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Hello. I am a 28 year old with a wife and no children living in a rural area. I have a BS in Urban Planning and am one semester shy of my MS in Urban Planning. I work for a local government and make about $57,000 per year. In total we make about $95,000. We own a house with an easy mortgage and neither us of have any school or car loans left.

I see everyday that if we want anything done in our city it happens on the development side and not the legislative side. I would like to see more challenges at my job, make more money, and ideally start my own development company. My question is this: do you think I should quit my job and go back to school full-time for an MBA or MPA? My wife's job can provide insurance and living expenses and my parents have said they would pay for any and all additional education I want. My job now is okay but it's not really challenging and my boss is planning to stay in his position for the next 20 years - so no chance to move up. There are no large towns around me within manageable driving distance anywhere around here. What should I do? I want to be challenged and work for myself one day.

If there are Urban Planning opportunities in the private sector, then I'd say you're fine. I suspect those are hard to find, however. And I further suspect that local governments and municipalities are going to be squeezed tighter and tighter over the next decade. So an MBA could give you much needed marketable skills that Urban Planning degrees will not. While I probably wouldn't quit your current job, I would strongly consider a part-time MBA program in the near future.