An MBA without a strong alumni does not open doors, it is as simple as that. If a second tier or third tier business school wants to improve their rankings, they need to invest in their former student support network to provide opportunities for advancement. Otherwise, they become degree mills where you pay your money and receive your qualification – then you are on your own.

Why the big business schools charge so much is that they have a reputation to uphold. This is based on the quality of their learning resources, their highly paid academic staff, their assessment process, their support network, their exclusiveness and competition for places. Therefore, if you choose to attend a second tier, or third tier business school, then a significant discount to tuition needs to apply.

The Harvard Business School, Stanford Business School, Chicago Booth, Kellogg Northwestern and Wharton are all high profile business schools in the US. Insead, IE Business School, Saïd Business School [Oxford University], IMD Business School, London Business School and Esade in Europe are highly credentialed as well. They have well earned reputations, they are difficult to get into, they attract a high quality student and they are worth the increase in earning.

So there are a number of factors that influence the quality of the reputation of the business School. The MBA alumni of these schools are highly organised and influential, they have special access to a serious job network with employers seeking to offer not only graduates, but current student opportunities with internships and special projects. The business school has access to graduate programs with student engagement officers employed to create graduate opportunities through ongoing investment.

The alumni network opens doors with the largest corporations, sure it is an old boys club, this is what the most prestigious business schools market themselves on. As a potential student, these business schools offer a significant cost/benefit ratio that should not be discounted. Likewise, the alumni network creates ongoing social events for networking and post-graduate association, business opportunity generation and entrepreneurship.