What is Good Debt?
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Not all debt is created equal. If you owe $50,000 in student loans, it will probably not have a negative impact upon obtaining a mortgage for the new home you want to buy. Don't hold your breath if that $50,000 is credit card debt however.
The key lies in what lenders consider to be "assets" and "liabilities". An asset is something that you may spend money on as an investment and which you might expect to generate money for you. Not only is an asset something that may eventually improve your financial status (actually a plus for long term debt), this type of debt also correlates with a responsible crowd that often pays on-time, thus improving your risk profile and your FICO score. A $50,000 MBA education in this case thus would be considered an asset.
Liabilities on the other hand are 'fun' items such as cars, TVs, or clothes that have little or no redeemable value and which represent spending more than you can afford rather than building for the future. If you are buying these 'fun' items on credit, it will degrade your long-term financial outlook because you are demonstrating that you spend more than you can afford without regard for tomorrow. So in this way, liability (bad) debt is just the opposite of asset (good) debt and thus it will have a negative impact upon your risk profile and your FICO score.
