With the costs of an MBA so high, and the potential rewards so great (if you get it right), it’s obviously very important to choose your course carefully. There are a number of factors you will want to consider.

• Cost


• Location


• Accreditation


• Prestige of the institution and the course


• Any particular focus and strength of the course

As stated previously, the cost of an MBA programme, in fees, varies between around £6,000 and £40,000 per annum, with the higher fees charged by the more prestigious, in-demand programmes.

Whether your employer is sponsoring you, whether you have access to scholarship funds, and how large a loan you are willing to take out in support of your study (see the guide to Funding your MBA elsewhere in this section) will all impact on how much you are willing and able to pay for your MBA.

In general, there are differences between the MBA programmes offered in the USA, UK, mainland Europe and the Far East, in terms of culture and content.

European courses (including British) are considered to be more international in flavour than their American cousins, and generally held to be more practically orientated; they are also shorter, at 10-15 months, than the two-year norm in the US.

America, of course, is the home of the MBA. American business schools continue to offer among the best MBA training in the world. However their courses have sometimes been described as more theoretical than European counterparts, and less connected to the real business environment – though this is subjective and will differ from course to course; it may also be that this type of course has more appeal in certain situations and for certain people.

Naturally mainland European courses also involve the challenge, and potential career advantage, for native English speakers, of studying in a foreign language, sometimes on its own, sometimes alongside English.

Half of all European MBAs are located in the UK. Among other European countries, France in particular, Spain and Switzerland are the primary destinations.

It should be borne in mind that all MBAs, wherever they are located, are situated in the global business environment, which increasingly mitigates any regional variations. Potential MBA recruiters are often multinational companies, so you might be just as likely to attract the attention of the same firm whether you study in New York, London or Singapore. Additionally, many courses offer a choice of international locations, and the chance to complete different parts of the courses in different places.

There are three main bodies which award accreditation to MBA programmes. Accreditation is a recognition of the quality of the training provided. It confers significant credibility to a programme, and candidates may be well advised to consider only courses which have accreditation from at least one source.

The different awarding organisations are: the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) – based in North America; the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), which awards the EQUIS watermark; and the Association of MBAs (AMBA), based in the UK.

You will want to look at how highly regarded the course and institution are. How highly are they placed in the league tables? You will probably want to aim as high as your budget and your academic and career background allow you to.

Prestige and reputation of course are different matters to the quality of the training; but they are often interlinked, and both will play a part in how much the qualification boosts your career prospects.

In researching courses, one factor to look is how much attention the school and its graduates attract from the recruiters you’re interested in working for. Is there a significant degree of involvement (sponsorship, etc) in the courses from commercial firms? Do the latter attend career events at the school to attempt to attract applicants?

It may be that you’re interested in public sector management, or entrepreneurship for example. All MBAs offer a broad range of elective courses, which will allow you to get a training in such areas, alongside core business training. However some courses may be particularly strong, or focused in one of these areas; so you may wish to target them.