In an era of financial insecurity and intense global competition, the MBA qualification seems to be a safe haven for young professionals seeking career advancement. Average salaries for newly graduating MBAs from many top business schools in both the US and Europe exceed $100,000 for the first time.
QS, publishers of the Global Recruiters’ Top 100 Business Schools as well as the Times Higher-QS World University Rankings, reveals the average salaries reported by over 350 of the world’s leading business schools for their class which graduated in Summer 2007. This Class of 2007 average salary data is published for the first time in the new 2008 edition of TopMBA.com/Scorecard – the online search and personal ranking tool - which is live from April 2008.
Table 1: Averages by region for the 50 business schools reporting the highest salaries in USA and Europe for Class of 2007
Region | Average Base Starting Salary US$ | % Accepted Employment Three Months after Graduation | Average Years Work Experience | Number of Schools in Top 50 |
USA | 102,223 | 93 | 5 | 19 |
UK | 106,626 | 92 | 7 | 14 |
Continental Europe | 109,678 | 90 | 6 | 17 |
Source; QS TopMBA.com/Scorecard
Table 1 above reveals that among the US and European business schools offering the highest salaries, 19 are in the US, compared to 14 in the UK and 17 in Continental Europe. With an average of $109,678, this is the first year on record in which Continental European business schools have reported higher average salaries, in dollar terms, than their US or UK counterparts. Employment rates are similar across all these schools with between 90% to 93% of students having accepted employment within three months of graduation; the profile of candidates is also similar, with an average of between five and seven years of work experience.
Table 2 shows the average salaries reported by each school. IMD in Switzerland tops the list with a reported average salary of $129,000, followed by Saïd Business School at Oxford University at $125,440. The table also reveals a number of less well-known European schools which are yielding very high starting salaries. Ulf Dreier, Marketing Manager at ESMT in Berlin, which reports an average starting salary of $116,800 for their 31 students, says: “We are a relatively young school, founded with 25 corporate partners and these partnerships help ensure our MBA students receive good starting salaries on graduation.”
Small class sizes, slightly more experienced students and the strong Euro may go some way to explain why European schools are outperforming their international counterparts, but does not tell the full story. MBA recruiters in Europe are switching on to the MBA qualification in increasing numbers. Sarah Thomas, MBA Recruiter at Standard Chartered Bank, based in London, reports that her bank is seeking to double MBA hiring in 2008. Rudi Kindts, HR Director of BAT expects to “dramatically increase MBA hiring in Europe in 2008.”
At a recent QS World MBA Tour Admissions panel in Frankfurt, Janet Shaner, Director of Marketing at IMD explained that IMD looks for proven, high-achievers. Their general management MBA results in many of their graduating MBAs entering industrial and commercial management functions within Europe, a segment where demand is growing rapidly. Yolanda Habets from Vlerick Leuven Gent in Belgium, which reports an average salary of $110,621 agrees. "We seek MBAs who have worked overseas with five to eight years of work experience, positioning them well for the growing number of senior management roles in Europe which require an MBA qualification.”
Companies operating on a global level are increasingly turning towards MBAs. KPMG is a world leader in audit, tax and advisory services and has traditionally favoured accountants to MBAs. Lord Michael Hastings, Global Head of Diversity at KPMG International says this is changing. KPMG “is constantly working with global clients who are not just saying ‘here is a tax issue we’d like you to advise us with’. They are asking us how they square up in the world where there is conflict and how to function in those areas to best develop their business. The MBA provides a richness of perspective that is not easy to pick up by standard study. There is huge value to MBAs as they have great depth.”
Table 2: 50 US & European Business Schools Reporting Highest Average MBA Salaries (alphabetical listing by region)
School | Region | Average Base Starting Salary US$ | % Accepted Employment Three Months after Graduation | Average Years Work Experience |
Columbia Business School* | USA | 107265 | 93 | 5 |
Goizueta Business School Emory University* | USA | 93060 | 89 | 5 |
Haas School of Business UC Berkeley* | USA | 101859 | 93 | 5 |
Harvard Business School* | USA | 115665 | 94 | 4 |
Kellogg School of Management Northwestern University* | USA | 104089 | 97 | 5 |
Kenan-Flagler, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill* | USA | 92505 | 90 | 5 |
Ross School of Business University of Michigan* | USA | 99265 | 90 | 5 |
S.C. Johnson School, Cornell University* | USA | 98000 | 95 | 5 |
Sloan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology* | USA | 107990 | 94 | 5 |
Stanford University Graduate School of Business* | USA | 117681 | 94 | 4 |
Stern School of Business New York University* | USA | 96738 | 94 | 5 |
Tepper School of Business Carnegie Mellon University* | USA | 97394 | 95 | 4 |
The Fuqua School of Business Duke University* | USA | 98510 | 85 | 5 |
Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth* | USA | 107406 | 96 | 5 |
UCLA Anderson School of Management* | USA | 99237 | 94 | 4 |
University of Chicago Graduate School of Business* | USA | 100000 | 97 | 5 |
University of Virginia's Darden School of Business* | USA | 100575 | 95 | 4 |
Wharton, University of Pennsylvania* | USA | 110551 | 97 | 6 |
Yale School of Management Yale University* | USA | 99307 | 88 | 4 |
Bradford University School of Management* | UK | 98000 | 85 | 5 |
Cass Business School* | UK | 94080 | 100 | 8 |
Cranfield School of Management | UK | 109488 | 97 | 8 |
Judge Business School University of Cambridge | UK | 105000 | 96 | 7 |
Lancaster University Management School* | UK | 95844 | 93 | 7 |
London Business School | UK | 124512 | 97 | 5 |
Manchester Business School* | UK | 109963 | 95 | 6 |
Nottingham University Business School* | UK | 109760 | 94 | 7 |
Oxford University Saïd Business School | UK | 125440 | 92 | 6 |
School of Management - University of Surrey | UK | 117600 | 80 | 5 |
Tanaka Business School Imperial College London | UK | 100789 | 83 | 7 |
The School of Management University of Bath* | UK | 100850 | 94 | 8 |
The University of Edinburgh Management School | UK | 108574 | 90 | 7 |
Warwick Business School University of Warwick* | UK | 92679 | 96 | 8 |
BI Norwegian School of Management* | Europe | 103660 | 85 | 7 |
EDHEC Business School* | Europe | 116800 | 95 | 8 |
EM LYON | Europe | 109500 | 80 | 8 |
ESADE Business School* | Europe | 96360 | 94 | 5 |
ESMT | Europe | 116800 | 90 | 7 |
HEC MBA Program* | Europe | 105041 | 74 | 6 |
HHL - Leipzig Graduate School of Management* | Europe | 109500 | 80 | 4 |
IE Business School | Europe | 99426 | 93 | 5 |
IESE Business School | Europe | 121910 | 98 | 4 |
IMD | Europe | 129000 | 93 | 7 |
INSEAD | Europe | 116508 | 92 | 6 |
Mannheim Business School | Europe | 114000 | 100 | 4 |
RSM Erasmus University* | Europe | 114480 | 83 | 5 |
SDA Bocconi School of Management* | Europe | 96871 | 81 | 5 |
UCD Michael Smurfit School of Business* | Europe | 114610 | 97 | 7 |
University of St Gallen | Europe | 108545 | 90 | 6 |
Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School* |