NEW HERE? LEARN MORE
closeclose
Last visit was: 26 Apr 2024, 09:58 It is currently 26 Apr 2024, 09:58
Decision Tracker
My Rewards
New posts
New comers' posts

Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel

Best ROI MBA Programs

SORT BY:
Date
Kudos
User avatar
L
bb
Founder
Founder
Joined: 04 Dec 2002
Posts: 37311
Own Kudos [?]: 72892 [35]
Given Kudos: 18869
Location: United States (WA)
GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42
GPA: 3
Send PM
GMAT ToolKit User CAT Tests Forum Quiz Mode
Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 31 Oct 2022, 19:09
14
Kudos
21
Bookmarks
Expert Reply
MBA Programs with Highest ROI

I have put together a list of the most expensive MBA programs in the world but the biggest question was, what is the best investment? Are the lower cost Top 20 MBA programs represent a better investment? The answer was a surprise to me!

Surprises: 🎉✨

    1. Canadian Programs have the lowest ROI out of all Top 30 programs compared. Both Rotman and Schulich scored on the low end of the spectrum. The main contributing factor that ranked Rotman and Schulich were their comparatively low salaries of sub $100K vs. $150K for the US programs.

    2. UK Programs performed as second worst in terms of ROI. Even though Judge and Said cost about half of their US counterparts, lower pay at graduation combined with higher taxes and cost of living, pushed these programs to the bottom of the rankings

    3. When you make 175K on Paper, your take home pay is only about a half, after you subtract taxes and loan costs.

    4. Best ROI Rank goes to Johnson. This was unexpected. I was thinking perhaps Darden that has a low cost and high income due to IB jobs or maybe Kellogg. However, Johnson is in the lead by less than $200 :lol:. Most of the US programs are tightly grouped which means getting more precise data (more on that below) would likely shift the rankings quite a bit. The reason for the Johnson's win is lower total cost and high salary numbers.


Highest MBA ROI - Top 30
#MBA ProgramTotal CostAverage
Comp		COL
Adjust		Adjusted Income After
Loan and Taxes		Notes
1Johnson$200,698 $172,254 $92,615
2Darden$186,828 $169,190 $92,402
3Kellogg$211,194 $173,057 $91,714
4Booth$216,681 $172,683 $90,688
5Stanford$239,928 $176,083 $89,829
6Fuqua$196,608 $167,134 $89,600
7Tuck$233,620 $173,882 $89,167
8Stern$240,002 $175,148 $89,164 30% Tax
9HBS$224,584 $171,785 $88,958
10Tepper$197,358 $165,540 $88,380
11Wharton$230,864 $172,016 $88,245
12Ross$194,536 $164,040 $87,723
13Columbia$233,204 $171,436 $87,513
14McCombs$162,148 $154,211 $85,356
15Yale$205,980 $162,856 $85,300
16Foster$155,355 $151,683 $84,532
17Marshall$180,918 $156,581 $84,399
18Haas$212,496 $162,409 $84,079
19IESE$141,840 $155,843 0.92$80,328 40% Average Tax Rate; Average EU salary and bonus
20Anderson$205,699 $154,511 $79,498
21Sloan$239,652 $160,291 $78,813
22HEC$125,100 $146,428 0.92$76,551 40% Average Tax Rate; Includes sign on and performance bonus
23INSEAD$140,040 $136,000 0.92$67,632 40% Average Tax Rate; Average EU salary and bonus
24NUS (2Y)$88,087 $88,690 1.04$66,027 Approx 7% Tax; no bonus mentioned. Data from Economist
25ESADE$120,420 $127,153 0.92$64,689 40% Average Tax Rate; Employment report issues; Bonus is estimated
26ISB (1Y)$51,833 $34,335 0.34$59,758 20% Tax; No bonus mentioned in employment report
27LBS$204,129 $168,326 1.29$58,871 38% Tax
28Said$109,300 $133,000 1.29$52,117 38% Tax
29Judge (1Y)$103,700 $129,898 1.29$51,231 38% Tax
30Rotman$132,044 $92,741 0.96$49,335 29% Tax
31Schulich$118,340 $85,520 0.96$44,231 29% Tax



Anything surprising to you?



