I agree and disagree.
I finished my MBA in the middle 90’s, and it did open some doors for me, same as my PMP. For most students though, it’s nuts to think that you will retain all the facts from twenty 1000 page textbooks, and all the assignments. But what it did teach me, as both corporate manager and entrepreneur/business owner, was to look at and understand at the complete business landscape, and make decisions accordingly.
Now the question is whether I could have reached the same level of understanding by self-studying the texts...and I would say that since I keep studying texts and books anyway, the answer would be mostly yes.
I also agree and disagree. I have a technical undergraduate degree and went back for an MBA. At the time, there weren’t many women in the technical fields, and I needed to have a competitive edge. I went part time for the MBA, and after I got it, decided that I didn’t like working at big companies where my future was limited.
I went into business for myself and kept on learning through the years. My MBA, along with the technical degrees, gave me a wide breadth of knowledge (I made sure that every course I took was practical), and gave me credentials that were impressive to people when that mattered.
The world changes, so people have to keep learning, but that paper can be worth something.
I didn’t go into debt to get my degree. I took my time and saved my money up front so that I could pay for it without going into debt. It took sacrifice on my part. I’m glad I did it.