Kellogg Reveals MBAs’ Median Salary Saw Another Big Jump In 2023

In one of the first hints at what the job market was like for the MBA Class of 2023, Northwestern Kellogg School of Management has released a “sneak peek” at preliminary employment numbers for students who graduated from its full-time two-year program in the spring. Liza Kirkpatrick, assistant dean of Kellogg’s Career Management Center, writes in a blog today (August 8) that Kellogg grads have reported a $10,000 increase in median salary over their Class of 2022 colleagues, to $175,000.

Looked at one way, that’s a 6.1% bump in class median salary; looked at another, it’s almost exactly double the class’s pre-MBA salary of $87,525.

Looked at a third way, Kellogg MBAs’ median salary has grown by 25% since the pre-pandemic graduating class of 2019, when it was $140K.

“Employers across industries are finding next-level talent in Kellogg students,” Kirkpatrick writes. “These graduates’ success is a testament to the distinct approach to management education we embrace at Kellogg: one that fosters a special combination of analytical, creative and social intelligence and creates agile leaders who thrive no matter how much the business landscape changes.”

KELLOGG MBAs FINDING MORE JOBS IN FINANCE

The jump in median salary brings Kellogg in line with most of its peers in the M7, five of which were at $175K last year. Kellogg's and MIT Sloan School of Management's MBA Classes of 2022, both of which reported median salaries of $165K, lagged their 2022 counterparts at Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Chicago Booth School of Business, and Columbia Business School.

Kellogg grads' median signing bonus so far in 2023 is $30,000, Kirkpatrick writes, same as last year. The school will release final employment data in the fall, she adds.

Where are Kellogg MBAs finding jobs? Historically, the consulting industry hires the lion's share of Kellogg MBAs, as they did last year with 40% of the Class of 2o22 (see below). No doubt consulting was again at or near the top in 2023; but as Kirkpatrick writes, the preliminary data show that finance is increasingly drawing the school's grads. As of graduation day, she writes, 22% of Class of 2023 students accepted roles in financial services, up from 16% last year and on pace to be the most from the school since at least 2013. Inside finance, private equity is a growing destination, with 10% of total grads finding work in the field — at salaries ($190K median) $20,000 higher than last year.

"Students who pursue PE at Kellogg find a wealth of resources and programming to support them," Kirkpatrick explains the success of the school in placing MBAs in PE: "The Advanced Private Equity Experience (APEX) is a global academic experience for high-caliber students seeking careers in PE," she writes. "Other opportunities include a variety of courses in the dedicated Private Equity and Venture Capital Pathway, a quarter-long internship through the Private Equity Lab, and the support of senior leaders in the field through the Private Equity Alumni Council."

CONSULTING & TECH STILL TOP FIELDS FOR KELLOGG GRADS

Kirkpatrick writes that consulting and tech are once again among the top industries, despite the shockwaves running through the industry throughout 2022, with 2023 Kellogg grads finding jobs at Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. She does not offer percentages but last year more than 20% of Kellogg MBAs went into tech.

Other graduates in the Kellogg Class of 2023 "accepted roles in consumer packaged goods, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and more, yet again demonstrating the breadth of interests and perspectives in every Kellogg class," Kirkpatrick writes.

DON'T MISS KELLOGG 2022 MBA JOBS REPORT: MEDIAN SALARY JUMPS 10% TO $165K and MBA SALARIES & BONUSES AT THE TOP 30 U.S. B-SCHOOLS