Road to Business School Spotlight: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
March 20, 2013
As a part of the Road to Business School event series that will take place in August, we’ll be featuring a different business school every week to help you explore your options. Keep in mind that the schools featured will be participating in our upcoming business school fairs, so you’ll have the chance to meet them in person or virtually during the Road series.
Finding the right school for you is always a challenge. Take the time to dig in and get to know each program as you do your research. Get started with this week’s spotlight on WPI.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) School of Business
WPI is the third oldest technological university in the US and ranked among the top universities in the country. They are located in the heart of New England’s technology corridor, home to many of the world’s leading companies.
Their mission is to develop innovative and entrepreneurial leaders for a global technological world. Their approach delivers theory combined with hands-on practice solving real world problems for real companies. The Graduate Qualifying Project is an essential component of the Innovator’s MBA program. You’ll form the ability to bring together sound management & technological insight and anticipate & capitalize on technological change. In short, you’ll stand out from the crowd.
Key facts about the WPI MBA:
If you’re an experienced professional looking to advance your career, take a look at The Innovator’s MBA. With remarkable flexibility and expected rigor, WPI’s program develops innovative and entrepreneurial leaders for a global technological world. WPI offers three tracks to pursue an MBA degree in a part-time program that has been ranked #1 in the Northeast for five years running and is currently ranked # 8 in the U.S.
Aspiring MBA candidates will find the graduate qualifying project (GQP) to be the ultimate challenge. The GQP requires the ability to apply the skills, methods, and knowledge gained through study while solving a significant problem for a real client organization. The GQP can also deliver a great return for the students as well; many later receive job offers from the companies that sponsored their projects. It’s the applied learning that gets results for the client and the student.
At WPI-like so many modern businesses-technology is the foundation of what they do and how they do it. Innovation, entrepreneurship, globalization and leadership are intertwined into virtually every course in the program.
WPI School of Business offers a wide array of Master of Science degrees (MS) for those interested in applying their experience in a path different from that of the MBA student but just as rigorous and relevant to today’s global and technological environments.
Student Loan Debt Market: Too Big To Fail
March 5, 2013
On Wednesday, February 27, 2013, the student loan ombudsman at the recently minted Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB), Rohit Chopra, declared yet another systemwithin the U.S. economy ‘too big to fail.’ While Sen. Warren is grilling Ben Bernanke on what exactly the Federal Reserve is doing to remedy the unacceptable influence big banks wield on the health and state of our economy, the student loan debt market, comprised of public and private lenders, has shot past $1 trillion and continues its relentless climb.
Last year, students borrowed $117 billion from the federal government alone—our most inexpensive and forgiving education creditor. [Although, if our ever-competent and productive legislators [sic] fail to reach an agreement by July 1st of this year, interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans will be hiked to 6.8%.]But, is this any surprise? The cost of college is increasing at a rate of 8% per year, five times the current national rate. This tuition inflation rate translates to a doubling of tuition every nine years. Of course, tuition is nowhere near the entirety of the cost of higher education. In fact, an investigation by Business Insider estimates an average of $70,000 in additional costs above the tuition sticker price, and that is just an undergrad number.
Some are lucky enough to be able to cover the cost of undergraduate and graduate degrees, but more are unable to do so without incurring debt.As you look toward your MBA degree and the multi-faceted investment it involves, take the time to objectively evaluate where a graduate management degree from your targeted institution(s) have the potential to take you. Do not sell yourself short or the institution, but approach this analysis soberly. It may well be that you conclude that you need to set your sights higher and, therefore, incur even more cost in order to track your future in the direction it needs to go. If you have the drive and are willing to make the commitment to do what it takes to get into a top tier school, then go after it. If that does not make sense for your career path and goals, however, then get what you need at less cost.
The numbers surrounding student loan debt are terrifying, both macro and micro (I speak from experience here). But, just as a fledgling company needs investment to grow and prosper, so do individuals. If you decide to take the plunge, then go all in. Sign up for a GMAT class, take trips to universities, apply for scholarships and grants, accept loans if necessary. After all, where is the reward without the risk? Just be sure to do all of these things prudently and with a clear head. Do not be duped into a system that will not reward your risk.Defaults will hurt us all.
