Do you work for a big, medium, or small company? If you are asking for reimbursement, then chances are your options are probably limited to UH or Rice (if you are working in Houston as I assumed). All companies are different but that's a lot to ask for reimbursement and relocation...especially with a chance to lose you after a new degree. Are any coworkers in school now atm? Have you asked them for advice? You sound like you have no real plan and more of a fleeting thought (no offense). Figure out where you would like to go or better yet are planning on applying. After that talk to your boss. I would also say that this is pretty terrible timing since school is just starting.
I went back and got my MBA 10 after 10 years of work experience, b/c honestly I just wanted to broaden my horizons and career path. I don't regret it at all... but I'm still in the same industry doing the same type of work. I'm currently in school for another Master's more relevant to my current career path. But the MBA was still the best thing I ever did b/c it broadened my horizons, opened my mind, and taught me about how to look at the world and analyze it in ways I never knew before. Even though I don't technically use the MBA in my day-to-day job, I do use the concepts on a daily basis in my work and personal life.
I have an MBA but there are times when I wish I didn't get it. The really bad thing about it is that it gives future employers the idea that you are "overqualified" for entry level jobs. I have gone through a couple of job layoffs and it always has taken me 6 months to find another job. I know I could have gotten some other jobs sooner but the company I am applying to feels that I am overqualified. Now the MBA has helped me to teach as an adjunct for a community college and has also helped me make a little bit more money as a teacher. But yea, unless you have a clear idea of what you want to do after you get it, you need to think long and hard about getting one.
The only value of an MBA to me is the networking. I wouldn't consider it unless I could go to a top school.
http://www.webmbaonline.org/ I also went for night classes before doing the online, but I hated going to class once I started dating my wife.
Let me just recap this for you real quick. We start off in a blender. Now we're saving lives!" "What?!" "What?"
Haha no offense taken. I work for a large oil company right now. I would honestly love to go to Rice. Is their MBA program considered top notch? And sadly, I have no coworkers that I know of who are going for their MBA. I wanted to work for a year before asking my boss anyway, so I'm not in a rush. I just wanted to plan for the future
Some will pay, some wont. I had friends for Phillips and Exxon not get any school payed for and one for Murphy who did. Rice is a great school, but very expensive (for MBA)...I think it is somewhere around $90k. I think a lot will depend on what your boss thinks of your potential. If you are an engineer with great technical skills, they might see you staying technical rather than acquisitions and technical business analyst stuff...no reason to pay for something they dont see you doing.
I had friends take graduate classes at Bauer while I was in law school at UH (2005-08) and the reviews were nothing stellar. These folks all had undergrads in business and a couple had MBAs from other programs. The consensus was that while Bauer was a decent education, getting a corporate job competing against Texas, Rice, and other highly ranked programs would be a challenge, even in Houston. I also had a friend in law school who's wife decided to get a Rice MBA by way of the executive program instead of joining him to get a JD at UH. She got a job at TI in Dallas starting at six figures in 2008. Her take was that the job recruiting at Rice was miles ahead of Bauer. Do your research very carefully. Advanced degrees are very expensive. Finding a job in this market that will make the added student debt worth it can be a challenge.
