What Graduating MBAs Made In 2015

‘WILLING TO WAIT UNTIL THEY FIND THE POSITION THAT SUITS THEM BEST’

The MBA job market was so good, in fact, that at Stanford only 86% of the Class of 2015 had accepted jobs three months after graduation. At many other schools, the acceptance rate was in the high 90s. Stanford’s number seems low because it reflects how choosy its graduates were in waiting for the ideal opportunity to present itself. Indeed, at least five Stanford MBAs last year reneged on job offers they had accepted. “The strong market has allowed them to defer decisions about multiple offers, and in some cases, turn down offers to remain focused on searching for an ideal opportunity,” explains Maeve Richard, assistant dean and director of Stanford’s career management center. “They are willing to wait until they find the position that suits them best.”

Stanford didn’t merely top the list of the most lucratively paid MBA grads in the world. In some categories, it truly blew away the competition. The average base salary for Stanford grads who took jobs at hedge funds was a whopping $182,700. The median base for MBAs who landed positions at venture capital firms was $175,000.

In almost all cases, the very highest starting salaries went to students headed into the financial world. Columbia Business School MBAs who joined hedge funds saw median salaries of $150,000. At Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, the largest median base salaries were claimed by MBAs who went into private equity: $150K. At Wharton, the highest median salary for any job category was $140,000 for graduates who accepted PE or consulting jobs.

INDUSTRY CHOICE AND GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION FIGURE PROMINENTLY IN MBA PAY

As always, applicants should view these numbers with some thoughtful perspective. While a school’s brand certainly matters, the industry choices and geographic location of jobs play a significant role in compensation. One reason why Stanford’s numbers are so high is because the school sends 16% of its MBAs into private equity and venture capital, two of the most lucrative paying fields in business today. It’s also because Bay Area salaries are among the highest in the nation–and so is its cost of living.

Business schools outside the U.S. often fail to match up favorably on pay for several key reasons. The depreciating Euro hasn’t helped, but graduates of non-U.S. schools are more likely to work in countries where pay levels are much lower and where the MBA degree isn’t held in as high regard as it is in the U.S. The highest total compensation packages for graduates of a non-U.S. school last year, for example, went to the MBAs at INSEAD. The $138,240 median, however, was more than $22,000 below Stanford.

Any way you cut it, the MBA degree clearly proved its value once again. Already, 2016 looks to be even better for the next crop of MBAs who will walk across the stage to gather their diplomas in four months time. A year-end survey of MBA hiring companies by the Graduate Management Admission Council found that more than half (56%) of employers plan to increase starting annual base salaries in 2016 at or above the rate of inflation, while three out of four employers plan to employ more MBA graduates.

“Employer demand for graduate management talent is projected to remain strong in 2016 for MBAs and other master’s-level business candidates,” says Bob Alig, GMAC’s executive vice president for school products, in a statement. “Recent graduates from business and management programs should see high demand for their skills because employers understand that they are valuable assets to their organizations.”

(See our analysis of MBA pay in 2015 at top business schools on the following page)