I am looking for a budget online MBA program ranked among the top 50 in USA

[smartdegree]

I am 50 and currently a senior manager in a fairly large company. There may be one more promotion left in me and I would like to equip myself with a MBA degree to enable it. I don't thing an expensive MBA adding a lot of value for me, at this stage of my career, from ROI point of view.

One quick way to determine the best program is to observe individuals who currently hold the position you desire. For instance, if you aspire to move into a director or VP level in your firm, consider checking their LinkedIn profiles to see which MBA programs they selected. If everyone appears to have graduated from a top-ranked program, that gives you an indication of which program to explore. Alternatively, if 50% of the directors graduated from a local state school nearby, you might target that program. On the other hand, if only 10% or fewer have an MBA at all, you might realize the MBA has minimal to no impact on how those people secured their positions.

I am sure you are aware, but at age 50 and aiming for a director/VP role, the emphasis on whether someone has an MBA diminishes significantly - at that juncture, it's about who can deliver results. You are probably a hiring manager at this stage - would having someone on your staff obtain an MBA make it more likely for you to promote them over someone who dedicated their time to building their career by delivering excellent results for you?