The market in executive education has exploded in recent years. For example, experts estimate that there are now 3,500 different programmes around the world that give students the possibility to earn a Masters in Business Administration (MBA).
And MBAs are just one option open to executives looking to give their careers a shot in the arm.
Prospective students can sign up for executive education courses learn about management sciences, opt for part-time or full time studies or receive training in-company. The list is long and getting longer.Faced with such a wealth of choice the big question for anyone planning to spend what is often quite a hefty amount of money on some mid-career education is, of course, which programme is the one for me?
Do your homework
For Patrick de Greve, Managing Director of the Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School (VLMGS) in Belgium, choosing a reputable course is vital.
"With so many programmes on offer it is obviously hard to know which are the best ones,” he says.
"At present the title of MBA is not regulated in any way and that means anyone can set up an MBA course."
De Greve says what really counts is whether a particular business school has received formal recognition from the relevant academic authorities both in the country where it is based and internationally.
VLMGS for example is the postgraduate management school of two of the biggest and most respected universities in Belgium - the Catholic University in Leuven and Gent University. This fact alone guarantees its national reputation.
When it comes to international recognition, the school has been approved both by the UK-based AMBA quality accreditation system for MBAS and by EQUIS, the European management school approval system.
Check the rankings
Another good way to see whether the course you are considering is up to scratch is too see whether it is included on a reputable business schools ranking table.
The two best-known rankings are published yearly by the UK’s Financial Times newspaper and by the weekly news magazine The Economist, also a UK publication.
Data in these two rankings are broken down in several ways. For example, both have a simple Top 100 list of MBA programmes worldwide. League tables are also presented for different regions like Europe or the United States as well as for particular disciplines.
De Greve is proud to say that his school features on both of these rankings.
"Obviously the academic approval is more vital from a scientific point of view, but the rankings are important. They are an at-a-glance way to see what a particular school has on offer," he explains.
What’s the advantage?
People who sign up for executive education courses do not generally do so out of a simple love of learning or for the good of their health.
They want to see tangible results in the form of higher salaries when they graduate.
Executive education programmes are not cheap. You will probably spend the best part EUR 10, 000 on teaching fees alone and most students expect a healthy return on their investments as soon as possible.
"This is the big issue," says de Greve.
"Our students are hard nosed business people and this is the main question they ask us,” he adds.
The VLMGS Director says it would be wrong for any school to guarantee a particular salary increase to students.
But he estimates that students graduating from reputable establishment like his could generally expect to see their pay packet swell by between 15 to 30 percent.
"Sometimes we’ve seen pay rises of over 50 percent, but that’s not every day. Certainly not in the current economic climate,” he says.
Is an MBA for me?
Opting to spend a great deal of both time and money on an executive education programme is a major decision that should not be taken lightly.
It is very important to make sure you choose the right point in your career to go back to school for example.
"Most of our courses are for people who already have three, five perhaps seven or even ten years of real-world business experience under their belts,” explains de Greve.
"These are not generally courses that would be particularly useful to people fresh out of university,” he adds.
Most other reputable business schools say the same thing.
Executive education is really for people who are mid-career and looking for an extra bit of professional push.
A decent business school will always take time to discuss a potential student’s motivation for taking a course and ought to discourage candidates who do not seem to have chosen the best moment to go back to the classroom.
More information
Some business schools in Belgium:
Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School
Gent Campus
Reep 1
9000 Gent
Tel: 09 210 97 11
Leuven Campus
Vlamingenstraat 83
3000 Leuven
Tel: 09 210 98 98
Email: info@vlerick.be
web: http://www.vlerick.be
(Features in ’FT’ and ’Economist’ ranking)
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Boston University - Brussels Graduate Center
Bd. du Triomphe 39
1160 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: 02 640 74 74
Fax: 02 640 65 15
Email: brussels@bu.edu
Web: http://www.bu.edu/brussels/
_____________________
Open University
Av Emile Duray, 38
B- 1050 Brussels
Tel: 02 644 33 73
Fax: 02 644 33 68
Email: m.s.carolan@open.ac.uk
Web: www.oubs.open.ac.uk/belgium
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Solvay Business School
Universite Libre de Bruxelles
CP145/1 21 avenue FD Roosevelt
1050 Brussels
Tel: 02 650 65 40
Email: info@slvay.edu
Web: http://www.solvay.edu
(Features in ‘Economist’ ranking)
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Flanders Business School
Korte Niewstraat 33
2000 Antwerp
Tel: 03 201 18 25
Email: info@fbs.ac
Web: http://www.fbs.ac
_____________________
International Management Institute
Antwerp campus
Jacob Jordaensstraat 77
2018 Antwerp
Tel: 03 218 54 31
Email: info@timi.edu
Web: http://www.timi.edu
_____________________
United Business Institutes
Avenue Marnix 20
1000 Brussels
Tel: 02 548 04 90
Email: info@ubi.edu
Web: http://www.ubi.edu
Business School Rankings
Financial Times: http://www.ft.com
Economist: http://www.which-mba.com
