Wall Street Gains At Harvard B-School

How Harvard’s Class of 2014 Compares

With Other Top Business Schools

 

School Median Base Sign-on Bonus Other Bonus Jackpot Graduation Offers Offers 3 Months Later
Harvard $125,000 $25,000 $34,700 $184,700 NA NA
Stanford $125,000 $25,000 $31,500 $181,500 80% 94%
Wharton $125,000 $25,000 $27,000 $177,000 88% 98%
Dartmouth (Tuck) $116,000 $25,000 $25,000 $166,000 91% 98%
Michigan (Ross) $115,000 $25,000 $16,750 $156,750 89% 93%
Duke (Fuqua) $111,000 $25,000 $15,000 $151,000 87% 94%
Cornell (Johnson) $106,000 $25,000 $12,500 $143,500 87% 92%
UCLA (Anderson) $110,000 $25,000 $15,000 $150,000 75% 90%
Virginia (Darden) $110,000 $25,000 $9,500 $144,500 89% 94%
UNC (Kenan-Flagler) $100,000 $25,000 $16,625 $141,625 81% 92%
Texas-Austin (McCombs) $105,000 $25,000 $12,600 $142,600 80% 94%
Emory (Goizueta) $100,000 $25,000 $12,500 $137,000 90.4% 98.0%
Vanderbilt (Owen) $100,000 $15,000 $12,000 $127,000 83% 94%

Source: Business school employment reports & P&Q reporting

Notes: Jackpot refers to graduates receiving the median of all three forms of compensation: salary, signing bonus, and other year-end guaranteed bonus. Not all graduates are given all three. At Stanford, for example, sign-on bonuses this year were collected by half the class, while 38% of the MBAs received other year-end guaranteed compensation.

Differences in pay often reflect industry choices and geography. Stanford’s higher median base can largely be attributed to the fact that 12% of this year’s class went into private equity, which currently pays the most lucrative comp packages to MBAs. The median PE starting base salary this year was $170,000. At Tuck, for example, only 4% of this year’s class went into private equity and the base for those PE jobs was just $120,000.

For Harvard MBA Grads, Career Choices Over The Years

 

Career Data 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007
INDUSTRY CHOICE
Finance 33.0% 27.0% 35.0% 39.0% 34.0% 31.0% 45.0% 44.0%
I-Banking/Brokerage 5.0% 5.0% 7.0% 10.0% 10.0% 8.0% 10.0% 12.0%
Private Equity/VC/Buyouts 15.0% 10.0% 16.0% 16.0% 12.0% 13.0% 21.0% 15.0%
Investment Management/Hedge Funds 10.0% 9.0% 8.0% 12.0% 9.0% 8.0% 10.0% 13.0%
Other Financial 3.0% 3.0% 4.0% 2.0% 2.0% 2.0% 4.0% 4.0%
Consulting 23.0% 22.0% 25.0% 24.0% 24.0% 26.0% 20.0% 21.0%
Technology 17.0% 18.0% 12.0% 11.0% 8.0% 7.0% 7.0% 7.0%
Consumer Goods/Retail 5.0% 6.0% 3.0%% 5.0% 6.0% 5.0% 3.0% 5.0%
Health Care 5.0% 5.0% 7.0% 4.0% 6.0% 7.0% 4.0% 5.0%
Services/Real Estate 4.0% 3.0% 2.0% 4.0% 5.0% 2.0% 5.0% 4.0%
Media/Entertainment 3.0% 4.0% 3.0% 2.0% 3.0% 4.0% 5.0% 4.0%
Manufacturing 5.0% 7.0% 7.0% 7.0% 5.0% 6.0% 8.0% 5.0%
Non-Profits/Government 3.0% 5.0% 3.0% 3.0% 6.0% 7.0% 3.0% 3.0%

Source: Harvard employment reports

DON’T MISS: STANFORD MBAS SHIFT AWAY FROM TECH TO FINANCE or AMAZON IS TOP EMPLOYER OF ROSS MBAS IN 2014