Cliff Schorer discusses whether it makes sense to get an MBA.

Question: Is there value in business education?

Clifford Schorer: Obviously having skill sets and having knowledge is a very, very powerful thing and the more knowledge you have the more obviously your chances of success are increased. So I think it's very important that you go to business- get a business education however you get it, whether it's in an organization or whether it's at a school getting your MBA or your undergraduate degree, as long as you keep driving and learning skills that you can then apply. How do you assess things? How do you manage people? How do you ferret out what are good ideas and what are not? So I think those things are vital and the more of it you get the better off you're going to be.

Question: In the current market, do you think going to a business school is a smart choice?

Clifford Schorer: I think it depends a lot on the person. I think there are people where it's a tremendous benefit to them and let's take for example where I am at Columbia. I think the network of contacts and people and the variety of skills and the access to ideas is absolutely phenomenal so someone coming in to that environment I think that is terrific and I think it can really enhance their lives. If someone's skill set were different — If they were going to run a business that was purely landscaping and had a definition of what they wanted to do, then it may not be so important, so it depends a lot on what you want to accomplish.

Recorded on: 5/13/08