Business school has been called a two-year job interview, and with good reason: for more than $100,000 and two years of study, MBAs hope to gain access to vast alumni networks, top-tier internships, and the very best jobs. Our annual ranking of full-time MBA programs now focuses on what most people hope to get after business school: a satisfying, well-paying job.
More graduate degrees in business are awarded each year than in any other field in the US, and new business schools are accredited by the dozen every year. To identify the best ones, we compiled data from more than 13,150 current students, 18,540 alumni, and 1,460 recruiters across 177 distinct B-school programs. The result is our deepest and broadest set of data ever.
This year, we've revised the way we rank schools. For the first time, we surveyed MBAs after graduation for more insight into what graduates can expect in their future careers. We detailed some of the standout findings about MBA alumni in a separate report -including a broad pay difference between male and female MBAs that starts small, but gets bigger as they continue their careers. (FULL-TIME MBA: INTERNATIONAL)
Besides employer, alumni and student survey, the full-time MBA rankings are based on job placement rate and starting salary. The job placement rate is the most recent data on how many MBAs seeking full-time jobs get them within three months of graduation. And, starting salary is the most recent data on how much MBAs make in their first jobs after graduation, adjusted for industry and regional variation.
Life after an MBA
So what kind of career does an MBA get you? New data from thousands of MBA students and alumni tells us that most MBAs have no trouble landing jobs: Three months after graduation, 88 per cent of MBAs have been hired - and offered a nice pay bump. Graduates saw an 81 per cent jump over their median compensation before B-school. After six to eight years, pay typically increased another 64 per cent, to about $169,000 a year.
Those splashy salaries are awarded to a specific group of professionals, however. Sixty per cent of full-time MBA graduates had jobs in technology, consulting, and financial services. Despite initiatives at many B-schools to fuel entrepreneurship, a mere 4 per cent of students started their own business when they graduated, and 5 per cent went to work for a startup. B-school isn't feeding many of the fastest-growing global industries, either: Only 5 per cent of graduates went into health care.
