(Bloomberg) – In the 2011-12 school year, more than 366,000 undergraduate business degrees and 191,000 graduate business degrees were awarded in the U.S., more than any other type of undergrad or masters-level degree, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The same trend is occurring globally.
Does the world really need more people with business degrees?
Clearly you can have a rewarding life and career without an MBA. And you can certainly become rich and powerful without one, as Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Amancio Ortega can testify.
But when you’re creating the next Google (GOOG), Tencent (700:HK), or Apple(AAPL), you’re going to need people with the training, skills, and network that business education is uniquely good at providing. There’s a reason all of those companies hire people with MBAs.