MIT (Sloan)

$237,636

UCLA (Anderson)

$220,112

Michigan (Ross)

$193,720

UC-Berkeley (Haas)

$203,068

Dartmouth (Tuck)

$230,080

These are the 2019 estimated total costs of completing a masters of business administration at the above noted institutions. As expensive as this sounds, an MBA continues to be a reliable magnifier of salary potential. According to a 2018 survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council, 2016 and 2017 grads saw their post-MBA salaries rise by a median of $40,000. Among respondents surveyed, 82% agreed that B-school increased their earning power.

But is it worth it? While no one would argue that the next CEO of a billion dollar multinational company is well served by these two expensive years of education, the grand majority of us have much less lofty aspirations.

Maybe we want to start our own small business venture. Create a product or render a service. Free ourselves from the constraints of employment and control our own destinies. Live the great American dream. What sort of education will serve us best?

When Alan Donegan went to a traditional business support service To get help with his business idea the experience was so off putting that he almost gave up. Alan’s three-page letter of complaint landed on the desk of Simon Paine who met Alan for coffee for what was to become the beginning of a movement to democratise entrepreneurship. What Simon predicted was to be the worst meeting of the year turned out to be the best meeting of the decade as they swapped ideas, knowledge and opportunities.

Simon had been coaching grassroots start-ups in disadvantaged communities across the south-east and knew that business plans didn’t help anyone. Alan knew that the only way to know if a business idea was going to work was to sell. They decided right then and there to work together to provide a solution.

And Thus, the Rebel Business School was born

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