinsey, Kravath, Kleiner Perkins, Goldman, etc.

The kicker:  Men are usually broke in business school given it costs $100,000 a year in tuition alone to attend. Add on $150,000 in lost wages and your typical business school student is out $250,000 while the rest of the world gets ahead.

If you want to find a wealthy man, you're better off finding someone who is already established rather than someone with potential. Often times men don't live up to their potential. Imagine going to business school and ending up right back at your same dead end job with the same pay. Now imagine graduating with all those student loans and not being able to find a job.

Get An MBA For The Rich Reasons

Educational Attainment Percentages

If you are a single woman who is considering going to business school, go for the connections you will make. You can learn business school material online or from your public library, so don't have expectations for an incredible education.

If finding a husband is on your mind while you're trying to maximize your career, then let it be known that there are plenty of qualified bachelors who attend business school. The vast majority of them will make a six figure income upon graduation if they attend a Top 10-15 school.

Plenty of single men who attend business school are also looking for that special someone as well. Men just don't have high expectations for various reasons I won't discuss. If we can get more eligible ladies to attend the nation's best business schools, think how many more business savvy, loving couples there will be in this world.

With more households rocking multiple six figure salaries, everything from rent, to property prices, to stocks, to food, to airplane tickets, to vacations, to cars, to education will go way up, providing huge windfalls for asset owners.

If you are a woman who has the smarts to get into one of the top business schools, then you clearly have the wherewithal to make your own fortune. Who cares about finding a husband when you've got so much going for you? It's all about maximizing your MBA with decades of future work.

Love will probably find you when you least expect!

Related: Marrying Your Equal Is Better Than Marrying Rich

Wealth Planning Recommendation

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There's no rewind button in life. Therefore, it's best to plan for your financial future as meticulously as possible and end up with a little too much, than too little! I've been using their free tools since 2012 to analyze my investments and I've seen my net worth skyrocket since.

Personal Capital Retirement Planning Comparison Chart

Updated for 2022 and beyond. The MBA degree is in high demand again now that we're 10+ years into a bull market. However, I still think the best way to get an MBA is to have your employer pay for it.  

For more nuanced personal finance content, join 100,000+ others and sign up for the free Financial Samurai newsletter. Financial Samurai is one of the largest independently-owned personal finance sites that started in 2009. Everything is written based off firsthand experience. 

54 thoughts on “Should I Get An MBA To Find A Wealthy Husband Or Wife?”

  1. I always tell my husband that he was the best investment I ever made. We married in undergrad at a top tier public school and managed to stay together through 4 more years of professional school (he is the money making dentist, I am the poor veterinarian). Now I have an amazing husband (15 years now) with 3 small kids and have the ultimate luxury of being around to raise my kids. My husband has the emotional security that if he wants to walk away from dentistry he can. I can step up to the plate and provide for the family if needed.
    I am not as confident in the potential of an MBA. My advice to the ladies is to kick ass for yourself and then go find yourself an introverted doctor who will worship the ground you walk on. Also, make sure you make it to the gym 3 times a week (just sayin’).

  2. Wait this confuses me about top 20 MBA programs. Take a look at this scenario I face. Ok so I’m a supply chain management major at Shippensburg University (BSBA certified John L Grove College of Business) in my last semester this fall. I already started talking to potential employers from my internship about reimbursement of MBA etc. The SCM department chairmen told me of the benefits of an MBA especially in this industry because supply chain management degree alone is a rare major and an MBA (or MS if you stay within supply chain) really puts you above the competition. Shippensburg University, which is no Harvard admittedly but it’s no junk school, he informed me also has an online MBA program in which you can get a concentration in Supply Chain Management if you do desire. This has the added benefit of being able to take the classes from wherever and being able to work (on top of potential reimbursement from employers).

    Thoughts?

  3. Pingback: Achieving Financial Freedom One Income Slice At A Time | Financial Samurai

  4. Dre Oblivion

    Could you make an article from a guys perspective? For example if a man were looking for a woman that was successful. I am 19 and im currently pursuing my bachelors degree in IT Management and I plan to get a MBA in IT Business Management at WGU online. I like the idea of putting in over time and working hard eventually become a CIO someday. First off , thanks for all your posts they have really helped me gain the knowledge i need to start investing and giving me a 10 times better chance of retiring at 50 living life to the fullest. I know i am still young ha ha but i think years ahead of everyone else , so i always wondered whats a good place for a man to find a successful spouse? I would say MBA school but mine is online. You were on point about the gold digging part 100%. Also do you think WGU is a well accredited college? Thanks im looking forward to your reply , i plan to purchase your book soon as well.

