MBA Pay Averages $40,000 More Than Undergraduate

New research has found that MBA graduates in the US earn, on average, US$40,000 more per annum than bachelor’s degree holders.

According to the Graduate Management Admission Council’s (GMAC) Corporate Recruiters Survey, “employers in the US expect to pay MBA graduates substantially more in 2012 than new hires with only a bachelor’s degree.

"This translates into annual earnings for new MBAs that are US$40,000 higher, on average, than the salaries bachelor’s degree holders can expect.”

But when compared to the same survey in 2011, average MBA salaries are down by US$2,000, standing at US$90,000. However, US$90,000 per annum appears to be a steady expectation for fresh MBA graduates, as aside from a slight peak in 2011, MBA remuneration has remained consistent since 2008 according to the survey’s findings.

“Despite economic fluctuations, there have been no changes in starting salaries for MBA graduates since 2008,” GMAC explains in the report. “The slight increase seen in 2008 was not statistically significant.”

To gather data for the Corporate Recruiters Survey GMAC, who run the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) surveyed 1,096 recruiters representing more than 800 companies. However, the majority of the survey respondents, 63% were located in the US, limiting firm conclusions for elsewhere in the world.

Unsurprisingly, considering the US’ focus on the two-year MBA delivery style, GMAC’s survey also finds that those graduating from two-year MBA programs enjoy the largest gains between pre- and post-MBA salaries.

Though not highlighted in GMAC’s survey, in Europe and Asia-Pacific, where one-year MBAs dominate the market, remuneration statistics are likely to be a lot more even between one- and two-year MBA program delivery styles.

Renewed MBA jobs optimism

A second report, the Global Management Education Graduate Survey also released by GMAC reveals that MBA graduates are having an easier time finding their first post-MBA jobs, when compared to the past decade during which GMAC has conducted the same research.

“Overall, 62% of job seekers in the class of 2012 had an offer of employment at the time of the survey,” GMAC states in its report.

“Offers of employment for 2012 graduates of part-time and executive MBA programs are at an all-time high since 2001, when GMAC first began to collect data for this survey.

"Graduates of full-time two-year MBA programs (64%) in 2012 with job offers in hand nearly matched the all-time record set in 2001, when 66% of students had job offers.”

Promisingly, and in line with previous MBA jobs and salary research from TopMBA.com and GMAC, employers are also reporting that they plan to increase the amount of MBA jobs on offer in the coming year.

Split by company size, proportionally the largest gains in MBA job availability are predicted to be among smaller companies with workforces less than 1,000 in total.

“As companies begin to act on plans to expand, they are hiring talent to help manage strategy and growth to sustain the business for the long term,” explains Dave Wilson, president and CEO of GMAC.

“Particularly noteworthy is the expansion of hiring among smaller companies in our survey, which are key drivers of economic activity. These entrepreneurial firms see real value in the skills that management graduates bring to the workforce.”