How The M7’s Magnificence Was Tested In 2020

Get into an M7 school, and you can write your own ticket. But first you have to get in — see the table on the previous page showing acceptance rates for an idea how difficult that is — and then you have to pay for it.

The highest estimated cost of an MBA degree among the elite schools of the M7 is at MIT, where two years of tuition, room and board and other expenses comes to an estimated $241,692. That was the case last year, too. Before last year, though, the most expensive MBA program year in and year out was usually Stanford GSB’s. But at Stanford — where the price tag, including living expenses, is now $237,288 — the total cost has risen by less than $6,000 since 2019. Of course, that’s the price for a single person — it’s much more costly for married students at Stanford, where the two-year cost of an MBA balloons to $281,760 if you have a spouse.

Then again, all these gaudy tuition and total cost numbers are pre-scholarship grants — and it turns out that even though all of the M7 schools now cost well over $200,000 to attend, all offer financial help at fairly high levels, with both Harvard and Stanford MBA students receiving an average of more than $40,000 annually (according to the most recent data available), up from $35K in 2019; also in 2019, Wharton and Booth students received $32,000 and $30,000, respectively. Here’s slight more updated more data from last year; schools don’t make overall figures like this readily available, so check their websites for more up-to-date information on fellowships and scholarships.

There are many. The money is out there. We know, for example, that Harvard leads the way in aid packages among most schools. It’s an important part of the financial puzzle to keep in mind when you apply to these schools.

And what did the most recent M7 classes look like? See the next two tables for details.

POETS&QUANTS’ COVERAGE OF THE M7 CLASS OF 2020 EMPLOYMENT REPORTS

STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL

MIT SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL

THE WHARTON SCHOOL

NORTHWESTERN KELLOGG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

CHICAGO BOOTH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS