Cost Of An Elite MBA Now Exceeds $200K

Most of the estimates published by business schools are for a “moderate lifestyle.” Columbia Business School estimates an MBA’s total food costs in New York City to be about $650 a month. The University of Chicago’s Booth School pegs the monthly food bill at $600. But a high-living student could blow through that in a single week. In fact, the social costs of going to an elite MBA program are often considerable, involving expensive dinners and nights out with classmates to long-weekends traveling across country and abroad.

Even necessities, such as student health insurance, can vary significantly. Stanford imposes a required $4,296 a year charge for medical coverage. At Harvard, the cost for health insurance is $2,366 a year. Estimates of living expenses—even in the same city—also can vary. NYU Stern says the annual room and board cost of an MBA is $25,986—more than $5,000 more than the estimate published by Columbia Business School.

Only one top 25 business school held the line on tuition: The University of Texas. The annual $48,832 out-of-state tuition is exactly the same as it was two years ago.

The Rising Cost Of Getting An Elite MBA Degree

 

School Total Cost 2012 Cost Increase 2014 Tuition 2012 Tuition Change
  1.  New York (Stern) $203,876 $184,532 10.5% $121,488 $113,108 7.4%
  2. Stanford GSB $202,870 $185,052 9.6% $123,750 $114,600 8.0%
  3. Pennsylvania (Wharton) $195,084 $180,764 7.9% $136,420 $124,068 10.0%
  4. Columbia Business School $192,936 $179,941 7.2% $126,296 $116,768 8.2%
  5. MIT (Sloan) $192,028 $177,898 7.9% $127,500 $116,400 9.5%
  6. Harvard Business School $190,200 $174,400 9.1% $117,750 $107,000 10.0%
  7. Chicago (Booth) $189,866 $177,898 7.0% $123,040 $116,768 5.4%
  8. Dartmouth (Tuck) $187,100 $174,350 7.3% $123,210 $112,320 9.7%
  9. Northwestern (Kellogg) $177,614 $168,908 5.2% $123,192 $113,100 8.9%
10. Yale SOM $171,750 NA NA $117,950 NA NA
11. Virginia (Darden) $170,722 $163,666 4.3% $115,900 $107,800 7.5%
12. Duke (Fuqua) $169,982 $150,202 13.2% $116,000 $105,800 9.6%
13. UCLA (Anderson) $167,610 $156,084 7.4% $106,296 NA NA
14. Georgetown (McDonough) $167,020 NA NA $110,316 NA NA
15. UC-Berkeley (Haas) $165,524 $159,634 3.7% $114,440 $107,938 6.0%
16. UNC (Kenan-Flagler) $164,860 $157,048 5.0% $115,020 $107,984 6.5%
17. Cornell (Johnson) $163,784 $150,612 8.7% $116,384 $107,592 8.2%
18. Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) $160,008 $157,932 1.3% $116,600 $109,600 6.4%
19. Michigan (Ross) $159,100 $147,808 7.6% $119,556 $110,388 8.3%
20. Washington (Olin) $152,136 NA NA $103,000 NA NA
21. Vanderbilt (Owen) $150,590 NA NA $95,900 NA NA
22. Washington (Foster) $146,772 NA NA $88,350 NA NA
23. Emory (Goizueta) $144,256 $134,804 7.0% $96,200 $89,200 7.8%
24. Indiana (Kelley) $142,158 NA NA $51,000 NA NA
25. Texas-Austin (McCombs) $140,064 $137,672 1.7% $97.664 $97,664 ——-

Source: Poets&Quants analysis from business school websites

Notes: All costs and tuition numbers are for non-residents

DON’T MISS: STANFORD BREAKS RECORD ON COST OF AN MBA

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