A look inside the 'West Point' of capitalism

But the fact that Warren Buffett, America’s most admired investor, didn’t have to go to Harvard Business School to become Warren Buffet raises the question: Does anyone need a Harvard MBA in the first place?

"What is the value of these places if Bill Gates didn't go there? If the founders of Google didn't go there?” said Philip Delves Broughton, a journalist who took two years out of his career to get an MBA at Harvard. He questions the value of an MBA.

“If so many great business people didn't get an MBA, what is the point of it?" he said. "And I think business schools struggle with this all the time. They're always trying to justify themselves in a way that law schools, medical schools, just don't have to.”

Steve Schwarzman, class of 1972, is arguably one of the most powerful men in finance.  As a billionaire many times over and founder of private equity giant The Blackstone Group, he argues an MBA is a necessity for anyone who wants to become a true player.

"When younger people hit somewhere between their fifth and seventh year, and they haven't gotten their MBA, somehow they stall out," Schwarzman said. “You start dealing with more senior people, and you need a more comprehensive view of the world.  People who haven't gone to business school really miss that dimension, and they have trouble not in every case, but in many cases, getting through that glass ceiling.”  

But the financial disaster of 2008, triggered in part by a climate of greed and dubious ethics, raises questions about just what kind of graduates business schools like Harvard are turning out.

A wave of white-collar crime that snared Harvard Business graduate Jeff Skilling of Enron, among others, led the school to consider changes in its curriculum.  In 2006 Skilling, class of 1979, and former president of Enron, was found guilty on 18 counts of fraud and conspiracy and one count of insider trading.

“We are proud of having a very low market share of people who got off the track and did inappropriate things,” Light said.  “But obviously he made some serious mistakes.”

Light says the Enron scandal and findings of white-collar corruption influenced changes in the school's curriculum.

“I think that era did, in fact, galvanize our view that we really needed to make this effort even more important than it was,” said Light.  “And that's what led to the leadership and corporate accountability course.”

Dimon, class of 1982 and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, one of the banking giants still standing, doesn’t think business schools bear responsibility for greed on Wall Street.

“I put that in the absurd category because they don't teach people to be bums or crooks, or to be greedy or stuff like that,” Dimon says. “They teach people a lot of things.  And there's a lot of lessons that come out of this … and I'm sure Harvard Business School will be writing cases about it for years."

Despite the bad news on Wall Street and Main Street, the class of 2010 is cautiously optimistic.  Lisandra says the school has met her expectations, but she is rethinking her future plans: “I originally was thinking about going into finance, and now I feel that there are going to be a lot more limited options.”

Even the superstar alumni know that this class has reason to be nervous:

“If I was a student I would be concerned, what would I be doing after graduation, where would I go to work?” Whitman said.  “What is the state of the economy? Will entrepreneurship still be alive and well? Will risk taking be alive and well? Will the things that make America great still be alive and well? I think they will be, but it is an unsettled time.”

Also in msnbc.com business ConsumerMan: Gift of giving takes on whole new meaning ‘Reaching out’ and the other worst buzzwords of the year Your Career: Tips for job hunting during the holidays MotorHead: New Audi R8 is a refined land rocket   Video: Last-minute holiday shopping strategies

MORE FROM CNBC TV

CNBC TV Section Front

CNBC: Two economic bubbles defined his life CNBC: Google searches for mobile edge CNBC: Coke looking for the next real thing CNBC: GE in talks to spin off NBC Universal Battle over wages brews at Wal-Mart CNBC report: Ultimate Fighting CNBC Special Report: As Seen On TV Special Report: Cruise Inc. Buffett: The economy has ‘fallen off a cliff’ CNBC on the new black overclass CNBC TV Section Front   Add CNBC TV headlines to your news reader: