So I taught Grad school for a couple of years which is certainly "formal" education, yet I also was involved for years in corporate training and development. My marketing teams, generally had BAs in Marketing or Business, yet we put them through 80 hours of formal training a year, most of which was beyond what they would have learned in college or the equivalent of two classes per year. Over a 7 year period their on-the-job training was more than they would have received in an MBA program. Which is more valuable?

Having hired both Undergrad and Grad students, my preference was for Grad students. Yes I had to pay them more, but I also didn't have to wait for a couple of years before they were up to speed on the business so my ROI on the employee was better with MBAs. The compensation has little to do with their level of training and/or education, but rather can they bring 10X their salary into the business.