  5. Say people start out at $70k pre-graduate school. And they get a $150k bank/law/big public co. job for right around 5 years after school. Things go well, pay increases to $200k, then….

    Recession time!

    70% go ‘between opportunities’ and the cycle starts anew. The original group eventually finds new jobs at 40% paycuts (to cover the shrink bills).

    The only keepers are the rainmakers. Unless the partners can steal their clients and boot them too, so even the rainmakers fight to stay.

    A real conspiracy nut might think that firms bring in classes of people to do nonsense monkey work. Their #s are closely watched for 3-5 years, to see if they make rain(got any friends or family accounts?). When most don’t, the recession comes along and everyone is fired. They love Ivy League recruiting- b/c that’s where the rich kids(accounts) are.

    An amazing system: 6 figure school debt to get the job, the slave job to pay the debt off, the misplaced arrogance, the crisis, the layoff, the paycut, the humbling.

    Over & over…

    65+yro guys confirm this: (whisper)It’s ALWAYS been like that. *With the added caveat now of massive debt loads. The debt creates an even greater incentive to fight for these scammy jobs (pitchbook/telemarketer MBAs or document review JDs). After all, how else can you pay off $250k?

    If you know 100 people who are thriving, congrats. That’s a lot…Professional service seems to be a tough way to make a living…

    BTW, My Kellogg interviewer was also unemployed. She held the interview in the lobby of a suburban Hyatt b/c she had no office. She asked me form questions for 30 minutes and wrote the answers down fastidiously. Getting the 3rd degree by an unemployed alum. Hilarious.

    She had no idea of the awkwardness of the situation and the look on her face at the end was: I doubt you are Kellogg material! I thought I was in a Monty Python skit. I almost asked: Can you tell me how Kellogg has helped you get where you are today?

    CLASSIC

  6. There is so much wrong info in this article, it is unreal. I have an MBA from a very prestigious school on your list. My classmates have struggled for for years. More than 70% were let go in the recession of 2008. Many of these people (many of whom are double Ivy) never went back to work & are now permanent ‘consultants’…others are literally selling insurance in communities of less than 200k people(thanks LinkedIn). Recruiters have told others they can get a new job, but it will be at a 40% paycut. The debt levels that some of these people carry is astounding.

    It appears that right around 5% have crushed it in banks and consulting. So they are rare. And even then, rumors float around about exactly why some of these 5% are paid (*cough cough*Politician father with government contracts*cough cough* but shhh about that)…So, it’s probably less than 3%: so 97%? didn’t really get paid, and that’s from a top school- LOL.

    My favorite anecdote is the guy who interviewed for Kellogg, got accepted, then the alum interviewer called him to congratulate him but also ask him if he knew where to get a job. Perfect.

    BUYER BEWARE

    1. Sorry you and your classmates are struggling so much post MBA. Almost everyone I know from a too 10 school are thriving right now. And I know at least 100 people from top schools.

      What industry are you in and how much do you make? Do you regret going!

  7. I am a self-made female that chose not to finish school. I make a healthy six figures a year, not including rentals, investments, real estate, pensions, business etc. That six figures is just a base salary alone, and that’s after coming out of retirement and being a single parent of a five year old and no, my money isn’t from a marriage or arrangement. It was pure dedication, frugality and living like a pauper while working like a broke college student to get ahead. If you have the will you will find a way. I would not go back and finish my MBA to get a husband, I would do it to show my 5 yr old that you need an education to get ahead. Most people need that structure to get ahead in school, others like myself can read a book and glean the knowledge and put it to use right away with out paying the high cost of attending school. Could I make more than my salary in if I had degree, probably, but in my field performance and not a piece of paper is what will get you ahead. Hard work has never fazed me at all.

  8. Well I do not have MBA. I only have a bachelors degree, but my husband is a MBA from Northwestern. You don’t necessarily need a MBA degree to find a wealthy spouse :)

  9. I have used a dating site where you could display your income. It didn’t say however if people were financial messes or not. I don’t care if my potential husband makes a lot of money, I care he stays in the black and has plans for the future over next Friday.

  10. Find a rich boyfriend at MBA school! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.

    ok – at the age of 29, boyless, I decided that I wasn’t married and I wanted to keep my career going so off to do an MBA. there are 3 top MBAs in Australia. I got into one. Once there I found all of the guys were 10 years + older than me and married. Then one day – there he was! My age & gorgeous. We became friends for several years. He broke up with his girlfriend. We become lovers and have been living together, very happily, for 15 years now. In the house I bought. and the car I bought – and the furniture and the …. well you get the picture. He is outrageously smart but turns out not the corporate ladder climbing type. He is self-employed but this GFC has left him unemployed for long periods of time. I have an MBA and I ended up in the public service.

