When stars aligned, lifelong learner made his move

Deke Culp, EMBA 2015, had planned to earn an MBA for years. After seven years as a solutions architect at Dell, Inc., he saw an opportunity to return to his alma mater and pursue an Executive MBA at a time in his career when he could still expect to recoup his investment. It was a chance he couldn’t pass up.

Executive MBA students typically think about getting an MBA for months, sometimes years, prior to applying for admission to a program. Most carefully weigh the financial investment, the time commitment, and other opportunity costs against the ROI of personal and professional growth offered by the EMBA experience. We asked three Foster EMBA students to explain how they decided to make a leap forward in their careers.