Assumptions:
  • This ranking looks at the first full year of employment. I am not getting into the details of how long it takes to find a job and when who starts working
  • Graduates stay within their region/continent. E.g. US graduates stay in the US and those who graduated in Europe would stay in Europe. If your plan is different, you may want to do your own calculation or just apply a multiplier
  • Costs of living in New York City are different from those in El Paso. I have assumed people would be living in major metro areas which is why I have averaged the costs of living and tax rates. Cost of Living in the US was average of major metropolitan areas (Bay Area, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Austin, Phonenix, Nashville, Seattle) and was set to 1.0. All other cost of living is based on this index. Cost of living is designed to represent equivalent incomes in dollar amounts.
  • Cost of living in the UK was set to London
  • Cost of Living in Europe was an average of Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Rome
  • US Tax rate was average of tax paid by residents of NY, IL, CA, WA, and TX
  • Further improvement could be calculating more specifically location of graduates reporting their jobs/income and refining the numbers further based on regional salaries, costs of living, and local taxes. Doing this would likely impact the ranking and shift schools in high-cost areas lower (e.g. Haas, Stanford, Stern, Columbia, and Johnson) since those schools have graduates mostly residing in Bay Area and New York City which account for some of the highest tax and cost of living numbers.
  • Different industries pay diff rates. Your pay will differ; I used average across the entire program.
  • All numbers have been converted into USD
  • Assume 7% Interest rate on the total cost of attendance; 10 year term
  • The ranking does not take into consideration 12-month MBA programs which would allow you to work sooner and give you a 2% bump to your lifetime earnings. One way to account for this is to look at 10-year earnings and multiple 1-year program amount by 11 instead.


Notes:
I had trouble locating an ESADE employment report - the site would not let me download it so I had to estimate the bonus amount.
ISB employment report did not provide any bonus details
COL Adjustment = Cost of Living Index Adjustment. The numbers were divided by this coefficient.

Originally posted by bb on 02 Jun 2021, 22:11.
Last edited by bb on 31 Oct 2022, 19:09, edited 4 times in total.
Update
User avatar
P
Regenerate
BSchool Forum Moderator
Joined: 24 Apr 2020
Posts: 499
Own Kudos [?]: 301 [5]
Given Kudos: 75
Location: United States
Concentration: Strategy, Finance
Schools: UCLA Anderson Duke Fuqua UVA Darden Ross Michigan
Send PM
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   03 Jun 2021, 15:02
4
Kudos
1
Bookmarks
I've shared my thoughts with you privately.

I'm generally of the opinion that this information, as presented, is potentially more harmful than helpful.

A huge CAVEAT EMPTOR from me.

PS -- I think a % ROI is a better metric than a simple $ ROI. If I made a $100 profit on a $100 investment, is that a better ROI than if I made a $100 profit on a $100,000 investment? This would also impact your rankings ... if you did, the rank would be:

ISB (1yr)
NUS (2yr)
HEC
IESE
Foster
ESADE
McCombs
Darden
Judge (1yr)
INSEAD
Said
Marshall
Johnson
Fuqua
Ross
Tepper
Kellogg
Booth
Yale
Harvard
Haas
Anderson
Wharton
Tuck
Columbia
Stanford
Schulich
Rotman
Stern
Sloan
LBS
User avatar
L
bb
Founder
Founder
Joined: 04 Dec 2002
Posts: 37311
Own Kudos [?]: 72892 [0]
Given Kudos: 18869
Location: United States (WA)
GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42
GPA: 3
Send PM
GMAT ToolKit User CAT Tests Forum Quiz Mode
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   03 Jun 2021, 16:52
Expert Reply
I would agree if this was something you could apply economies of scale to. However, we can't get 10 ISB degrees by investing 500K and getting 300K in salary or equivalent of 600K in lower cost of living costs locally. (FYI - the cost of living adjustment helps understand the local purchasing power but the loan is still in USD).

In any case, since I can't get 10 degrees from ISB or 1 from ISB and 5 from NUS, I have only one shot at this. Also, I usually would not have many other alternatives to invest the money into. E.g. if I got an educational loan for 200k to go to Johnson, it is not like I could get the same loan, put it into stock market and go to ISB and then graduate. I feel the economics of Education is similar to medical procedure economics, it does not always makes sense to pick the best ROI but the one with the biggest chance of success or biggest payout... which I have not calculated chances of success in this either. (how many are actually finding a job)

Regenerate wrote:
I've shared my thoughts with you privately.

I'm generally of the opinion that this information, as presented, is potentially more harmful than helpful.

A huge CAVEAT EMPTOR from me.

