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The Most Expensive Top 20 MBA Programs
We often look at MBA programs in terms of rank and that's it (at least before we get admitted. Only then we start evaluating scholarships and other offers) but recently Regenerate, who has published 2nd Annual GMAT Club MBA Rankings last week, brought to my attention the disparity in cost between similarly-ranked MBA programs (e.g. Darden #10 vs. Stern #8 is a difference of over $50,000
). That means going to Darden is like getting a $50K scholarship at Stern.... so I thought it would be an interesting exercise to look at the cost of MBA programs and how they compare and what adjustments you may want to make.
Notes:
Tip #1 - These are 9 Month Budgets - Not 12
Most MBA programs post a living cost budget based on 9 months of expenses (only while you are at school). I did not know that when I did my MBA. The assumption is that you won't be living while not at school I guess
or that you will move back home or that you will be doing an internship and making big bucks but that's not realistic. You rarely can rent an apartment for just 9 months. If you do go back home, you need to pay for flights and storage of your stuff, etc. Hopefully you will find a well-paying internship as otherwise, you are NOT eating. You will need money for recruiting trips in most business schools. If you go to Ross and you are planning to recruit in Tech, you will need to take a trip to bay area and one to Seattle area. You may also take an East Coast trip. These can run $3-5K for 1 week to cover the cost of transportation, hotels and arrangements. In some cases such as Haas or Foster if you recruit in tech, you likely would not need to take trips, so budget accordingly.
Tip #2 - Schools give you the Most Minimal budget
We have a few discussions and student panels about living expenses and budgets. There are many additional costs you may incur - relocation, travel, possibly a car, buying new house items, often new computer, school-related trips that are optional but you don't want to miss, night life, and other. Usually everyone underbudgets and overspends so keep that in mind. The school budgets are assuming you eat ramen and drink 1 beer a month while living with a few roommates, taking a bus... you get the idea. I am not sure why the budgets are so slim and minimalistic (though some programs are much better at it and include the cost of the laptop and travel costs as well - Darden and Anderson stand out). This has an impact on your borrowing ability since lenders will not give you money beyond the cost of attendance. This means you need to have personal funds to cover the shortfall.
Tip #3 - Inconsistencies among Schools
It appears schools inconsistently reporting the cost of their program attendance. Some have just tuition. Others have tuition and required fees. Ohers have multiple living expense categories. Some include a laptop and some do not. Some have a generous travel budget (Anderson - 6K/year) and some don't at all (Marshall). I recommend spending some time in the school budgets and websites to make apples to apples comparison.
Tip #4 - Some schools post super slim budgets
Using Anderson and USC as an example, the two programs are 14 miles apart but the cost of living is estimated very quite a bit. Anderson is $75K and Marshall is $56K. This is not only because USC is in a dumpy part of town but because a budget of $28K is not really realistic for an MBA student.
Tip #5 - You can ask to increase the budget
While the school provides you with a budget and reports cost of attendance on the I-20 for international students and some other form for Domestic students borrowing money, you are able to appeal and increase that amount. Many schools offer this option in the footnotes of their financial aid page. You can ask to bump the budget for the computer, travel, and other potential budget items. I only learned about this in my second year and so I was able to bump my budget by $2,500 so I could borrow more money to fund travel and other living expenses I was struggling to meet. You can do this in your first year as well.
I am excited to share that all of the Top 20 MBA Programs are participating in the MBA Spotlight - Virtual Top 20 MBA Fair.
Register to Sign up for School Sessions, Talk Directly with AdCom's and Win Prizes!
MBA Spotlight Fair is from June 14 to June 30, 2021
Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Booth, Kellogg - are all coming - Register Now!
Hope this helps!
