A Breathtaking Pay Day For HBS Grads

Harvard Business School Professor Anita Elberse

ON-CAMPUS FOUNDERS OF START-UPS FELL BY 20 TO 64 MBAS THIS YEAR

There also were fewer entrepreneurs launching companies directly out of the MBA program this year. The number of HBS founders fell to 64 from 84 last year. Harvard said that 26% of this year’s founders decided to start their own businesses before coming to HBS, down from 31% a year earlier, while 23% made the choice during the summer between their first and second years, roughly the same as the 22% who did that last year.

Most Harvard MBAs—43%— landed their jobs in the northeast, with the west accouting for 24% of the class, down from 26% last year. “The number of students going west did go down a little, but it’s only about 20 fewer students,” says Fitzpatrick. “It’s not huge, but maybe we have hti the top of the bubble.”

Fitzpatrick says that although the consulting industry upped its base salaries by $5,000 to $145,0000 this year, “it’s not that there is a ton of difference between the industries. So it’s not that big a difference. At a certain point, once you are well over $100,000, you are going to pay your loans back and live comfortably. So salary isn’t something that students seemed concerned about. They are more interested in industry and function.”

Since the job market began its recovery from the Great Recession in 2010, pay and placement numbers at the leading business schools have been on a steady upward trajectory until hitting record levels in the past three years. The early signs for next year’s class look strong in terms of both job postings and on-campus visits by companies, says Fitzpatrick. “We still have no early indicators of a downturn. Everything is still steady state.”