<prompt> Human: I am a Petroleum engineer living in Midland, TX in my late 20s. I am debt free, but I currently rent because I am concerned about the stability of the housing market in midland and for the stability of my career given the current state of the oil and gas industry, which is not what it was when I graduated with my petroleum engineering degree. If I lose my current job I am concerned about my ability to find another job that will pay anywhere near this one since my only degree is Petroleum engineering. Texas tech is 2 hours from me and has a one weekend a month, 2 year MBA for 50k. My company will pay 5kyr, so if I complete the MBA while employed I will only spend 40k on it. If I lose my job I think I do have the savings to complete the degree and not work if I had to around 110k in cash and around 90k in a Roth IRA. This would mainly be something to help me get another high paying job if I lose my current, high paying job. On the other hand, I dont know how likely it would be that I would get another high paying job with an MBA from Texas tech. Ive heard many employers only hire mbas from top MBA schools, and Texas tech, while accredited, is not a top business school. I know university of Texas at Austin would be better but they do not have a weekend option that would realistically work with my schedule like Texas tech does. Would this 2 year, weekend MBA from Texas tech be a worthwhile backup plan to complete while working for 40k or should I save my money and just keep working?  <response>: One should only get an MBA under one of these two circumstances:1. You have a career and you are looking for a way to advance into management.2. You are going to a top 20 business school. 