This Is What It Costs To Get An MBA From A Top Business School

All the data on tuition, expenses & total cost when you study for an MBA from a leading business school in the United States or Europe

Stanford GSB has the highest cost of living estimate among top U.S. B-schools: $38,724, a number that grows substantially if a student is married with children

LIVING EXPENSES AT THE LEADING U.S. MBA PROGRAMS

2023 P&Q Rank School 2023 Living Expenses 2022 Living Expenses 2021 Living Expenses 2020 Living Expenses 2019 Living Expenses Y-O-Y Change Y-O-Y % 5-Year Change 5-Year %
1 Pennsylvania (Wharton) $‎ 26,028 $‎ 22,887 $‎ 21,720 $‎ 21,050 $‎ 22,670 $‎ 3,141 13.7% $‎ 3,358 14.8%
2 Chicago (Booth) $‎ 26,010 $‎ 22,185 $‎ 22,185 $‎ 22,185 $‎ 22,185 $‎ 3,825 17.2% $‎ 3,825 17.2%
3 Stanford GSB $‎ 38,724 $‎ 36,198 $‎ 34,806 $‎ 33,693 $‎ 32,712 $‎ 2,526 7.0% $‎ 6,012 18.4%
4 Northwestern (Kellogg) $‎ 19,800 $‎ 19,800 $‎ 17,100 $‎ 17,100 $17,100 None None $‎ 2,700 15.8%
5 Harvard Business School $‎ 32,600 $‎ 31,390 $‎ 30,270 $‎ 30,700 $‎ 29,844 $‎ 1,210 3.9% $‎ 2,756 9.2%
6 MIT (Sloan) $‎ 21,694 $‎ 23,877 $‎ 21,975 $‎ 26,660 $‎ 26,660 $‎ (2,183) -9.1% $‎ (4,966) 18.6%
7 Columbia Business School $‎ 24,822 $‎ 24,822 $‎ 24,822 $‎ 24,822 $21,375 None None $3,447 16.1%
8 Yale SOM $‎ 28,266 $‎ 25,200 $‎ 24,284 $‎ 27,680 $‎ 22,214 $‎ 3,066 12.2% $‎ 6,052 27.2%
9 Dartmouth (Tuck) $‎ 31,620 $‎ 30,215 $‎ 31,215 $‎ 29,413 $‎ 22,742 $‎ 1,405 4.7% $‎ 8,878 39.0%
10 UC-Berkeley (Haas) $‎ 26,416 $‎ 26,416 $‎ 26,014 $‎ 25,658 $25,234 None None $‎ 1,182 4.7%
11 Michigan (Ross) $‎ 17,780 $‎ 17,780 $‎ 16,998 $‎ 16,502 $16,194 None None $‎ 1,586 9.8%
12 Duke (Fuqua) $‎ 23,202 $‎ 20,304 $‎ 19,256 $‎ 18,990 $‎ 18,702 $‎ 2,898 14.3% $‎ 4,500 24.1%
13 Cornell (Johnson) $‎ 18,554 $‎ 20,016 $‎ 17,865 $‎ 16,800 $‎ 16,800 $‎ (1,462) -7.3% $‎ 1,754 10.4%
14 Virginia (Darden) $‎ 22,870 $‎ 19,720 $‎ 18,430 $‎ 18,176 $‎ 17,766 $‎ 3,150 16.0% $‎ 5,104 28.7%
15 New York (Stern) $‎ 28,242 $‎ 28,242 $‎ 27,420 $‎ 26,804 $26,780 None None $‎ 1,462 5.5%
16 UCLA (Anderson) $‎ 24,850 $‎ 25,200 $‎ 25,200 $‎ 21,600 $‎ 24,668 $‎ (350) -1.4% $‎ 182 0.7%
17 Southern California (Marshall) $‎ 30,410 $‎ 26,980 $‎ 24,256 N/A N/A $‎ 3,430 12.7% N/A N/A
18 Texas-Austin (McCombs) $‎ 17,270 $‎ 20,206 $‎ 19,478 $‎ 18,078 $‎ 18,370 $‎ (2,936) -14.5% $‎ (1,100) 6.0%
19 North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) $‎ 19,268 $‎ 19,268 $‎ 18,760 $‎ 18,618 $17,800 None None $‎ 1,468 8.2%
20 Washington (Foster) $‎ 29,668 $‎ 21,248 $‎ 21,248 $‎ 21,248 $‎ 21,248 $‎ 8,420 39.6% $‎ 8,420 39.6%
21 Emory (Goizueta) $‎ 22,186 $‎ 21,312 $‎ 19,278 $‎ 19,278 $‎ 19,278 $‎ 874 4.1% $‎ 2,908 15.1%
22 Indiana (Kelley) $‎ 15,446 $‎ 15,456 $‎ 14,904 $‎ 13,906 $‎ 13,432 $‎ (10) -0.1% $‎ 2,014 15.0%
23 Washington (Olin) $‎ 17,696 $‎ 17,696 $‎ 17,696 N/A N/A None None N/A N/A
24 Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) $‎ 22,860 $‎ 21,400 $‎ 20,182 $‎ 17,944 $‎ 17,322 $‎ 1,460 6.8% $‎ 5,538 32.0%
25 Georgetown (McDonough) $‎ 26,578 $‎ 24,822 $‎ 22,696 $‎ 22,696 $‎ 22,696 $‎ 1,756 7.1% $‎ 3,882 17.1%
27 Vanderbilt (Owen) $‎ 22,682 $‎ 19,472 $‎ 18,594 N/A N/A $‎ 3,210 16.5% N/A N/A
29 Rice (Jones) $‎ 25,014 $‎ 24,537 $‎ 24,537 $‎ 24,537 $‎ 24,537 $‎ 477 1.9% $‎ 477 1.9%

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