When you are looking to pursue higher studies, there are two popular names of degrees and programs that come up. You often hear that if you get an MBA or a JD, things will come to you much easier from then on, at least in terms of work opportunities and financial success. But what are these degrees and who wins in the JD vs MBA debate?
JD vs MBA: What Is the Difference and Which Is Better?
Let us start with a quick overview of both.
MBA
An MBA stands for Master of Business Administration. It is a two-year degree that familiarizes you with business administration and management. But the biggest draw of an MBA is the opportunities it opens you up to. If you do an MBA degree from one of the top schools, you will also be exposed to a network of important business people, through the school’s alumni, through the faculty and through visiting professors. MBA schools are also ranked in terms of how useful they will be in putting you in touch with the right people. What you do with that network, of course, is up to you.
JD
A JD, on the other hand, stands for Juris Doctor. It is one of the highest professional law degrees in the United States. The length of the degree varies from school to school, but it typically takes three years to complete the degree. To practice law after attaining the degree, you will need to sit for the bar examination.
Each state has its own bar exam. It is important to note that a JD is the only degree that qualifies you to appear for the bar. If you want to pursue an LLM (Master of Laws), which is also a professional law degree, you can do so before or even after completing your JD. But an LLM alone does not make you eligible to take the bar.
Both the degrees require at least two years to complete, perhaps three in the case of JD. You are required to have completed a Bachelor’s degree before attempting to enroll in any of these programs. These are also full-time programs that require your full attention and resources.
What Jobs Can You Get after Each?
Both the degrees open you up to a variety of employment opportunities. These are both respected and sought after degrees and you can get high-paying jobs after doing both. Some of the jobs you can consider are available to graduates of either degree. For example, you can become a contracts manager after doing both an MBA or a JD. A contracts manager is responsible for drawing up and managing business contracts. You would require legal as well as business expertise to do this job and both the degrees would equip you to take this on as a profession.
With an MBA, you can explore job opportunities in industries like the following:
- Consulting
- Technology
- Media and Entertainment
- Financial Services
- Education
- Government
- Business Operations
With a JD, the following work opportunities may be made available to you:
- Attorney
- Public Policy Analyst
- Magistrate
- Judge
In general, however, it seems that JDs can apply themselves in the same field as an MBA, but an MBA graduate will not be able to do the same jobs as a JD.
Which One Should You Choose?
So JD vs MBA, which one should you pick? Which you should choose depends on a variety of different factors that are unique for each individual. The following are some of the factors that may help you to decide:
Tuition Fee
The tuition fee for both are different, however, they are both expensive degrees to acquire. For an MBA, you would typically have to pay between $65,000 and $100,000, depending on the school you get into or choose to attend. This is a two-year degree and unless you get a scholarship, you may have to take out a student loan.
In the case of a JD too, matters are not so inexpensive. For example, a standard nine-month student budget at Harvard Law School, one of the most prestigious schools to study law in the country, is $99,200, including $65,875 for tuition fee.
Return on Investment
Now that it has been made amply clear that these are both expensive degrees, the question is, which one is going to give you a better return on investment? As a practicing lawyer, you can easily make a six-figure salary, though the big bucks may not come to you with your first legal job. The respectability of an MBA varies, depending on the school you go to, which means even the salary can vary. In the case of a JD, what matters more if you are looking to do legal work is whether or not you clear the bar.
So while you can get handsome paychecks after both degrees, in the case of an MBA, the rank of the school you go to matters a lot in deciding your entry-level salary.
Career Plans
Finally, you need to decide which degree you want based on your career plans. If you want to be an attorney and practice law, naturally you can only do a JD. But having a JD does not mean you can only practice law. As mentioned earlier, a JD can do a lot of the jobs an MBA can, but that may not necessarily be true the other way around. So if you are looking for purely legal jobs, a JD is a better option. But if you are looking for purely business management and administrative jobs, an MBA is more focused on that. If you are still not certain but would like to keep your options open, a JD may be a safer alternative between the two.
Final Thoughts
These are both respected and illustrious degrees that will certainly open a lot of doors for you. However, how you make use of those opportunities and move forward in your career depends entirely on you. Some schools also offer a combined MBA and JD program so you can complete both degrees without spending as much time. Naturally, however, these combined degrees are a lot more expensive. But the choice, in the end, is yours.