P&Q’s Must Reads: MBA Pay Has Vastly Outpaced Inflation

Hello everyone  –- Welcome back to Poets&Quants’ Must Reads, a quick, digestible recap of the top business school news, sponsored by CentreCourt, P&Q’s virtual admission events.

I’m your host, Kristy Bleizeffer, and I’ll be highlighting the most important P&Q stories you might have missed. So, let’s get to it. 

No. 1: MBA Pay Has Vastly Outpaced Inflation

Inflation is an economy killer, and it’s currently wreaking havoc around the globe, including in the United States. But an analysis of salary and compensation data gathered over the years by Poets&Quants proves that MBAs have seen their pay keep pace with inflation — and then some.

The five-year analysis showed that inflation over that timeframe was 17.6%, well below MBA salary increases of 28.1%. MBA grads also well outpaced the growth in median U.S. worker salaries in the U.S. which just barely beat inflation at 18.7%.

But not all MBA pay is created equal. The analysis found that salaries for the lowest-paid MBAs at a given school — the nonprofit-, government-, or retail-bound grads – aren’t fairing nearly as well.

You can read the full analysis now, on our homepage.

No. 2: Why Bain Now Ranks As The World’s Top Consulting Firm

For the past three years, Bain & Co. has ranked as the #1 firm to work for in the Vault Consulting 50. Think of it as the state of the industry, where surveyed consultants rank their firms on measures that matter most to them: Compensation, Culture, Leadership, Work-Life Balance, and Job Satisfaction (among other measures). Not only did Bain top its peers among North American consultants in this year’s Vault list, but among their European and Asian counterparts, too.

Finishing first doesn’t happen by accident. In this article, we examine the reasons Bain consistently comes out on top. You can find it in our trending tab.

No. 3: Dean Shakeups

Two more leading business schools found new deans this week, and Poets&Quants has the receipts. 

First, nearly two years after losing its business school dean to Illinois Tech, Northeastern University has found a successor in David De Cremer from the National University of Singapore. The provost chair and management professor of NUS’ Business School will start his new job at the D’Amore-McKim School of Business on July 1.

Next, after a six-month search, Washington University found a new dean for Olin Business School at nearby Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business. Michael Mazzeo, a master teacher who has won numerous awards for his classroom prowess over nearly a quarter of a century at Kellogg, will move to St. Louis as Olin’s new dean on Jan. 1 of 2024. He succeeds Anjan V. Thakor who has served as interim dean since July.

You can read more about both of these new deans in our news tab.

No. 4: Our Weekly Round Up of  News You Can Use

No matter where you are in your MBA journey, we bring several helpful stories for you this week.

First up: If your test scores and GPAs aren’t as stellar as you’d like, don’t despair. These MBA admission directors share how they look beyond data points for an applicant’s story. They also offer helpful advice on how to tell that story and make your case to your target schools. You can find the article on our homepage.

Next: Why The Mini MBA May Be Right for You. Not everyone can devote the time and money to a more traditional MBA – and not everyone needs to. This article outlines the type of candidate that may benefit from the mini-MBA and how such programs work at leading business schools. You can find it on our homepage.

Finally: How can an MBA Admission Coach help secure an acceptance letter to your target schools? And how do you select the right coach for you? Our partners at Fortuna Admissions answers these and other questions in How To Choose An MBA Admissions Coach, which you can find in our admissions tab.

And, that’s it for this week’s Must Reads recap. 

I also want to alert anyone considering a graduate business master’s degree to CentreCourt’s upcoming Specialized Masters admissions event. In these virtual panels, you’ll get to explore Masters in Management, Finance, Business Analytics and other specialized business degrees to help determine which degree is right for you. Our next event is March 14 and 15, and you can register now for free.

Again, I’m Kristy Bleizeffer, and you can join me next week, right here, for a recap of what’s important in the world of business education. Thanks for listening and, as always, stay informed!