PS -- I think a % ROI is a better metric than a simple $ ROI. If I made a $100 profit on a $100 investment, is that a better ROI than if I made a $100 profit on a $100,000 investment? This would also impact your rankings ... if you did, the rank would be:

ISB (1yr)
NUS (2yr)
HEC
IESE
Foster
ESADE
McCombs
Darden
Judge (1yr)
INSEAD
Said
Marshall
Johnson
Fuqua
Ross
Tepper
Kellogg
Booth
Yale
Harvard
Haas
Anderson
Wharton
Tuck
Columbia
Stanford
Schulich
Rotman
Stern
Sloan
LBS
User avatar
P
Regenerate
BSchool Forum Moderator
Joined: 24 Apr 2020
Posts: 499
Own Kudos [?]: 301 [0]
Given Kudos: 75
Location: United States
Concentration: Strategy, Finance
Schools: UCLA Anderson Duke Fuqua UVA Darden Ross Michigan
Send PM
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   03 Jun 2021, 16:58
... lots of ways to consider the answer to the question ... "So, where should I go to get my MBA?"

:)
User avatar
L
kntombat
Retired Moderator
Joined: 28 Feb 2020
Posts: 949
Own Kudos [?]: 485 [1]
Given Kudos: 839
Location: India
WE:Other (Other)
Send PM
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   03 Jun 2021, 23:15
1
Kudos
bb, thanks a ton for taking time out from your busy schedule and combining this list .
User avatar
B
DiWalker
Current Student
Joined: 02 Sep 2019
Posts: 35
Own Kudos [?]: 8 [0]
Given Kudos: 371
Location: India
Schools: ESMT (D) Warwick "23 (D) (II) Smurfit (A$) IIM (A)
GPA: 3.77
Send PM
Reviews Badge
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   06 Jun 2021, 07:25
bb Thanks for compiling this.. where would German MBA programs figure on this list? The higher tax rates could possibly impact the ROI significantly.
User avatar
L
bb
Founder
Founder
Joined: 04 Dec 2002
Posts: 37311
Own Kudos [?]: 72892 [0]
Given Kudos: 18869
Location: United States (WA)
GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42
GPA: 3
Send PM
GMAT ToolKit User CAT Tests Forum Quiz Mode
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   06 Jun 2021, 09:13
Expert Reply
confusedengineer1 wrote:
bb Thanks for compiling this.. where would German MBA programs figure on this list? The higher tax rates could possibly impact the ROI significantly.


I think you can easily calculate it for a program or two using my approach.

1. Look up the cost of attendance
2. Find average salary
3. Calculate a loan payment and find a tax calculator for Germany
4. Look up cost of living for Frankfurt
Done.

Posted from my mobile device
User avatar
B
DiWalker
Current Student
Joined: 02 Sep 2019
Posts: 35
Own Kudos [?]: 8 [0]
Given Kudos: 371
Location: India
Schools: ESMT (D) Warwick "23 (D) (II) Smurfit (A$) IIM (A)
GPA: 3.77
Send PM
Reviews Badge
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   06 Jun 2021, 09:25
bb wrote:
confusedengineer1 wrote:
bb Thanks for compiling this.. where would German MBA programs figure on this list? The higher tax rates could possibly impact the ROI significantly.


I think you can easily calculate it for a program or two using my approach.

1. Look up the cost of attendance
2. Find average salary
3. Calculate a loan payment and find a tax calculator for Germany
4. Look up cost of living for Frankfurt
Done.

Posted from my mobile device


Fair Enough.Will do that!
User avatar
L
bb
Founder
Founder
Joined: 04 Dec 2002
Posts: 37311
Own Kudos [?]: 72892 [0]
Given Kudos: 18869
Location: United States (WA)
GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42
GPA: 3
Send PM
GMAT ToolKit User CAT Tests Forum Quiz Mode
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   06 Jun 2021, 09:28
Expert Reply
Thanks. Would be great if you could post your results here. I am curious how they compare as well!

Posted from my mobile device
User avatar
B
DiWalker
Current Student
Joined: 02 Sep 2019
Posts: 35
Own Kudos [?]: 8 [0]
Given Kudos: 371
Location: India
Schools: ESMT (D) Warwick "23 (D) (II) Smurfit (A$) IIM (A)
GPA: 3.77
Send PM
Reviews Badge
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   06 Jun 2021, 09:40
bb wrote:
Thanks. Would be great if you could post your results here. I am curious how they compare as well!

