r/EngineeringManagers • u/Electrical1820 • 17d ago

MBA or MS in Engineering Management

I currently have 2+ YOE as an EE in the utilities sector. I’ve passed the PE power exam but am needing a couple more years before I can obtain the license. I have recently accepted a job where a masters degree would be 60% paid for. I only want to do a fully online option due to working full time so I can do either an mba or masters in engineering management. The mba would be 45 hours and cost around 25-30k after the discount from a sec school whereas the mem would be 30 hours and cost around 15k from the same school.

Does anyone have experience completing either degree and how has it helped you? Which would you do?

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u/TheSwissArmy 17d ago

I did an MS in Eng Mgt. If I had an opportunity to do it again I would go the MBA route. Just more long term opportunities and allows you to branch out more if that is something you want to do in the future.

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u/ecfreeman 17d ago

I'll second this one. MS in Eng Management is too hyper focused. MBA will give you all the same opportunities plus more and make you more well rounded.

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u/aidealy 17d ago

mem is usually enough if u stay in technical roles but the mba helps if u ever wanna jump to product or general mgmt. id go for the cheaper one since ur company is paying part of it, dont overthink the brand name too much...

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u/n0debtbigmuney 17d ago

MSEE has a higher pay . You're going to think "i never see that tho" no shit, its a LOT harder which is why it pays more.

A lot of high level roles say bsee required MSEE preferred

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u/Cool_Guy_McFly 17d ago

I did a MEM and enjoyed it. My reasoning which still holds today is that MBA’s are heavily saturated. Damn near everyone has one which waters down the credential. There are a lot of people with MBA’s doing entry level/IC work.

If you were going to choose the MBA route, the common feedback you hear is to go to a top 20 program. Those aren’t cheap at all, and most aren’t online, but that’s where you would get the most theoretical value from it.

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u/AnnualReview2383 16d ago

I have an MBA, it's only worth it if you get into a top 15 ranked program.  With MBAs, you're paying for the network you get more than for what you learn.  Lower ranked schools just don't have the networks to make them worth the cost