I Finished My MBA with No Debt at Age 23

On Friday, I took my last MBA exam. I’m finished with my MBA at age 23. Here’s a quick recap of my educational achievements:

May 2008 – Graduated Valedictorian from my High School as an International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement Distinguished Scholar.
May 2011 – Graduated with my B.S. Global Business from my college with Magna Cum Laude Honors.
May 2012 – Graduated with my M.S. Supply Chain Degree with Distinction Honors
May 2013 – Graduated with my M.B.A with Distinction Honors
I did this without acquiring debt. I’m so glad I finished my M.B.A. Now I feel like I completed my mandatory education and I can move on and concentrate on something else.

I learned a lot from my M.B.A. education and believe it is extremely valuable to your career. I think an M.B.A. provides you with the prestige because honestly, you learn everything on the job.

Most people finish their post-college education way later in life. I decided to get it over and done early. A lot of people don’t think it’s valuable, or that companies won’t take you seriously. But honestly, companies don’t care at what age you received your MBA, only that you have it. So when I’m 30, and can say I have 10 years of experience and an MBA; they won’t ask, when did you graduate with your MBA?

An MBA costs a lot of money. At my school, tuition and expenses for an MBA totaled to $48,000, if you did it in 1.5 years. $48,000 is a lot of money. I know one family can survive on this alone for one year. One class this semester was $2,500. As soon as I get my grades, I will apply for tuition reimbursement at my company. I think by mid June, I should have the $2,500 back in my savings account.

Can’t believe the end finally came. Now that I finished my class, I plan to dedicate more time to this blog. I want to grow it. I, also, want to get more staff writing positions. If you know someone that is hiring, please let me know! I, also, want to start a professional blog. I’m going to plan it this summer, and hopefully take it live in the fall. My professional blog will concentrate more on business strategy and operations topics.

What’s next for my education? My company reimburses up to $8,000 every calendar year. I think this is an added benefit on top of my salary that the company is giving me. So, I’m actually looking into enrolling a new master’s program. This master’s program concentrates more on negotiation and dispute resolution; a skill I could utilize my entire life. Maybe I can finish it by the time I’m 25? Or 26, might be a more realistic goal. I have already done the math. I could take up to 3 classes a calendar year. Each class is $2,500. My plan is to start the application this month.

Are you working on a graduate degree or recently finished one?