Hello

I am interested in doing an MBA in spain for several reasons:

-To gain a qualification to expand my career options from my current career in engineering
-To learn about finance / economics (not so much into the fluffy management stuff!)
-Improve my spanish

Any advise on good, economical course options?

Also, I would like to know the difference between the quality of the courses. Given the wide variety of pirces, I cant belive the difference in price is proportional to the teaching quality. Is there any point in doing a "cheaper" MBA?

I guess you've already read other posts in this web site regarding MBAs in Spain.

There are five accredited programs: Instituto de Empresa and UCarlos III in Madrid; and IESE, ESADE and EADA in Barcelona. IE, IESE and ESADE are the top three according to the usual international rankings, but are also very expensive.

In terms of value for money, the best option is UCarlos III. Being a public university, it has lower tuitions than any other accredited program in Spain (even cheaper than some non-accredited programs of private schools). It is also a good option for you given that you care about academic rigor --it has probably the best or one of the best faculties in Spain from the point of view of research.

On the negative side, you should take into account that the program is not as well known as the big ones and that it is relatively young, which implies that its alumni network is small.

Is there a point in doing this cheaper MBA? I would say it depends. You have to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the program, and then see how much you care about each. If you care mostly about the quality of faculty and the alumni network has less importance for you, then UCarlos III is worth considering. Even then I would visit the school to make sure that you like it. On the other hand, if you care a lot about having a wide alumni network you should perhaps consider spending more money and going to IESE, IE or ESADE. Then of course it depends also on how much money you've saved and/or how much you want to borrow.

You are correct that teaching quality is not related to the price in Spain. Professor backgrounds are the best indicator of teaching quality at a institution.

Full Disclosure: I am participating in the FIND MBA board as an excercise to provide an illustration for a segment I am teaching of the course "What the CEO wants you to know" at BMI www.barcelonami.org One of the readings for the segment is www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.04/wired40_ceo.html?? Click on Post MBA for more biographical info.

Hello

I am interested in doing an MBA in spain for several reasons:

-To gain a qualification to expand my career options from my current career in engineering
-To learn about finance / economics (not so much into the fluffy management stuff!)
-Improve my spanish

Any advise on good, economical course options?

Also, I would like to know the difference between the quality of the courses. Given the wide variety of pirces, I cant belive the difference in price is proportional to the teaching quality. Is there any point in doing a "cheaper" MBA?

Hello Andrew, in general the really good programs have their price. But when it comes to medium quality programs, prices vary quite a lot, and MBAs often are overpriced. You have to watch out here.
Especially in Spain the situation is complicated: You have some public universities offering good MBA programs for quite cheap prices, since they have other sources for financing (public money) than tuition; whereas private business schools sometimes just are a ripp off.

So yes, it can be a very good idea to do a cheaper MBA, if you don't want to go for the 4 big programs IE, IESE, EADE, ESADE which have accordingly high tuitions. But you have to make sure that the program is worth it.

First of all Carlos III's MBA is excellent, as Jaitego explains, and if you want to have some alternatives, check out MBAs offered by other public schools, and look for their accreditations and international reputation to know, if they are good enough.

I'm currently doing this reseach now, and I will share the info then on this board

Its pretty clear that Jaitego is overheating Carlos III.

I never heard before about this MBA. Any serious business person in Spain would consider this MBA as a top MBA. So people from other countries do not consider this is as a seriious option and do not waste oyur time with an MBA with almost no credentials in the Business community.

Single Spain, you have just anticipated me, I am very surprised by this over-promotion of Carlos III which is not ranked, has just one accreditation and is never mentioned or present in any conference or MBA fair.
The 4 big schools are IESE and IE, then ESADE and then EADA, Some perople might desagree on which is the first the second or the third, but for sure EADA is the fourth and the last option, I would not consider Carlos III in this group, but in the 2nd tier group together with EAE, Barcelona Business School....

Good Luck

Ok, maybe I was too enthusiastic about Carlos III??
Still, for me all this info about Carlos III is useful, since I'm looking for a good but not so expensive program. I think for people like me who cannot afford one of the 4 ranked schools, Carlos III is a good option (correct me if I'm wrong), and I'm sure we are the large majority...

So Pedro and SingleSpain, you have to keep in mind when reading those comments that they are for people like me, for whon actually it is not so important to know which are the very very best MBAs in Spain, considering all factors - but which are the "second" best MBAs.

Now, one thing that confuses me a bit is that I was convinced about Carlos III being ranked. Mmh... it's not? What about Pompeu Fabra? Or are those 4 quoted above the only ones ranked?

Katalina, neither Carlos III nor Pompeu are ranked, as far as I know. The only Spanish MBAs that appear in the international rankings are IESE, IE, ESADE, and EADA.

Katalina,

For the coming year there will be a new loan guaranted by the Minstery of Education of aprox. 22.000 euros (with no interest), so consider it a good source of funds for your MBA.

Hi, thanks for the hint. Do you know where I can get more information? Who can benefit from this loan?

Hi SingleSpain,
Is this new loan from the ministry of education only good for Spanis students or can international students apply? Where can i get more information about it. I am finding ways to finance my MBA in Spain!!

I am not sure. Ask schools about that.

What I can say is that I read about it in the newspapers, but not an official website.

where are you applying?

I'm still deciding but i need to be close to the ocean so Madrid is out. I think I'm going to look at schools in Barcelona. I'm looking at programs taught in English as I'm American and do not speak any Spanish but I love the Spainish culture! What should I look for in an International MBA program?

Hi,
I've been googling but could not find any general reference to this loan, just info on scholarships on the sites of the indivual schools.
Krista, there is a lot of discussion in this board on MBAs in Spain, mostly on the English speaking.
I'll go for a tought in Spanish, but you should check those four schools as a start, since they are the best ones in Spain for International MBA or EMBA:
IE, IESE, ESADE, and EADA.
Already in this post you'll find some infomation. If you go to the reference of the schools on this site, you'll find below links to the latest board posts on the school. As an example, IE:
http://www.find-mba.com/university/457/ie-business-school-instituto-de-empresa

Krista,

If it´s Barcelona, focus on IESE and ESADE.

Then if you find the previous very demanding choose EADA or EAE.

Katalina & Krista,

The Spanish Ministry of Education does have a loan program for Master's programs. Unfortunately, the information is only in Spanish:

http://www.prestamos-renta-universidad.es/

It is only for EU nationals or Spanish residents with at least two years of residence in Spain. You can get at most 6,000 euros to finance your tuition and a maximum of 800 euros per month, for 21 months max., to cover other expenses. You can see other details in the above web page.

It´s a 22.000 euros for 0% interest for 8 years to participate in Official Masters Degree from a European University.

22.000 euro is great, but apparently I cant benefit from the loan, it's only for residents? a pity... :-(

Thank you for all the posts! I guess as I'm from the US I won't be able to apply. =/
I've been talking to some of my old professors about different programs in Barcelona and some have mentioned that Spain does not have a strong history with business education or MBAs. Said the schools are a little behind the times. One of my old professors also knows some of the professors who teach at BMI and recommended that I check it out. I have been in communication with BMI asking them all types of questions. Has anyone attended BMI? I am interested in knowing more information from a student point of view.

Krista,

Don't get confussed. Esade and Iese have 50 years behind as a business school. Of course that are not at the top 10 US level, but both schools are considered among top 10 in Europe.

BMI is not a business school, nobody knows it in Barcelona, it has zero prestige, it' s a bluff that some people is tryiing to promote in this forum.