Anderson or Marshall?

Not sure if it's still going, but USC has a EdD/MBA dual degree, which is insanely uncommon. I also remember Marshall offering a concentration in education, again: insanely uncommon (https://classic.marshall.usc.edu/ecg/con ... cation.htm)

Given you have more money at USC too, I would go with Marshall.

Based on your interests, I would go with Marshall. The fact is, those aren't fields that large numbers of MBA grads go into, so your job search is going to be much more self-facilitated than if you were going into something like consulting where the companies come to campus. Furthermore, any rankings difference (a whopping 5 spots or whatever it is) only really matters for stuff like banking or consulting recruitment. Finally, those aren't the most lucrative fields, so you'll probably appreciate having the extra dough saved (or having less debt, as the case may be).

If you really loved Anderson and money really isn't an issue (i.e. you have a whole lot of it in the bank or someone else is paying) then you could consider it, but based on what you've said and the above info on Marshall's education concentrations, I would go with USC.

I think if it is truly a toss up for you, and I would go with USC to save the money. USC and UCLA are both excellent schools, with a great local reputations. In the industry you are going into, school reputation isn't as important, and as someone else said, it might make sense for you to save the money. If you plan on staying in SoCal USC will look great on the resume too. If you don't plan on staying in SoCal, then UCLA tends to have a better reputation around the state and country. Both are excellent school's, with excellent career centers, excellent alumni/resources, and some great students.

Plus, if you are looking to do Urban Education then you will already have a great start living next to USC . It's a lot more "urban" than UCLA in Westwood. Just realize that UCLA is usually #1 over USC in the MBA decision, so the caliber of students you are surrounded by will be slightly lower.... although still extremely high compared to normal population.

Good luck with this exciting (and fortunate) decision.

Thanks for all your replies.

I mentioned in a prior post my interest in non-profit management. That hasn't changed, but after talking to some students with similar long-term career interests as me, it seems like a detour into consulting or finance could be ultimately beneficial down the line.

Given this, would your decision between Marshall (w/$$$) and Anderson (w/$$) change?