Salaries Prior To Enrolling in an MBA Program

Graduate School Business School - MBA
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From an article which detailed the findings of a Bloomberg survey regarding pre-enrollment salary of those attending top MBA programs in the US:

Stanford–students who attend Stanford’s GSB (MBA program) “typically” were earning about $124,000 per year prior to matriculating.

Harvard–$121,000
UPenn-Wharton–slightly over $116,000.
Chicago-Booth–$113,000
Northwestern-Kellogg–slightly over $110,000
Dartmouth-Tuck–$109,300
Columbia Business School–$108,000
UCal-Berkeley–$108,000
MIT-Sloan–$100,300

UCLA–$99,800
Virginia-Darden–$96,150
Cornell-Johnson–$96,150
NYU-Stern–$95,650
Michigan-Ross–$93,500
Vanderbilt–$90,150
Yale SOM–$88,800
UNC–$88,100
Rice-Jones–$87,500
U Washington-Foster–$87,000

USC-Marshall–$87,000
Duke-Fuqua–$86,555
CMU-Tepper–$86,500
Emory–$82,100
Georgetown–$82,000
Indiana-Kelley–$77,200
WashUStL–$76,250
Georgia Tech–$69,200

For those considering MBA programs, it is important to include 2 years of lost wages as part of the overall COA.

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I see more and more people doing hybrid programs, which even the top programs now offer, so there is no lost income.

IMO, the only time it would make sense to go full time is if someone wants to make a big career change to another industry.

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Agree. However, if we enter a recession, then applications will probably rise for MBA programs.

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My husband got his MBA from Stern 15 years after undergrad, so his salary was probably higher than the average. He went part time.

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Did your husband stay with him employer after earning his MBA ?

Your post raises another set of questions that I encounter frequently: How old is too old for a full-time MBA program and how many years of work experience is too much for a full-time MBA program ?

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He’s been there 35 years, and his company paid for the MBA. It was tight, he graduated a couple of weeks before #4 and #5 were born (he had no free time after that).

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Interesting how closely the order of the highest pre-MBA program salaries mirrors the actual US News MBA rankings. All M-7 MBA programs are among the top nine programs regarding pre-MBA salary. Suggests that salaries may be an indication of success in the business world (according to the article).

Below are the typical (not sure if average or median) starting salaries which may include–not clear from the article–signing bonuses of $30,000-$35,000) for graduates:

Stanford–$265,000
Harvard–$239,200
MIT-Sloan–$229,260
UPenn-Wharton–$222,000
Chicago-Booth–$221,000
Dartmouth-Tuck–$221,300
Columbia Bus. Sch.–$216,600
Northwestern-Kellogg–$213,800

All M-7 MBA programs (plus Dartmouth-Tuck) are among the above 8 listed MBA programs.

UCal-Berkeley–$206,500
Virginia-Darden–$199,200
Yale-SOM–$199,200
NYU-Stern–$195,000
Cornell-Johnson–$194,000
UCLA-Anderson–$187,150
CMU-Tepper–$185,000
Michigan-Ross–$183,200
USC-Marshall–$183,300

Duke-Fuqua–$181,300
U Washington-Foster–$180,800
Vanderbilt-Owen–$180,720
UNC-Keenan-Flagler–$170,500
Emory-Goizueta–$169,800
Rice-Jones–$169,300
Georgia Tech–$165,230
WashUStL–$161,100
Georgetown-McDonough–$160,000

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