Full Cost Of The MBA Keeps Rising: Four Schools Above $200K

Indiana University, Kelley School of Business

THE LEAST EXPENSIVE TOP 25 PROGRAM? INDIANA UNIVERSITY’S KELLEY SCHOOL

It’s similar for both University of California elites, UC-Berkeley Haas and UCLA Anderson, where the total cost of the MBA exceeds $170,000. At UCLA’s Anderson School the difference between the cost of the MBA for in-state and out-of-state students is separated by little more than $3,300.

The school with the biggest percentage increase was Emory University’s Goizueta School of Business. The total cost of a Goizueta MBA rose 12.5% to $162,336, from $144,256 only 16 months ago, when we did our last analysis on MBA costs. During that same timeframe, some schools really held the line. Duke University’s Fuqua School, for example, actually posted a decline to $168,376, down from $169,982. Fuqua, however, posted the largest percentage increase in our last analysis, with a 13.2% rise in the previous two years from $150,202 in 2012.

The least expensive Top 25 MBA program in the U.S.? It’s Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, coming it at a total cost of $138,594. Shockingly, that is even less than the cost of the degree a year earlier when it was estimated at just over $142,000. But Indiana has the lowest out-of-state annual tuition at $44,460 and, given the school’s location in Bloomington, Indiana, among the lowest room and board costs at $12,150 a year. Even better is the cost for in-state students: $100,674, roughly $38,000 less than non-residents pay. That’s the biggest resident discount for any public in the Top 25.

ESTIMATES OF NON-TUITION EXPENSES CAN VARY SIGNIFICANTLY

All these estimates of the cost of an MBA vary significantly based on the living costs and additional fees that schools tack on to the tuition bill. Annual room and board costs–which a person would have whether they were in an MBA program or not–varies from a high of $29,202 at Stanford in pricey Silicon Valley, to a low of $9,900 at Notre Dame’s Mendoza School in South Bend, Indiana.

After all, these estimates can vary even in the same city. NYU estimates room and board at $25,200, for instance, while uptown Columbia Business School figures that room and board should total $20,700. It’s worth noting that the average monthly rent for a studio apartment in Manhattan is now $2,351 for a total of $28,212 a year. Even sharing a studio wouldn’t get you anywhere near Columbia’s $20,700 estimate once you include the cost of food, unless you are on a diet of Ramen noodles. These intra-city disparities exist elsewhere. In Boston, Harvard’s room and board estimate totals $26,088, while nearby MIT says it is $19,734.

Most of the estimates published by business schools are for a “moderate lifestyle.” But a high-living student could blow through these numbers fairly quickly. 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. Chicago Booth estimates that the cost of food per month is just $600 for an MBA. That sum wouldn’t include many dinners downtown.

The Rising Cost of the MBA Degree

Source: Business school websites Notes: * Columbia’s estimate of $199,648 does not include the cost of an optional study tour which would easily put the program above $200,000. ** Estimate

DON’T MISS: COST OF AN ELITE MBA CAN NOW EXCEED $200K