What is the criteria for mba marketing?

What's the best, affordable option for pursuing your Masters Degree in Marketing or Management from a reputable institute?

• I'm currently working as a Marketer and Business Developer for a firm. In past, I have worked as a Brand Manager and Social Media Strategist. My skill set covers everything related to Online Brand Management, Digital Marketing and Business Development. I have been in this field for almost 2 years now. Even though everything seems to be turning out just fine career wise, the thing that bothers me most is that my BSc degree is not relevant to my field. I actually despise what I learned in my undergrad, which by the way was not from any ordinary institute, because halfway through my graduation I lost interest in that subject and started exploring other fields. Long story short, I found Marketing to be my niche, have been in this field for years and want to stay in the similar capacity for a longer duration. So while searching for colleges to get a Masters Degree in Marketing or Brand Management to make things official on paper, I realized that it would cost me somewhere between USD 40-70k - the whole course comprising of 2-4 semesters. That kind of tuition fee is way out of my budget. What I'm looking for is to complete my Masters program within the budget of USD 20k, and then eventually land a job in US that could provide me with an income somewhere in the bracket of USD 60-80k a year. With that I plan to save for my final degree - MBA - which would again cost tons but hopefully I'll be able to afford that. So if you have any idea about where I should apply or what options should I explore then please do share your opinions here because frankly I'm quite freaked out. So far I haven't been able to find a single institute that falls in the criteria which I just described above. Any suggestions or advice in this regard would be highly appreciated. P.S: I currently live in UAE by the way, my green-card for US immigration is currently being processed which I should get within a year. The US preference is because of that factor.

• Answer:

  Get your employer to pay for it. Most working professionals who decide to persue an MBA while still working often have employer tuition reimbursement benefits that makes perusing an advanced degree more affordable. The other route is to wait until after you're a US citizen so you're eligible to receive federal financial aid. From there - consider doing an MBA program at a public university in whatever state you reside - you have to live in most states for at least 12 years to be eligible for in-state tuition.