Candyce Galloway, 34, software services leader for PGT, obtained her on-site M.B.A. degree in March 2007. “I definitely would say that it has already helped in my current role,” she says. “As I’ve grown in my knowledge of the construction and building industries, I have a better understanding of our market, and I can and already do assist in departmental goal setting and prioritizing of work. And in the future, it’s given me a little bit of leverage in terms of my ability to be a part of leadership discussions.”

Recruiters are getting more energized around the maturity, discipline, teamwork experience and education that M.B.A.s bring with them, according to Dave Wilson, president and chief executive officer of the Graduate Management Admission Council, an international association of business schools and owner of the Graduate Management Admission Test. “That’s what’s driving the value equation. They’re seeing someone who is hard-working, committed and determined to self improve to make themselves a better player, all things employers look for.”

M.B.A. students are learning about “the things required in corporate life today: team building; communication, both written and spoken; aspects of leadership; an understanding of the culture and dynamics of a business,” says USF’s Anderson. “They’re looking at more of the big picture of business in an M.B.A. program, relative to the bachelor’s level where they learn very specific skill sets like accounting. I think it gives them a broader set of skills.”

Jon Reed, 31, a mass spectrometry researcher at Sarasota-based Roskamp Institute, started studying for his M.B.A. in January at USF Sarasota-Manatee. “I think it’s the most direct way to sort of segue a career in research to something in the pharmaceutical industry,” he says. “You can segue into the corporate world without an M.B.A., but it’s a lot easier to do so with one. It opens up your options.”

Casey Hodge, 29, a marketing coordinator at SunTrust Bank who’s in the process of getting his M.B.A. at USF Sarasota-Manatee, says it’s a long-term investment. “Nowadays it seems like so many people go to school and get bachelor’s degrees; that’s what our generation does,” he says. “So I wanted to separate myself from that. I don’t think coming out on the first day after graduation I will see a huge career change, but I think over time it’ll be rewarded. You’re making yourself more appealing to future opportunities.”

But for many area businesspeople, obtaining an M.B.A. isn’t just about the future. It’s also a tool that can help them better perform in their current positions.

“I realized that I was lacking in my business acumen a bit, having never taken a business class my entire time at college,” says Kirstin Fulkerson, 29, program officer at Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice, who obtained an M.B.A. from USF Sarasota-Manatee in December. “I knew that having an M.B.A. would raise my business sophistication and really help me today and for the rest of my life. The nonprofit world is more like the for-profit world than most people think. All of the aspects of an M.B.A. program absolutely apply to the nonprofit world: marketing, management, investing and finance, information systems, economics. These are areas that all businesses are dealing with, and being more adept in these areas will allow me to better work with the foundation’s nonprofit partners, donors and others.”

Jacki Dezelski, 37, vice president of East County and community development at the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, who received her M.B.A. from the University of Florida in 2005, didn’t want to leave the chamber when she went for her M.B.A.; she just wanted to get better at her job. “An M.B.A. helps you avoid the trial-and-error process, because you’re in a setting in which you’re learning almost as much from your classmates as the instructor, and you hear a lot of on-the-job stories,” she says.

Though having an M.B.A. can help improve job performance, studying for one while working full-time can definitely be challenging. “You have to be ready to commit,” says Hodge. “Giving up your Saturdays takes a little bit of getting used to.”

“You just have to make time for it,” says Reed. “I have friends who have done it before, and the classes, while demanding, don’t make life unlivable. You have to compromise. You can’t spend the entire weekend on play time, and you have to devote some time each day to your studies.”