Rising Costs Of An MBA Impacting School Choice For Applicants

The AIGAC survey also found that responding applicants largely desire traditional MBA roles once they get their degrees. Though 11% of the respondents said they were coming from the consulting industry, some 53% said that consulting was the industry they intended to work for in their post-MBA careers. That was the single biggest industry choice of the respondents. The findings were most likely influenced by the predominance of international applicants in the survey because the large global consulting firms are most likely to hire international graduates given their office locations all over the world.

Finance and technology were tied for the most popular destination for MBAs after consulting. Though 21% of the respondents were in finance already, some 33% said they intended to work in finance with their MBA degrees in hand. Only 16% of the survey respondents worked in tech, but 33% also hoped to work in the tech industry upon graduation (see table below).Technology has grown consistently since 2007, according to AIGAC. Only 8% of graduates from top MBA programs went into technology in 2007. By 2013, 17% of graduates had entered technology.

Consulting, on the other hand, seemed topped out as an industry of choice. In 2007, consultants represented 26% of MBA graduating classes and by 2013, that grew to 29%. AIGAC concluded that there is “Little room left to grow; based on last downturn, total hires may fall.” Finance has faced greater long-term pressure, with 43% of graduates from top MBA programs headed into finance in 2007, compared with 29% of graduates in 2013.

AIGAC 2016 MBA applicant survey

HALF OF APPLICANTS EXPECT A 50% PLUS INCREASE IN SALARY DUE TO THE MBA

More than one in four responding applicants said they expect their annual salary to increase by more than 100% or more within the first six months of graduation. Some 24% of the respondents have that lofty expectation, down slightly from 27% a year earlier. Overall, half of the applicants expect a post-MBA increase of more than 50%, according to AIGAC (see table below).

AIGAC 2016 MBA applicant survey