I exchanged about a dozen e-mails with an alumnus today. He contacted me asking for faculty recommendations for a training program in the Bay Area. I recommended several David Eccles School faculty for the various topic areas he sent. About a half hour after I sent the recommendations to him, I had an e-mail telling me I had recommended a faculty member who he had as a student. He went on to share a story about a class experience, how much he had learned that “was not in the textbook,” and how much the class had contributed to his career.

When I replied, “Wow, I bet you also had Professor W,” I got a response back with another anecdote, some appreciative comments, and then questions about other professors. I think you can see where this is going. Many of the faculty he asked about are now retired, but many were here when I joined the School in 1999, and some I know as emeritus faculty and from hearing stories related by alumni. The e-mails went back and forth for several hours. I am not sure we are done.

Over twenty years after completing his business studies, this alumnus could remember the classes where he learned lessons that contributed to his career success. Some lessons were so important he felt a need to share them with me so I will pass them along to our faculty.

What were they? You probably know they were not what was on the final exam in most of the classes, although the technical knowledge he gained surely did matter in his day-to-day proficiency on the job. What mattered were lessons about ethics derived from hearing the professor talk about the complexity in simple decisions, critical judgment derived from case studies, skills developed articulating an analysis in a class presentation, and leadership lessons learned serving as an officer in a student-run association. These lessons were learned in classrooms from professors and other students, working on homework with his study group, in the course of tutoring sessions with career services staff, through alumni mentors, and taking on student leadership opportunities in extracurricular activities.

Business is the most actively contended market in higher education. According to the AACSB, which accredits business schools worldwide, there are 2,000 business schools in the U.S. and more than 8,000 business schools outside the U.S. Many of these programs offer “business made easy” with options that require little engagement. Just read the books, take the tests, which are conveniently offered online, and collect a degree. Degrees are certainly earned, but do these schools offer an education?

The Chronicle of Higher Education recently reported on a study of employer evaluations of “alternative degree formats,” finding employers tend to discount them and generally do not regard them as sufficient preparation for professional positions. Degrees are nice, but when it comes down to hiring decisions, the vast majority of employers want to hire people with an education because successful employees need to know more than how to take a test. In addition, the “extra stuff” that makes up an education, the stuff that the David Eccles School alumnus shared with me today, adds a lot of fun to the process and is life enriching. Students in great programs make friend for life who are future partners and collaborators in business deals.

A great education is transformational. Human beings are learning machines, and a motivated human being is capable of learning in every situation. But a great education transforms people, preparing them for career success, to lead others, and to represent their firm, nonprofit, or agency to the public, legislature, and other firms.

There are educational programs that produce this result consistently and predictably, and they do it year after year. They do it by engaging students in the process of education, by facilitating a learning environment that has lessons “outside the book.” Many of these programs offer different degree formats and scheduling flexibility, so they provide options for working adults. But what they do not compromise is the commitment to providing an education that is transformational.

To spend time and money in a business school and not get a great education is an opportunity lost, because you will never do it again. If you pick the right school and program, you will be writing the dean 20 years later and reflecting how much your education meant to your life and career. I think this is the point of going to school, at least it was for me.

Later.