Thanks,
B
We often look at MBA programs in terms of rank and that's it (at least before we get admitted. Only then we start evaluating scholarships and other offers) but recently Regenerate, who has published 2nd Annual GMAT Club MBA Rankings last week, brought to my attention the disparity in cost between similarly-ranked MBA programs (e.g. Darden #10 vs. Stern #8 is a difference of over $50,000
). That means going to Darden is like getting a $50K scholarship at Stern.... so I thought it would be an interesting exercise to look at the cost of MBA programs and how they compare and what adjustments you may want to make.| The Most and Least Expensive MBA Programs | |||||||
| # | Program Name | GMAT Club Rank | US News Rank | Total Tuition | Living Expenses | TOTAL | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stern | 8 | 10 | $160,633 | $79,369 | $240,002 | Added laptop |
| 2 | Stanford | 3 | 1 | $149,412 | $90,516 | $239,928 | |
| 3 | Sloan | 7 | 5 | $154,336 | $85,316 | $239,652 | |
| 4 | Tuck | 13 | 10 | $155,040 | $78,580 | $233,620 | On campus living first year |
| 5 | Columbia | 5 | 7 | $154,752 | $78,452 | $233,204 | Added laptop |
| 6 | Wharton | 2 | 2 | $166,460 | $64,404 | $230,864 | |
| 7 | HBS | 1 | 5 | $146,880 | $77,704 | $224,584 | |
| 8 | Booth | 6 | 3 | $146,880 | $69,801 | $216,681 | |
| 9 | Haas | 9 | 7 | $136,888 | $75,608 | $212,496 | $4k Savings if US resident the second year |
| 10 | Kellogg | 4 | 4 | $149,742 | $61,452 | $211,194 | |
| 11 | Yale | 14 | 9 | $149,120 | $56,860 | $205,980 | Added laptop |
| 12 | Anderson | 16 | 18 | $130,098 | $75,601 | $205,699 | Includes Generous $5800 annual Travel Budget |
| 13 | LBS | - | - | $129,829 | $74,300 | $204,129 | 1 GBP to 1 USD: $1.40; Living expenses per student estimates |
| 14 | Johnson | 12 | 15 | $143,880 | $56,818 | $200,698 | Added laptop |
| 15 | Tepper | 18 | 16 | $140,000 | $57,358 | $197,358 | Added laptop |
| 16 | Fuqua | 11 | 12 | $140,000 | $56,608 | $196,608 | Added laptop |
| 17 | Ross | 15 | 13 | $144,952 | $49,584 | $194,536 | Includes International student surcharge |
| 18 | Darden | 10 | 13 | $141,908 | $44,920 | $186,828 | Includes $3K for travel |
| 19 | Marshall | 19 | 16 | $125,142 | $55,776 | $180,918 | Added laptop |
| 20 | McCombs | 17 | 18 | $113,144 | $49,004 | $162,148 | Added laptop |
| 21 | Foster | 20 | 22 | $107,136 | $48,219 | $155,355 | Converted to 9-month |
| 22 | IESE | - | - | $107,940 | $33,900 | $141,840 | 1 EUR to 1 USD: $1.20; 1500 EUR/mo budget used, added 1500 for laptop |
| 23 | INSEAD | - | - | $106,800 | $33,240 | $140,040 | 1 EUR to 1 USD: $1.20 |
| 24 | Rotman | - | - | $102,344 | $29,700 | $132,044 | 1 CAD to 1 USD: $0.8; Used International student price; added 1500 for laptop |
| 25 | HEC | - | - | $93,600 | $31,500 | $125,100 | 1 EUR to 1 USD: $1.20; added laptop |
| 26 | ESADE | - | - | $86,520 | $33,900 | $120,420 | 1 EUR to 1 USD: $1.20; 1500 EUR/mo budget used, added 1500 for laptop |
| 27 | Schulich | - | - | $85,520 | $32,820 | $118,340 | 1 CAD to 1 USD: $0.8; Used International student price; added 1500 for laptop |
| 28 | Said | - | - | $88,200 | $21,100 | $109,300 | 1 GBP to 1 USD: $1.40; added 1500 for laptop |
| 29 | Judge (1Y) | - | - | $82,600 | $21,100 | $103,700 | 1 GBP to 1 USD: $1.40; added 1500 for laptop |
| 30 | NUS (2Y) | - | - | $52,162 | $35,925 | $88,087 | 1 SGD to 1 USD: $0.75; Only 1 year of Tuition; added 1500 for laptop |
| 31 | ISB (1Y) | - | - | $40,465 | $11,368 | $51,833 | 1 INR to 1 USD: 73 INR; 1500 added for a laptop |
Notes:
- The table above is SORTABLE! Click on the heading to sort it
- The budget numbers are from school websites for 2020-2021 year (most recent year available for most programs)
- For Programs that did not have a budget for laptops, one was added for $1,500
- Anderson provided a 5,800 travel budget. Darden offered $4,000 budget for international applicants (lesser for domestic)
- Foster has given a 12-month budget and for consistency that was converted into a 9-month amount
Tip #1 - These are 9 Month Budgets - Not 12
Most MBA programs post a living cost budget based on 9 months of expenses (only while you are at school). I did not know that when I did my MBA. The assumption is that you won't be living while not at school I guess