    Not everyone who gets an MBA, even from a top school, is an instant money making machine. At least we love each other, and enjoy what we think are our intelligent conversations.

    1. Well there ya go! You got your MBA and found a man. Congrats! If you didn’t get your MBA, maybe life would have been much different. Men like women who have ambition and who can pay the bills too!

  11. I think one of the things that successful men and women consider is their spouses workload. Personally, I’d prefer a teacher or somebody who has a lot of time off vs. having a great paying job. The spouses salary wouldn’t change the quality of lifestyle, but would put a drag on being able to get away and have fun.

    1. I agree with you completely. Having a teacher with 3 months off a year would be great to go travel the world with! The thing is, it’s best when the other spouse earns a significant more money in this case.

  12. Sam,

    I have a couple thoughts:
    1) I went to a top law school. I did not meet a single person who was there to meet a spouse.
    2) If you are in a highly competitive graduate program just to meet a spouse, you are going to be miserable. The workload is hard enough, if you are not interested the material or motivated to learn, you will hate it.

    1. Good thing we are talking about business school where it’s about fun and networking. Law school is all about grades, grades, and more grades!

      All the top b schools have non grade disclosure.

  13. If one looks at this as a ‘business decision’, there is this; undergraduate 4-year schools now have a 43% male / 57% female ratio. BUT! MBA programs are 66% male / 34% female. Females have to like those odds in a target-rich environment.

    Personally, I got an MBA from a second-tier school going part-time at nights. This was 25 years ago, but the ladies were married, or hot and already dating guys twice as old and financially well-established, or single and fugly. I did have a great class trip through S. America, visiting the Central Banks of Argentina, Venezuela (I know, right?), Peru, Uruguay, Brazil, and many more. The thing I remember most, was buying 3 Big Macs, fries and shake for $1.25 in Buenos Aires. I was mocked by classmates, but I gained respect from the Dean for making a fantastic value investment, aided by the nationally-subsidized beef program.

    The MBA itself has been OK for me; it keeps my resume in the ‘keep’ pile during the initial sort, and is one less reason for a client or employer to say ‘no’. But it didn’t really open doors or turn into amazing networking opportunities. My brother went to Notre Dame’s f/t MBA program, and it was a huge stepping stone for him. So, I do see a real value in going to the best school possible.

  14. From a male perspective, I think statistically an MBA is a poor investment. I know a lot of people (personally, over 10) in my field that, many years after they finished, they went back to their old job rather than “MBA-ing” (whatever that is). In some cases, they are still doing entry-level work or, in one sad case, no work at all.

    I predict that if less males go in to advance themselves and if more females go into it just for husband-hunting, this would devalue and already questionable accreditation.

      1. Various places – one did an online MBA, a few went to good local colleges, one went to France, one went overseas to Singapore. A couple went to a “top 20” school. But, none from any schools that are in the movies like Harvard, Yale, Oxford, or whatever the big names are these days.

        Basically, I think the “law school rule-of-thumb” applies to MBA as well: If you don’t get into a top-10 school, don’t go at all.

        (As an aside, the sad irony is that law grads from even the top 10 schools are doing badly. I believe one graduating class started a class-action lawsuit against their college for misrepresenting after-graduation job opportunities. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are similar stories for MBA programs.)

        I’m convinced these over-valued programs are just not the answer for most people, *especially* those that are “lost sheep” or looking for a career short-cut.

        1. Jason, is it safe to assume you do not have a graduate degree given your negativity? I’m not very bullish on online MBAs for career advancement at all. In fact, I would say they hurt more than they help if you were to interview someone from a traditional MBA program.

          This most is focused on the top 15 schools. Do you know of no one who went?

        2. Hi Sam

          Sorry for sounding like a curmudgeon – I certainly didn’t intend for that. Actually, I have an MSc., so this is not coming from a place of personal bitterness. (“Ooo, those entitled kids!”, he said, shaking his fist…)

          It’s just that I sometimes get a little freaked out because, aside from me and my co-workers, most of the people that I know are doing *really* poorly, financially, and have been for years. It scares me and I can’t stand seeing it.

          All of them have undergrad, many of them did MBAs and JDs as I’ve said, and it doesn’t seem to help that much. So, when I see articles about advanced degrees, I feel like I need to warn people.

