How To Calculate Your Potential MBA Debt

The MBA is an expensive investment. On average, MBAs graduate with at least $100,000 in debt. If you’re going to take out loans to fund your MBA education, it’s important to plan out how much you’ll be expected to repay with interest.

To give you an idea, we used NerdWallet’s handy MBA student debt calculator and estimated how much you’ll owe at a few top B-schools. We calculated the total amount you’d repay using the average MBA student debt at B-Schools and assumed a standard 10-year plan at 6% interest rates.

STANFORD GSB

Stanford GSB, which ranked number one in our annual MBA rankings, has an average MBA student debt of $41,000, according to data from the Department of Education’s College Scorecard.

Taking a loan of $41,000 under the standard 10-year plan and at 6% interest per year, you’d repay a total of $54,621.6 with a monthly payment of $455.18.

You can expect the same total repayment cost at Wharton and Tuck, where average MBA debt is also $41,000.

COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL

The average MBA student debt at Columbia University is $69,500.

If you took out a loan amount of $69,000 with an annual interest rate of 6% at 10 years, you’d repay a total of $91,924.8. Your monthly payment would be $766.04.

NORTHWESTERN KELLOGG

Kellogg MBA grads have some of the highest average student debt at $106,803.

Taking out a loan amount of $106,000 with a 10-year plan and annual interest rate of 6% would cost you in total $141,218.4. Expect monthly payments of $1,176.82

Of course, these are all estimates and are based on a variety of assumptions, including how much you’re borrowing to how many years and at what interest you’d be paying. Additionally, money from fellowships, employee-sponsorships, and scholarships often don’t require you to repay any money.

Want to calculate how much you’ll repay for loans customizing a range of variables? Use the calculator here.

Sources: NerdWallet, P&Q, US Department of Education