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Average MBA Salaries Years After Graduation

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ksjhawk

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03 Feb 2010, 20:30

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MBA programs' average salaries 5 or 10 years after graduation.

https://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactiv ... _pay_2009/

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03 Feb 2010, 20:58

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Thanks! This is great!

I love that Wharton Salary decreases after 5 years. Now, finance gurus - explain that one to me :lol:

(I am guessing this has to do with the latest Financial industry situation and such, not actual pay decrease but still...)

I am also assuming these are without bonus and other comp, so the Cumulative column is actually incorrect as it is ignoring stock options, bonuses, allowances, etc.

ksjhawk

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03 Feb 2010, 21:47

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The methodology at the bottom says that bonuses are included while stock/options are excluded. It also says the data comes from a big Payscale survey. I hope it's somewhat inaccurate b/c it reports avg starting salaries at both Kelley and Olin at <80,000 while both schools report avg starting salaries over 90,000...and if bonuses are included they should really be six figures.

That begs another question, somewhat off-topic: how accurate are self-reported employment stats from top MBA programs?

If avg salaries and bonuses are actually $10,000-20,000 lower than reported, it would make me feel very uneasy about my MBA pursuit.

vgeri

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11 Feb 2010, 01:56

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ksjhawk

ksjhawk, don't forget these are median figures on the list, so be careful when comparing with averages. there can be a significant difference, especially with bonuses included. large cash bonuses might only apply to say a third of all grads (roughly those in finance), which have a huge impact on average but no impact at all on median (assuming they are the highest earners anyway).

great post though, would love to see similar for international schools.

junker

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Updated on: 15 Feb 2010, 07:51

Originally posted by junker on 11 Feb 2010, 07:42.
Last edited by junker on 15 Feb 2010, 07:51, edited 3 times in total.

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Sort this list by career-pay ranking, and the biggest dissonance among all shools has to be @ Kelley. The gap between program ranking and career pay ranking is 23 places apart!! What gives?

The only other school with any notable disconnect is Yale (which has a spread of 9), but in a good way - they get paid better than they are ranked. (The school reputation helps the program I guess)

HopefulOldie

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11 Feb 2010, 08:01

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Good list.. However, makes me question going to a B school and spending 3 years ( PT ), spending almost 100 G's and then ending up making a few G's more than what I currently am. I was hoping that the 5 year salary should ( would ) cross 130's especially for the 1st 15 schools.

junker

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11 Feb 2010, 08:48

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Extactly my point. I've been struggling with this for couple of months now.

I think I have a shot at both Booth and Kelloggs (only PT, not FT though). It'd require me to drive 200 miles to Chicago every weekend for 3 years, spend 50K+ out of pocket (rest employer pays). And really whats the outcome?

I know three guys from where I work, who graduated from Booth (PT) in 2007:
One got into a consulting firm, moved to Texas, got laid off, and is back as an Engineer at one of our factories.
Second guy got hired into a top position in a small technology company, got laid off, unemployed - is now running his own "strategy consulting".
Third guy is a risk analyst with a small hedge fund company.

Not a stellar show so far..... Either FT guys have way more advantage than PTimers, or things are not as rosy as these private B Schools make it seem.

johnnymac

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11 Feb 2010, 10:21

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For the FT programs, it really makes one wonder if it's worth it. Let's say you make $90k now. That's 2x$90k + $100k for two years of MBA = $280k opportunity cost of attending.

Let's say that your current salary follows the path of going to Emory (starting salary of $89.5k). This would mean you'd end up with $2,564,980 in lifetime earnings. If you add that opportunity cost of $280k, you are now at $2.8 mil in earnings without accounting for the growth of the $280k. With 5% growth on $280k over 20 yrs, you have $740k. So 2.56 mil + $740k = $3.3 mil. This means that only Harvard, Stanford, Wharton and Columbia would be "worth" attending.

Of course, all of this discounts the great people you'll meet and the great time you'll have as an MBA. Also, my analysis doesn't include stock and options compensation which might increase by doing an MBA. Still though, the opportunity cost weighs heavily when deciding whether to do an MBA.

priya12345

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11 Feb 2010, 10:34

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Hi All,

I'm interested in getting a MBA degree in the field of health management. What's the salary structure like and what are its advantages and disadvantages?

Thanks,
Priya

Case2010

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11 Feb 2010, 10:57

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This is great!....but equally very concerning! I agree with ksjhawk and junker that the Kelley stats are worrisome!!! I think the program is stellar and truly belongs where it's at on the BW rankings but the pay prospects aren't as commanding. Thanks vgeri for your "consoling" words (and I seriously hope your analysis is on point) but oh-my, does this make me think...

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11 Feb 2010, 11:06

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junker

I know three guys from where I work, who graduated from Booth (PT) in 2007:

Graduating 2007 and 2008 were probably the worst times to come out of school. At least with 2009 when you got a job (the tricky part) you were probably good. I know a bunch of 2008 Grads who switched careers and got laid off within a year through no fault of their own. Sucks.

