为什么MBA学位没那么重要了？

    正当各大商学院与硅谷争抢生源以竭力站稳脚跟时，现在，不去读MBA又多了一个理由：你的老板或许不再会要求你这样做了。

    《华尔街日报》的一篇文章指出，许多私募股权基金以往要求入门级员工在工作几年之后去攻读MBA，但现在有些公司已经取消了这项政策。文章引用了芝加哥私募股权基金GTCR的例子。该基金很快就将提拔一批业绩卓著的员工，即便他们没有商科硕士学位。而此前，这家公司一直将其作为员工晋升的必要条件。

    除了对MBA学位究竟能在多大程度上提高一个人的技能产生怀疑外，这种政策变化显然也受到了商学院学费激增的影响。据《华尔街日报》报道，目前攻读商学院的成本大约需要100万美元。顶级商学院往往收取高昂的学费，如哈佛和斯坦福每年近10万美元，而且攻读学位还要放弃在私募股权基金的工作（年薪不低于30万美元），所有这些意味着攻读商学院要付出的代价将达到七位数。

    报道称，其他私募股权基金，如KKR 集团、黑石集团、阿波罗全球管理公司和银湖资本等，也在执行“灵活的”MBA政策。猎头公司Long Ridge Partners的迈克尔·古德曼表示：“过去10至15年间，MBA的地位已经从必要条件变成了锦上添花的点缀。”

    就连CEO职位可能也不再要求拥有MBA。作为现任CEO史蒂芬·施瓦茨曼的潜在继任者，黑石集团私募股权与房地产部门的负责人均没有MBA学位。KKR集团的法定继承人斯科特·纳托尔也未取得MBA学位。

    施瓦茨曼在3月份接受《华尔街日报》采访时表示，有些员工“天生就是这块料”，商学院对他们没有太大的帮助。他们可以“将公司作为自己的大学，”他说道。

    但高等商业学位在精英阶层中依旧非常普遍。比如，在GTCR公司，有七八位高级合伙人拥有MBA，但公司低层拥有MBA的情况并不常见。

    单纯从数字上来看，商学院的另外一个好处是：今年美国MBA毕业生的年平均起薪达到了六位数，比仅有学士学位的毕业生高出4.5万美元。（财富中文网）

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    审校：任文科

    As business schools strive to stay relevant while they compete with Silicon Valley for new recruits, here’s one more reason not to go: Your boss might not make you.

    According to an article in The Wall Street Journal this week, some private-equity firms, which historically required entry-level employees to leave after their first few years to go get a MBA, are now dropping that policy. The article cites Chicago-based private-equity firm GTCR, which will soon begin promoting deserving associates even if they don’t have a graduate degree in business — something that was formerly a prerequisite to advancing in the firm.

    Besides skepticism over how much an MBA really enhances someone’s skill set, the policy changes are apparently motivated by the soaring cost of going to b-school, which can put you out $1 million, according to the Journal. Top business school tuition — nearly $100,000 a year at Harvard and Stanford — plus giving up a private-equity job (which apparently pays as much as $300,000 or more annually) while working on the degree, can mean parting with a seven figure sum.

    Other private-equity firms, such as KKR & Co. , Blackstone Group , Apollo Global Management and Silver Lake, also have “flexible” policies on MBAs, the newspaper says, quoting recruiting firm Long Ridge Partners’ Michael Goodman: “Over the past decade or 15 years it’s gone from a must-have to a nice-to-have.”

    Even rising to the CEO job may no longer require a MBA. Neither of Blackstone’s heads of its private-equity and real-estate divisions — potential successors to CEO Stephen Schwarzman — have the degree. Nor does KKR’s heir apparent Scott Nuttall.

    In an earlier interview with the Journal in March, Schwarzman said that in some cases, an employee is “such a natural athlete,” b-school wouldn’t do them much good. They can “use the firm as their university,” he said.

    Still, advanced business degrees are common in the corner office. Seven or eight senior partners at GTCR have MBAs, although the degrees are less common in lower tiers of the firm.

    Another (literal) bonus to b-school: The median starting salary for U.S. MBA grads reached six-figures, or $100,000, this year — that’s $45,000 more than hires who just had bachelor’s degrees.