or that you will move back home or that you will be doing an internship and making big bucks but that's not realistic. You rarely can rent an apartment for just 9 months. If you do go back home, you need to pay for flights and storage of your stuff, etc. Hopefully you will find a well-paying internship as otherwise, you are NOT eating. You will need money for recruiting trips in most business schools. If you go to Ross and you are planning to recruit in Tech, you will need to take a trip to bay area and one to Seattle area. You may also take an East Coast trip. These can run $3-5K for 1 week to cover the cost of transportation, hotels and arrangements. In some cases such as Haas or Foster if you recruit in tech, you likely would not need to take trips, so budget accordingly. Tip #2 - Schools give you the Most Minimal budget
We have a few discussions and student panels about living expenses and budgets. There are many additional costs you may incur - relocation, travel, possibly a car, buying new house items, often new computer, school-related trips that are optional but you don't want to miss, night life, and other. Usually everyone underbudgets and overspends so keep that in mind. The school budgets are assuming you eat ramen and drink 1 beer a month while living with a few roommates, taking a bus... you get the idea. I am not sure why the budgets are so slim and minimalistic (though some programs are much better at it and include the cost of the laptop and travel costs as well - Darden and Anderson stand out). This has an impact on your borrowing ability since lenders will not give you money beyond the cost of attendance. This means you need to have personal funds to cover the shortfall.
Tip #3 - Inconsistencies among Schools
It appears schools inconsistently reporting the cost of their program attendance. Some have just tuition. Others have tuition and required fees. Ohers have multiple living expense categories. Some include a laptop and some do not. Some have a generous travel budget (Anderson - 6K/year) and some don't at all (Marshall). I recommend spending some time in the school budgets and websites to make apples to apples comparison.
Tip #4 - Some schools post super slim budgets
Using Anderson and USC as an example, the two programs are 14 miles apart but the cost of living is estimated very quite a bit. Anderson is $75K and Marshall is $56K. This is not only because USC is in a dumpy part of town but because a budget of $28K is not really realistic for an MBA student.
Tip #5 - You can ask to increase the budget
While the school provides you with a budget and reports cost of attendance on the I-20 for international students and some other form for Domestic students borrowing money, you are able to appeal and increase that amount. Many schools offer this option in the footnotes of their financial aid page. You can ask to bump the budget for the computer, travel, and other potential budget items. I only learned about this in my second year and so I was able to bump my budget by $2,500 so I could borrow more money to fund travel and other living expenses I was struggling to meet. You can do this in your first year as well.
I am excited to share that all of the Top 20 MBA Programs are participating in the MBA Spotlight - Virtual Top 20 MBA Fair.
Register to Sign up for School Sessions, Talk Directly with AdCom's and Win Prizes!
MBA Spotlight Fair is from June 14 to June 30, 2021
Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Booth, Kellogg - are all coming - Register Now!
Hope this helps!
Thanks,
B
Regenerate
18 May 2021, 22:02
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... better decision making via better data ...
Thank you.
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Thank you.
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yashikaaggarwal
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18 May 2021, 22:16
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Of course you have! Thank you for saving time. I will just stick with vanilla ROI in that case or perhaps assume that everyone from Haas is staying in Bay Area and paying CA Taxes + Bay Area cost of living? 
) US MBA programs. There is definitely a difference!
