PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Seventy-two hours after leaving Costa Rica, Valeri Cordon, 42, returns to his wife and children after a weekend in Boston, where he attends the executive M.B.A. program once a month at M.I.T. The cost of the program is $132,000, compared with $109,000 for a traditional M.B.A.

Program content is the same as the traditional one but it’s compressed and tailored for working professionals, according to a recent New York Times “Education Life” supplement. Most participants have jobs with an average of 13 years work experience.

Despite the costs and logistics, there are 315 such programs in the nation and the number is growing by 7 to10 annually. Columbia added a program last year and Johns Hopkins is introducing one for professionals in their 30s.

Costa Rica to Cambridge is a long way; yet Cordon believes that the knowledge and the people he’s meeting make it worthwhile. He did add, however, now it’s “more pain than gain.”

Reported By Dr. Marciene Mattleman, KYW Newsradio