Posted from my mobile device

Sure.
User avatar
B
DiWalker
Current Student
Joined: 02 Sep 2019
Posts: 35
Own Kudos [?]: 8 [1]
Given Kudos: 371
Location: India
Schools: ESMT (D) Warwick "23 (D) (II) Smurfit (A$) IIM (A)
GPA: 3.77
Send PM
Reviews Badge
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   13 Jun 2021, 00:23
1
Kudos
bb

Here are the numbers for German Programs:
1. ESMT Berlin( 1yr)

Program cost: 58,500 euros (approx 70,837$)
Avg Compensation : 87,500 euros ( approx $115,000 adjusted to COL factor of 0.92)
Effective compensation: $63,161
Cost of living in Berlin: 1250 euro/monthly

2. HHL Leipzig( 21 month option)

Program cost: $71442
Avg Compensation :84,235 euros ( approx $101,999 adjusted to COL factor of 0.92)
Effective compensation: $55,223
Cost of living in Leipzig: 1000 euro/monthly

Please note that the tax rate considered is 40%.

This implies that the German MBA programs are fairly average in terms of the ROI.
User avatar
B
DiWalker
Current Student
Joined: 02 Sep 2019
Posts: 35
Own Kudos [?]: 8 [0]
Given Kudos: 371
Location: India
Schools: ESMT (D) Warwick "23 (D) (II) Smurfit (A$) IIM (A)
GPA: 3.77
Send PM
Reviews Badge
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   13 Jun 2021, 00:25
confusedengineer1 wrote:
bb

Here are the numbers for German Programs:
1. ESMT Berlin( 1yr)

Program cost: 58,500 euros (approx 70,837$)
Avg Compensation : 87,500 euros ( approx $115,000 adjusted to COL factor of 0.92)
Effective compensation: $63,161
Cost of living in Berlin: 1250 euro/monthly

2. HHL Leipzig( 21 month option)

Program cost: $71442
Avg Compensation :84,235 euros ( approx $101,999 adjusted to COL factor of 0.92)
Effective compensation: $55,223
Cost of living in Leipzig: 1000 euro/monthly

Please note that the tax rate considered is 40%.

This implies that the German MBA programs are fairly average in terms of the ROI.


Key takeaway is that the cost of education is relatively lower. Even for a 21 month program.
User avatar
B
ujji0074u
Intern
Intern
Joined: 20 Jan 2018
Posts: 38
Own Kudos [?]: 6 [0]
Given Kudos: 19
Location: India
Schools: Booth '24 Columbia CBS '24 Darden '24 Foster '24 Fuqua '24 Haas '24 Harvard '24 IESE '24 IMD '22 ISB '23 Johnson '24 Judge '23 Kellogg '24 LBS '24 NUS Said '23 Ross '24 Rotman '24 Sloan '24 Stanford '24 Wharton '24 Yale '24 Anderson '25
GPA: 2.33
Send PM
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   17 Jun 2021, 23:34
Hello BB,

Please include IIM ABC as in ROI they are better than ISB. Also if you adjust cost of living and increase ISB income, did you consider Purchasing power parity as well.

Posted from my mobile device
User avatar
L
bb
Founder
Founder
Joined: 04 Dec 2002
Posts: 37311
Own Kudos [?]: 72892 [0]
Given Kudos: 18869
Location: United States (WA)
GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42
GPA: 3
Send PM
GMAT ToolKit User CAT Tests Forum Quiz Mode
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   22 Jun 2021, 06:23
Expert Reply
ujji0074u wrote:
Hello BB,

Please include IIM ABC as in ROI they are better than ISB. Also if you adjust cost of living and increase ISB income, did you consider Purchasing power parity as well.

Posted from my mobile device



Thanks! Let me do that.... I may have to do this a bit later after the MBA Spotlight :dazed :lol:
P.S. I included cost of living which should be analogous to purchasing power/parity.
User avatar
B
ujji0074u
Intern
Intern
Joined: 20 Jan 2018
Posts: 38
Own Kudos [?]: 6 [0]
Given Kudos: 19
Location: India
Schools: Booth '24 Columbia CBS '24 Darden '24 Foster '24 Fuqua '24 Haas '24 Harvard '24 IESE '24 IMD '22 ISB '23 Johnson '24 Judge '23 Kellogg '24 LBS '24 NUS Said '23 Ross '24 Rotman '24 Sloan '24 Stanford '24 Wharton '24 Yale '24 Anderson '25
GPA: 2.33
Send PM
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   28 Jun 2021, 05:35
janleana wrote:
I'm generally of the opinion that this information, as presented, is potentially more harmful than helpful.

