Setbacks In 2024 Placement & Salary For Grads Of Another Top U.S. MBA Program

Vanderbilt Class of 2024 MBAs had a base salary of just over $150K

Most of the top MBA programs in the United States won’t release their 2024 employment reports until after the Thanksgiving break, but a couple have beaten their peers to the punch, including Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business earlier this month.

Another is Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management, which last week became the first top-25 U.S. MBA program to release its 2024 employment data. Like its neighbor to the south, Vanderbilt had some setbacks in 2024, with declines in the percentage of MBAs who found jobs three months after graduation and in the average starting base salary of the graduating class.

Ninety percent of the Owen MBA Class of 2024 accepted job offers 90 days after graduation, down from a school-record 96% for the Class of 2023. The latest class had an average starting base salary of $150,246, down 2.5% from the previous class.

BIG DROP IN TECH PLACEMENT

Vanderbilt’s Emily Anderson: The tech industry “continued to navigate changing conditions”

“The results were lower than our record-breaking results in 2023,” writes Emily Anderson, executive director of Vanderbilt’s Career Management Center, in the forward to the report, “as employers continued to deal with economic uncertainty. However, most graduates were able to achieve their career goals and secure opportunities that will position them well for career growth in the upcoming years.”

Anderson points out that the median base salary for Owen grads, $150,000, is 20% higher than it was only three years ago and 27% more than the median base salary pre-Covid. Moreover, Owen MBAs reported that their average signing bonus grew slightly, to $34,849 from $34,591, with 88% of grads reporting receiving one (compared to 89% last year).

“Compensation,” Anderson writes, “is not the only factor a graduate might consider in evaluating potential opportunities, but it is an indicator of how the employment market values the degree and Owen graduates.”

Consulting continues to be the top industry for Owen MBAs, with 32% of the class entering the industry, though that is down from the 41% of the Class of 2023. Another 23% went into financial services (up from 21%), while 14% chose healthcare (up from 12%) and 10% consumer products (up from 6%). Tech dropped to 8% of the class from 11%.

99% OF CLASS OF 2025 SECURED INTERNSHIPS

Anderson notes that in 2024 the consulting, finance, and healthcare sectors accounted for nearly 70% of accepted full-time job opportunities. “The technology industry hiring was again slower this year, as the industry continued to navigate changing conditions.”

The consulting firms EY-Parthenon and EY accounted for 11 total hires of Owen MBAs this year, while Amazon, Deloitte, LEK Consulting, Mars Petcare, UnitedHealth Group, and Wells Fargo Corporate & Investment Banking each accounted for four hires.

After Nashville, where Vanderbilt is located, the top employment destination for Owen MBAs is New York, with 15 of the 2024 class headed to the Big Apple. Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth drew half a dozen each, while five each went to Boston, Seattle, and Atlanta.

And a bright spot for the future: 99% of the MBA Class of 2025 secured internships this summer, gaining experience with 89 companies.

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