          Anyway, I hope this explains things a little bit more. Didn’t mean to irritate anyone.

          PS – I just looked at the current top-15 rankings for this year, and only two of my friends have degrees from these schools.

          1. Got it.

            Hope you didn’t need to look up too far to see what the top 15 b-schools are as they are listed at the top of my post in a nice little picture. Which makes me wonder, maybe pictures aren’t helpful in my posts and I shouldn’t waste too much time?

            One thing I noticed is that a lot of people say everybody else but themselves aren’t doing too well. But if everybody is ourselves, are we not collectively doing fine?

            I strongly believe there is WAY more money out there than people think. It’s all about stealth wealth now.

      2. Hi Sam – sorry, for whatever reason, the top-15 list totally passed my eyes. I did see the other pictures, though. Maybe it was the position and small type that made it look like one of those online mortgage or auto loan ads. :)

        As for stealth wealth, yes, I agree there is a lot more money out there than people realize. But, I don’t suspect that’s the case here.

        Anyway, I help when I can, but ultimately, everyone has to figure things out for themselves.

        1. Good to know! Might give me reason to save some time looking for relevant pictures in future posts.

          The cases of stealth wealth are when we least expect it b/c the more you have, the more you are able to stealth. Trust me on this!

  15. My MBA program is well known in the region, but far from top 10 nationally. Still, adjusting the numbers a bit, I can see parallels from this post to many of my friends’ experiences. In fact, I do know quite a few couples who met in my MBA program and are now married.

    I didn’t meet my girlfriend there, but I’d like to think she made a good choice sticking with me :)

  16. I am 6 years out of undergrad (28 years old). I live in a very low cost of living area (OK). My current total pay is above the median pay package for all of the top 15 MBA programs listed. As fun and beneficial as I think it would be to go to a top tier MBA program, it is extremely hard for me to justify. The only reason I would ever go at this point is to switch into investment banking or consulting.

    I would love the experience of attending Harvard or Stanford, but I would have to give up $300k to $400k in earnings for the 2 year program, plus tuition and living expenses – ouch!

    1. The question is, do you have much upside to making $130,000 a year? Or will you be stuck in that $100-$200,000 range and will you be happy with that knowing that if you went to a top b-school you could be making 2-5X more? Only you can decide.

    2. Bogey,

      I am in the same boat. I am 25 years old, I live in Texas (cheap), I too make around $140k and I realistically see another 50-60k more upside a year before I am 30. I actually think that leaving my job to get an MBA would be riskier than to continually save most of my income and create some other income streams. I have no interest in investment banking nor consulting, where I totally would see the benefit. I have come to the conclusion that it only makes sense if my employer pays, otherwise the certain opportunity cost is too high compared to the uncertain reward.

  17. Im thinking of applying to the part time evening program.. Its not a top school by any means.. Not even top 50 but my company will pay for 50%

    Is it really of no value to not go to a top 10 school?

    1. Of course there is value in a lower ranked school due to the education and connections you’ll make. If the employer is paying half, id say go for it. You’ll make money while going to school and that will really help the ROI.

  18. I think if you can get away with not having to pay for school then the better off you are more likely to be. Master’s degrees can be a worthwhile **IF** one does the appropriate research and planning to make it worth their while. Otherwise one is throwing out money and not attempting to get anything in return.

  19. Savvy Financial Latina

    I didn’t go to a top MBA school, but my school has very good rankings. The good thing is I didn’t pay for it. Not traditionally anyways. I landed scholarships, and my employer paid for the last 5% of my program. Three degrees later and I am earning a pretty good salary at 23. Although part of me wishes I would have waited, and returned to school later to enjoy it more. I think I may have gone through school way too quickly. I have 1 Bachelor’s and 2 Master’s degrees at the age of 23. I’m already thinking of going for another one that my employer will pay for 100%. I like being a student! :)

  20. Interesting article, it sounds like there’s a ridiculous mount of potential social and networking benefits associated with being in business school. Have you written a post about the ROI of business school for guys in their 20’s? I’m trying to understand where I’d get the most bang for my buck. Should I leverage a bunch of debt to go to a top tier school, go to a cheaper less well known school and pay cash, or just skip the MBA all together because I already like what I do?

  21. MBA’s? Why settle for wannabes, just marry the man or woman who already owns the company and pulls down a decent 7 figures a year?

  22. Sam, I’m of the “old school” mentality and have a decades old marriage. I married for love, but was committed to marrying someone ambitious. My husband is a well respected PhD! If you want to find a husband, there are much cheaper ways than getting an MBA! I appreciate my own MBA, but got it out of personal and professional reasons (I was already married).

