ROI of an MBA - The Intangibles

One of the most popular topics among prospective MBA students is the return on their investment. After all, when you calculate the lost wages, promotions, bonuses, and the money spent on tuition & incidentals it really starts to add up.
Of course, an MBA degree will provide you with deep business knowledge, expand your ability to think critically about strategic issues facing large, mid-sized and smaller corporations, and, perhaps most valuable of all, will provide you with a lifelong network of professional resources.
So should we view the MBA simply as a way to "rediscover ourselves", this would indicate that the ROI is not the key measure, but rather the answer to the question, "Is my life better today than it was before I started?"
If anyone were to ask me why I decided to join XLRI, it was certainly not for the financial return. I did well before I came back to study, and by some measure I am not really light years ahead on the other side. I actually wanted a change in my life...a change of role/function...and most importantly a change of scenery. The MBA was my vehicle to the life I imagined rather than the ticket to a financial windfall. I believe that many people share this view, and if you do I believe that you will not be disappointed with your MBA from any institution.
P.S. In my next post I will discuss how to calculate the ROI of an MBA - The tangibles.