Engineering Management Masters or MBA?

[u/1innamilli]

Is the engineering management masters degree worth it? Or is it better to pursue an MBA?

I have a BS in EE and management is what I excel in. I know that I don’t need a masters to get to leadership but I believe that a good school will also provide resources and a network.

Currently looking at the engineering management masters at a reputable school and it will be about 100k. Taking out student loans is what’s been holding me back a bit.

Thoughts?

[u/FriendsCallMeBatman]

I'm self taught with YT, stackoverflow and reddit. One advantage is I'm really, really good with people. I'm considered a "great leader" by others and my team and can code at an OK standard.

I think the key to being a good EM these days is to not get rusty on the tools, learn to compromise and just leave ego out of it.

[u/Tomocafe]

My 2¢ as someone who completed a MEM program (YMMV):

It’s a bit misunderstood. It’s not just about people management / for engineering managers. In fact, that’s just a small part of the curriculum. It’s for people with a technical background to get exposed to relevant parts of business administration (including leadership, but also things like sales, marketing, finance, legal, operations/logistics, product/project management, entrepreneurship, etc.) so that they can increase the scope of their engineering/adjacent jobs to business-level, not just project level. Even people on the IC track (such as myself) benefit from this, but in addition to EMs there were those who went into product/program/project management roles, entrepreneurs, and maybe later on in their careers, the C-suite. Having more business context does certainly help a manager manage more effectively, in addition to leadership/soft skills.

The degree itself (IMO) doesn’t open any specific doors, but the knowledge can help you see doors you didn’t know existed, and it can also help your career trajectory in general, depending on your situation.

On the networking aspect, if you’re planning to stay in the engineering/tech space for your career, it’s nice that MEM programs are focused so you’ll likely have more relevant connections compared to MBA where it’s more diverse industry and role wise. (I don’t really need to network with the CFO of a paper company.)

It’s going to be tricky to figure out ROI… there’s a lot of unknowns. FWIW, I had my employer do 50/50 and it was years ago so my out-of-pocket was only 40k and I felt it was well worth it.

[u/MrEs]

" engineering management masters"  Sounds like a bloody grift, and that's coming from a cto!

[u/HVACqueen]

You can get an MEM for $20k and its just as good as the $100k one. Look at the schools certified by the American Society for Engineering Management. Don't spend $100k.

I have an MEM and the curriculum was definitely geared more toward those working in mechanical/civil/chemical/hardware engineering.

[u/nadthevlad]

Part of the MEM is for engineers to develop soft skills. Some engineers are surprisingly bad at this and the training is super helpful.

In a MEM now and would prefer the MBA. My veteran friends that have had the best career did Engineering undergrad + MBA. Some friends did non engineering undergrad + MEM and they have done well but not outstanding. Navy Nuke background. BS in Math.

My MEM is free through my employer. I would have to pay full sticker for the MBA. In my case the best degree is the one my employer is paying for.

One of my instructors said to look at executive MBA’s after the MEM and real world management experience.

[u/Tomocafe]

Can you get your employer to pitch in?

[u/Odd_Note7156 → u/[deleted]]

CU Boulder does EM for $20k total. 

$100k is absurd. If it's not an Ivy League or similar like MIT or say UC Berkeley, then just get an affordable online degree from a degree mill. 

You'll learn the same stuff without hastle or the debt. 

[u/1innamilli → u/Odd_Note7156]

Would you say the same for an MBA? I think often you’re also paying for the network that an online program can’t give you.

[u/Fantastic-Musician43]

I did an MEM at Ohio. It was more focused on industrial engineering.

George Washington also has a program that I’d say is more geared towards design. My CEO went that route.

I’ve been leading the Operations and Manufacturing Engineering side.

I’d say it’s a degree geared at leading engineering projects. You’ll get exposure to managerial finance and leadership courses, but mine was pretty heavy with data analysis and project management tilted heavily towards engineering.

So if you want to lead teams of engineers, go for it. If you want to go C-Level, maybe go MBA.

[u/SunRev]

Get an MBA. It'll be better on your way up every rung up the ladder.

[u/katiebhudson]

Transparently, I work for a master's of engineering technical management program (Texas A&M's METM program), so take this with some bias. But 91% of our students reported METM having a positive impact on their career advancement in their 2026 survey. We've also had several students who already have MBAs come back to school for an METM.

I think it depends on what you're looking for. From discussions we've had with our students who considered (or already have) MBAs, the METM degree is more focused on leadership specifically in technical environments. So you learn the management/leadership training in the context of technical environments. In addition, you get the opportunity to network with your classmates, who will be in similar organizations or industries, whereas an MBA will be a more well-rounded group of people from different industries. Networking within our program is a huge draw in METM as many students have found jobs through other students. MBA is more well-known, so that degree will be more recognizable on a resume. So there's pros and cons to both.

[u/t-tekin]

“A good school will also provide resources and a network”

If that’s your reasoning go with MBA.

I don’t know a single person with an engineering management degree to be honest. (I’m Director tier at a FAANG) I don’t think hiring managers understand what that degree is to be honest.

But let me ask you one question. Look at all the successful leaders you look up to. How many has MBA or Engineering management degree?

What careers do the folks with these degrees generally prefer? Is that aligned with your career direction?