Cost of MBA and CFA Courses

Many aspiring students planning to pursue finance degree generally get confused over Chartered Financial Analyst designation or Masters in Business Administration degree. There is no question over which course offers better valuable credentials, since each course is capable of delivering higher salaries and better advancement prospects. The answer to this query can depend on many factors like professional goals, resources and background in terms of money and time. The main difference lies between the curriculum of CFA programs or MBA courses, since CFA programs specializes in providing knowledge of finance, where as MBA courses offers career opportunities in many fields and provide exposure to numerous areas of study that can be applied in almost any position whether related to finance or some other field. The potential CFA candidates should try to assess their commitment to a career in finance only. 

Chartered Financial Analyst programs are considered to be helpful in financial jobs and professions. Job positions for Fund Money Managers, Asset Management professionals and Investment Managers are mostly offered to people with a CFA certificate. Holding a Chartered Financial Analyst degree is coveted in the financial field but MBA courses offer better career prospects. Professional degree of MBA from renowned business schools offers better job flexibility than any other management or finance course.

By doing an MBA course, a person does not bound to specific sector or specific type of work as is the case with CFA program. It actually adds a great deal of value on your resume when MBA degree with past and present job experiences is mentioned. Choice among two fields, that is, CFA or MBA depends on the future career plans, career path to be pursued and job preferences. The cost of CFA program may roughly be around $5000 to $6000 depending on the enrollment and registration fees for four exams to complete all three levels of the CFA program. 

The price range for books and study material also varies. Other expenses incurred on online programs, audio programs, video programs, study seminars and flashcards also affects the cost of the program. The cost of an MBA course can range dramatically from $20000 to $100000. The costs may range from part-time program at a state university to full-time programs from recognized universities. The admissions in all the management institutes are based on the score obtained by the candidates in the MBA entrance exams. These MBA entrance exams are organized by the universities and competition in some of the entrance tests like CAT, MAT, XAT etc is quite tough because of the less number of seats offered.     

The cost of MBA in India varies from $30000 to $40000 for class-A management institutes, class-B institutes’ fee ranges from $12000 to $20000 and class-C institutes’ fee ranges from $5000 to $15000. For making career in the field of finance, degree course of Masters in Finance prepares students in investment management, corporate finance and financial analysis fields. Masters in finance degree is often compared with other qualifications like CFA programs which are more focused on investment analysis and portfolio management. Where as, other areas of finance are not covered in CFA programs which are related to financial modeling.