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

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