How?

Posted from my mobile device
User avatar
L
Businessconquerer
SVP
SVP
Joined: 17 Jul 2018
Posts: 2000
Own Kudos [?]: 969 [1]
Given Kudos: 139
Send PM
Reviews Badge
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   21 Jul 2021, 14:07
1
Kudos
How in the world in Stern above HBS in ROI.

ALTHOUGH I do know that the scholarship and stuff can bring the cost down

Posted from my mobile device
User avatar
L
bb
Founder
Founder
Joined: 04 Dec 2002
Posts: 37311
Own Kudos [?]: 72892 [0]
Given Kudos: 18869
Location: United States (WA)
GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42
GPA: 3
Send PM
GMAT ToolKit User CAT Tests Forum Quiz Mode
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   21 Jul 2021, 14:11
Expert Reply
Businessconquerer wrote:
How in the world in Stern above HBS in ROI.

ALTHOUGH I do know that the scholarship and stuff can bring the cost down

Posted from my mobile device



Interesting observation. This is just pure numbers but makes me wonder about what kind of shoddy work I do 😂
User avatar
L
Businessconquerer
SVP
SVP
Joined: 17 Jul 2018
Posts: 2000
Own Kudos [?]: 969 [0]
Given Kudos: 139
Send PM
Reviews Badge
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   21 Jul 2021, 15:22
bb wrote:
Businessconquerer wrote:
How in the world in Stern above HBS in ROI.

ALTHOUGH I do know that the scholarship and stuff can bring the cost down

Posted from my mobile device



Interesting observation. This is just pure numbers but makes me wonder about what kind of shoddy work I do 😂

It's still good though.
Assuming zero scholarship is fine with US top 20. Beyond 20, figures will shake a lot. I think forbes got the years to payback thing in place. ALL I had to do is substract my scholarship and calculate the 5 year MBA gain. Turns out, I would've earned 80k less from HBS. I Even did one for UofT and I'm just happy that I'm escaping the easy way. Too poor to take that risk
avatar
S
vp0505
Current Student
Joined: 16 Jan 2021
Posts: 58
Own Kudos [?]: 37 [0]
Given Kudos: 41
Location: India
Schools: Tuck '24 (D) (WD) Fuqua '24 (WL) Ross '24 (A$) LBS '24 (I)
GMAT 1: 740 Q49 V42
Send PM
Reviews Badge
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   03 Apr 2022, 20:36
Hi bb, thanks for this information.

I have a question regarding the salary reported for LBS. Official sources show LBS grads have a post MBA salary of ~113k usd. Here, we have used 168k. Im assuming you're using salaries adjusted for PPP from FT rankings etc. However from a calculation of ROI perspective, wouldn't it be more accurate to use the actual values (113k) rather than salaries adjusted for PPP given cost of attendance is based on actuals.

Please let me know if I'm missing something here?

Posted from my mobile device
User avatar
L
bb
Founder
Founder
Joined: 04 Dec 2002
Posts: 37311
Own Kudos [?]: 72892 [1]
Given Kudos: 18869
Location: United States (WA)
GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V42
GPA: 3
Send PM
GMAT ToolKit User CAT Tests Forum Quiz Mode
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink] New post   03 Apr 2022, 20:41
1
Kudos
Expert Reply
All income should be actual values of Salary + Bonus from a year or so ago when this was put together. Some salaries were in other currencies and I conveyed them to USD at the rates at the time of publication.


vp0505 wrote:
Hi bb, thanks for this information.

I have a question regarding the salary reported for LBS. Official sources show LBS grads have a post MBA salary of ~113k usd. Here, we have used 168k. Im assuming you're using salaries adjusted for PPP from FT rankings etc. However from a calculation of ROI perspective, wouldn't it be more accurate to use the actual values (113k) rather than salaries adjusted for PPP given cost of attendance is based on actuals.

Please let me know if I'm missing something here?

Posted from my mobile device
GMAT Club Bot
gmatclubot
Re: Best ROI MBA Programs [#permalink]
03 Apr 2022, 20:41

Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group | Emoji artwork provided by EmojiOne
Main navigation
GMAT Resources
Partners
MBA Resources
www.gmac.com|www.mba.com | | GMAT Club Rules | Terms and Conditions