  23. I was disappointed that my 720 GMAT did not get me into the only elite MBA program I applied to (Stanford), but it did get me a 50% scholarship to the two-year traditional MBA program at the University of FL, a perennial top 50 program. Total tuition for the two-year program cost me $5K. My class was three cohorts of thirty students each; about 30% female; and about 15% foreign. The average age was 28, with a range of 22 to 35. I was at the older end of the range.

    Job offers at graduation in ’00 were there for most students but starting salaries were not high, probably about $55K on average, ranging from $45K – $80K. I think the foreign students, and those w/o much work experience pushed down the salary offers; that and the fact that nearly all students sought to remain in FL. I was one of the only grads that was willing to relocate out of state, and had more than ten years prior professional work experience, and snagged the one $80K per year offer. ’01 & ’02 grads had a much, much harder time finding a job.

    The MBA has opened up more industries and interesting jobs to me and has earned me some measure of respect in the work place. However, since I did not attend one of the elite MBA programs, the financial return has not been huge. Due to a couple of layoffs & missed opportunities and the Great Recession, my salary has been flat since graduating thirteen years ago.

    In addition to class time, group projects, and genuine camaraderie, there were plenty of social events. There was reasonable opportunity to establish an intimate relationship (casual or otherwise) with a MBA classmate. Or, since there are over 40K students at UF, to meet someone outside of the MBA program.

    1. Eric, is there a reason why you only applied to one top school?

      If UoF cost only $5K + your last salary, then perhaps the ROI is much better than you think?

      I do believe if you went to a top 10 school you would have made a lot more money. But, hopefully you had fun during school as life ain’t all about the benjamins.

  24. Anton Ivanov

    I always thought love just finds us when it’s right (I’m kind of a romantic I guess). But you do have to meet people to find the one meant for you and I guess business school may be one of the better places.

    But just the fact that a man (or woman) is attending business school may not saying anything about his character traits…

  25. Hey, I was just talking to my single friend last week about dating rich guys. She is doing pretty well now and I guess her dating pool includes more wealthy folks. She told me all the rich guys have baggage. Many of them are divorced and have to pay child support. Many are workaholic and spend too much time at work. It sounds like as you get older, it’s harder to meet rich guys without baggage.

    1. Guess it depends on how rich the guy is! Best to snag them relatively young in b-school or right after b-school where their baggage is less and their potential is high.

  26. I got my full time MBA a year ago from a top 20 school. I was a few years older vs. an average student, however, there was a surprising number of married student (I would say 30-40% or so), both male and female. Although, some claim MBA stands for “married, but available”.
    There were only a handful of successful relationships that started in our class, I don’t think any of them resulted in a marriage (yet?).
    In general, MBA was 2 of the best years of my life, so I highly recommend it, whatever reason you chose to do it, does not matter.

  27. Isn’t this more or less a success filter? You are more likely to be successful if you just have the aspiration. If the candidate trolled the application pile in the admission office, you would be likely to find a successful guy or girl. In fact, just go after the Harvard rejects! Seriously, I do agree that you will find a likely spouse at school. After all it has been going on for a very long time in undergraduate college. I think it just easier to find someone who has similar values, aspirations and other common interests in college or professional school.

  28. An MBA as the new MRS degree? I suppose anything’s possible, but from the sample that I have, most of the people that I know who went for an MBA were in a long term committed relationship at the time they enrolled. I guess a gold digger could hope to break up such a relationship to form their own, but that wouldn’t seem terribly indicative of the long term fidelity prospects of such a relationship.

    1. Given the divorce laws, especially in California, I would strongly suggest that anyone who plans on accumulating wealth, seriously consider getting a prenup. A divorce is a major source of financial destruction for the higher earning spouse…why not mutually agree to how you want to divide assets ahead of time and what you will or will not agree to split in the event of divorce?

      Do you believe that you should potentially have to pay alimony to your spouse for life? If not, and it is a big deal to you, get a alimony waiver.

      Do you believe that you should give your spouse 1/2 the assets accumulated during marriage if you worked 70 hours a week during the marriage and your spouse just played tennis at the country club? If you don’t, via contract, you can protect yourself.

      At a minimum, having a prenup where each party is responsible for their own legal fees, will reduce the chance of depleting your wealth in legal fees.

      Getting wealthy, and maintaining wealth is not just about upside. Much of it involves protecting your downside.

      By the way, I have been happily married for 15 years, and took all of these steps.

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