re: Thinking about going back to grad school

Are there any professional designations or outside learning that you can do to help advance in your current role? What would be your goals after graduating? Do you have a rough idea of how much more you would make?

I think people see grad school as an easy way out and a guaranteed path to better pay. Go check out the median pay for MBAs from non top 10 schools. It's not great, especially when you consider the up front cost and the opportunity cost of not being fully employed for two years. Make a spreadsheet and do the math over the next 10-20 years.

If you're only looking at a 20-30% raise, I don't see the value. Obviously there are more factors at play than your starting salary, and it may make sense for you, but I just wanted to point out that too many people make this decision without actually conducting proper analysis. The ones who come in with a set plan/goal are typically the ones that excel during and after grad school.