The M7 B-Schools: Everything You Need To Know

Stanford GSB remains the costliest B-school to get an MBA from

Cost is a major structural barrier to building board rooms, management teams, and workforces that better resemble the societies in which they operate. The M7 solution has been to offer an increasing number of scholarships and greater accessibility to underrepresented groups. In 2022, Harvard Business school announced plans to cover tuition and fees for 10% of its admits based on need; HBS also went five years without increasing tuition, only breaking that streak for those entering this fall. Likewise, Columbia kept its tuition stable for three straight admission cycles.

Stanford and Harvard offer average annual awards of around $42,000 that are received by half the respective MBA programs’ students. Kellogg boasts that nearly two-thirds qualify for and receive financial aid.

But the M7 are not just the most illustrious of the world’s business schools. They are also the most expensive. Depending on living expenses, which fluctuate significantly according to school location and a student’s family size, two years of a full-time residential program at one of the M7 schools can cost anywhere from a quarter million dollars to well over $300K. The estimated average two-year cost at the M7 in 2023 is more than $241,000, up from around $229,000 in 2022. See table below for details.

Cost To Attend An M7 School

School	Estimated 2-Year Cost 2023	Estimated 2-Year Cost 2022	Estimated 2-Year Cost 2021	Y-O-Y Change $	Y-O-Y Change %	Tuition 2023	Tuition 2022	Y-O-Y Change
Harvard	$227,944	$224,306	$223,360	$3,638	1.6%	$74,910	$73,440	$1,470
Wharton	$246,952	$234,032	$227,159	$12,920	5.5%	$87,370	$84,874	$2,496
Columbia	$249,518	$241,237	$236,410	$8,281	3.4%	$84,496	$80,542	$3,954
Booth	$246,549	$226,917	$222,183	$19,632	8.7%	$80,961	$77,841	$3,120
Kellogg	$237,691	$228,917	$218,855	$8,774	3.8%	$81,015	$78,276	$2,739
Stanford	$250,854	$244,353	$238,608	$6,501	2.7%	$79,860	$76,950	$2,910
MIT	$229,175	$237,993	$238,844	-$8,818	-3.7%	$84,200	$80,400	$3,800

An MBA from one of the M7 schools is, simply put, a ladder to higher status in society. In 2022, median starting salaries ticked upward at all seven schools, while bonuses were mostly flat, declining only in Chicago (after rising last year). Median compensation, calculated using the percentage of those reporting a bonus, grew at all seven schools after having fallen at three in 2021; moreover, some of the M7 schools report — and all have grads who receive — other compensation such as stock and relocation options, which add to their totals. In short, for a thrifty MBA it should take no more than 5 years to pay off the cost of their degree.

Nor do M7 grads need to sweat finding a job in the first place — for them, placement rates are always remarkably stable.

Pay & Placement At The M7 – Class of 2022

Data	Harvard	Wharton	Columbia	Booth	Kellogg	Stanford	MIT
2022 Median Base Salary	$175,000 ($150,000)	$175,000 ($155,000)	$175,000 ($150,000)	$175,000 ($155,000)	$164,000 ($150,000)	$175,000 ($158,000)	$165,000 ($150,000)
2022 Average Signing Bonus	$30,000 ($30,000)	N/A ($30,000)	$30,000 ($30,000)	$30,000 ($35,000)	$30,000 ($30,000)	$30,000 ($30,000)	$30,000 ($30,000)
2022 Average Total Compensation*	$193,000 ($165,800)	N/A	$199,780 ($172,140)	$196,600 ($178,450)	$190,982 ($175,800)	$189,100 ($173,600)	$196,180 ($171,630)
2022 Job Offers	95%	99.8%	95%	94.3%	94%	93%	83.8%
2022 Job Acceptances (3 Months)	90%	99.5%	92%	96.3%	96.3%	84%	94.4%

*Estimate; (2021 data in parentheses)

And where do M7 MBAs go to work once they have left the rarefied air of their respective B-schools? You may not be surprised to learn that the largest group of Harvard, Wharton, and Columbia grads work in finance, or that Booth and Kellogg send most of their MBAs into consulting — as it has always been. But it might interest you to know that Stanford techies — despite their location in the heart of Silicon Valley — are actually second at the school to finance grads? And that most Sloanies are consultants, with tech and finance tied this year for second?

Which schools produce the most entrepreneurs? Which send the most MBAs into healthcare? See the Class of 2022 distribution below for answers, with Class of 2021 in parentheses for year-to-year comparisons.

Industry Choices Of M7 Class of 2022 MBAs

Class of 2022	Harvard	Wharton	Columbia	Booth	Kellogg	Stanford	MIT
Consulting	26% (23%)	24% (27.2%)	33.6% (33.4%)	35.5% (34.4%)	38% (33.2%)	15% (18%)	31.2% (28.3%)
Finance	34% (35%)	38.6% (35.1%)	36.9% (36%)	35.1% (27%)	17% (14.2%)	33% (33%)	22.6% (21.4%)
Tech	19% (19%)	16.9% (18.6%)	4.7% (17%)	14.9% (22.9%)	24% (30.1%)	30% (29%)	22.6% (25%)
CPG/Retail	4% (3%)	1.6% (1.4%)	1.1% (2.9%)	2.9% (4.4%)	8% (7.8%)	2% (2%)	3.6% (4%)
Healthcare	5% (6%)	5.6% (5.3%)	3.3% (2.3%)	4.1% (3.3%)	4% (6.8%)	5% (5%)	6.8% (9.8%)
Manufacturing	5% (4%)	1.3% (1.4%)	3.2% (4.1%)	0.4% (0.9%)	2% (2.1%)	0% (1%)	2% (8.3%)
Energy	N/A (N/A)	1% (0.9%)	N/A (N/A)	0.06% (1.1%)	0% (0.4%)	2% (1%)	2% (1.8%)
Media/Entertainment	3% (3%)	1.3% (1.6%)	N/A (1.9%)	0.04% (N/A)	1% (0.6%)	5% (4%)	2% (1.8%)
Nonprofit	3% (3%)	1.3% (N/A)	1.4% (1.4%)	0.4% (N/A)	1% (0.4%)	1% (N/A)	1.2% (0.6%)
Entrepreneurship	N/A (8%)	0% (2.7%)	N/A (2.1%)	3% (4.8%)	0% (2.3%)	18% (18%)	0% (4.2%)