I have never really bought the MBA RoI calculations, as you generally have to consider yourself a non-mean candidate to get a good RoI. The MBA is more to actually try and end up with a career where you are able to make decisions that keep you happy, rather than being tied in to other things. It should allow you a shot at switching later in your career through built respect and network and instill a level of confidence.

Earning $200k a year isn't exactly mission impossible without an MBA. Earning it in a fashion that you like will probably be somewhat trickier.

Case2010

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11 Feb 2010, 12:16

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Just curious, is Tepper really that good? They seem to consistently command high salaries relative to thier ranking? What are especially good at? Any takes?

johnnymac

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11 Feb 2010, 12:31

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I hear they are strong in technology and IT - it most likely carries over from their engineering and science reputation. I had a coworker who was a pilot and a systems engineer for 10 yrs before attending Tepper.

Case2010

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11 Feb 2010, 14:18

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johnnymac

Thanxz jonnymac. Makes perfect sense why the ave salaries are that high. It's totally reasonable to assume that your pilot/engineer friend must have left a good paying job and got into something even better post-Tepper.

Any more thoughts, anyone?

DrSatisfaction

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11 Feb 2010, 15:03

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tepper also has a reputation for providing strong candidates to quant trading desks. so a lot of them end up on quant desks at huge banks such as goldman, ms, jpm, etc. and of course not to mention the quant oriented hf's and prop shops. these guys really pull the avg up.

anu1979

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11 Feb 2010, 15:33

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I thought really carefully about giving up Tepper because there are many alumni (that my parents know personally) in places like Goldman Sachs etc.. Also, I work with PNC Bank, which is head quartered in P-burgh. One of my favourite boutique law firms that I'm really good friends with represent them and actually emailed my resume to a senior somebody Tepper grad when I told them I got into Tepper and he was incredibly excited and nice about helping me (dunno how he's going to feel now!).

At this point I'm committed to Ross because I couldn't ignore the fact that their alumni base is huge and they're consistently ranked very high, but I thought long and hard about giving up on CMU. Fortunately, my OTHER favourite law firm's head partner has a daughter that attended Ross so I have access to more alumni that seem invested in helping me

.

Having visited CMU, I'd like to add that they were hands down the nicest, most down-to-earth b-schoolers I interacted with when I was flying around interviewing and visiting at schools. The only school I didn't get a real "sense" at was Ross and that's because their VIP program starts at 8:30 a.m. or something and I was flying in from Cali (with a sinus infection as added bonus). At CMU you get an Admissions counselor interview and their whole day program is very professional (bonus: they're the only other school other than Booth that provided lunch). Contrast this to another school where our student guide for the day didn't even show up (am not going to name names) and the Admissions office let us sit in the room for an hour or so and were fairly unhelpful (and when I was outside waiting for my taxi I had to listen to a bunch of 20-somethings have an argument about whether not cocaine was worth it!).

Overall, I came away impressed with CMU's program and the students and I'm not at all surprised they're doing well. I chose Ross because I wanted to keep the consulting door open (even though I'm scared of airplanes). Had I gone to CMU, I would have committed to finance as I think that and Information Systems and Operations is their strong suit.

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11 Feb 2010, 15:50

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muffeebrown

Overall, I came away impressed with CMU's program and the students and I'm not at all surprised they're doing well. I chose Ross because I wanted to keep the consulting door open (even though I'm scared of airplanes). Had I gone to CMU, I would have committed to finance as I think that and Information Systems and Operations is their strong suit.

Thanxz muffeebrown for your detailed explanations. Clearly no regrets on my end for not applying to Tepper as I'd like to get into GM/Strategy from a consulting angle (not sure I'd like the consulting lifestyle tho 8-)

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11 Feb 2010, 15:56

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muffeebrown, given your extensive MBA alumni network :-D

, are you friends with a Kelley alumni? What are they saying about the strengths of the Kelley program/brand?

Any thoughts, anyone?

anu1979

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11 Feb 2010, 16:12

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Case2010

muffeebrown, given your extensive MBA alumni network :-D

, are you friends with a Kelley alumni? What are they saying about the strengths of the Kelley program/brand?

Any thoughts, anyone?

Ha! I think the only reason I know so many MBAs and doctors is that my parents are Indian and they're very popular educational options for Indians, obviously. That said, I don't necessarily know how happy I would be about approaching any of them for help unless they're alumni (from whatever school I choose), mainly because it makes me slightly uncomfortable that my parents' friends would know so much about me. Also, I found in law school that the whole South Asian network was on the unhelpful and downright cruel side of things and I'm kind of burned (example, Georgetown law grad my parents insist I suck up to before I went to school tells me that 99% of people fail at law school, that I was doomed to be a failure and not to bother. No such thing occurs and I am productively employed prior to graduation. I proceed to develop life-long grudge and remind my parents of this incident anytime they bring up networking with any of their friends/friends' kids).

Alas, I don't know any Indiana Kelley alumni.

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13 Feb 2010, 13:10

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johnnymac

I did the math awhile back, and it takes 10-15 years to hit the break even point for an MBA, at which point your work experience should outweigh the degree when it comes to hiring anyways. The $100K in tuition is also post-tax, so it's really equivalent to $170K in earnings, making the equation even worse. *sigh*