Stanford MBA Jobs: GSBers' Total Pay Declines For A 2nd Straight Year

The Stanford GSB Class of 2025 saw its average total compensation decline slightly from its 2024 predecessors

For Stanford Graduate School of Business MBAs, 2025 was a year of steadier footing — and a quieter warning.

Base salaries rose modestly, median salaries held at a record level, and job placement improved slightly from a year earlier. But when bonuses and incentive pay are factored in, total compensation slipped for a second straight year, albeit modestly, extending a downturn that began in 2024 and marking another year of erosion at the top end of MBA pay.

Using Poets&Quants’ total compensation methodology – which combines base salary with sign-on and expected performance bonuses, adjusted to reflect the share of graduates receiving them – total pay for Stanford MBAs in 2025 fell to $267,551, down 0.3% from $268,490 for the Class of 2024. The decline comes a year after total compensation dropped for the first time at Stanford in more than a decade, underscoring continued softness in bonus and incentive pay even as base salaries have stabilized.

STEADIER OUTCOMES, MODEST GAINS

Still, the Class of 2025 fared better than its predecessor across several key metrics.

According to the newly released Stanford GSB’s MBA Employment Report for 2025, graduates who accepted jobs reported an average base salary of $190,901, up 1.4% from $187,504 for the Class of 2024. The median base salary held steady at $185,000 for a second consecutive year, matching the highest figure ever reported by the school.

Outcomes also improved modestly. Of the 426 graduates in the Class of 2025, 63% actively sought employment, up from 58% the year before. Among those job seekers, 66% had received offers by graduation, and 54% had accepted them. Three months later, 90% had secured offers, up from 88%, and 81% had accepted, up from 80%.

Expected performance bonuses were the big laggard this year, with the average bonus down nearly 11% to $89,605 from an all-time high of $100,535. This one factor resulted in the decline in overall compensation even though more reported receiving these bonuses (66% compared to 64%), as median sign-on bonus remained flat at $30,000, and average signing bonus levels grew 5.7% to $35,888 from $33,967. More graduates received those, too: 51% to 49%.

TECH REBOUNDS, FINANCE SLIPS

The industry mix shifted sharply in 2025, with technology emerging as the largest destination for Stanford MBAs. Tech roles accounted for 35% of accepted offers, up from 22% a year earlier – the largest tech share for a Stanford MBA class since at least 2013. The sector surpassed finance as the top destination for the first time since 2018, which is also the last time technology led all industries for a Stanford graduating class.

Finance slipped to second place, drawing 33% of job-seeking graduates. Private equity, venture capital, and investment management remained core destinations, but the sector no longer dominated outcomes to the same degree. Consulting continued its gradual contraction, accounting for 11% of placements, down from 14% a year ago.

Finance still delivered the highest average salaries, at just over $204,000 (led by investment/hedge fund managers at ($219,915), but the gap narrowed as tech compensation rose to roughly $192,000 on average. Consulting pay softened slightly, while healthcare and energy remained smaller but stable segments of the employment mix.

“The MBA Class of 2025 demonstrated a thoughtful approach to their post-graduation careers, with Technology, Finance and Consulting emerging as top sectors as well as a continued focus on entrepreneurial endeavors, reflecting Stanford’s strong startup ecosystem,” Jamie Schein, assistant dean and director of the GSB’s Career Management Center, says in a statement accompanying the release of the employment report.

STANFORD MBA CLASS OF 2025 PAY BY INDUSTRY

Industry	% of 2025 Class	Median Base Salary	Average Base Salary	25th Percentile	75th Percentile	Median Expected Performance Bonus	Average Expected Performance Bonus	Median Signing Bonus	Average Signing Bonus
FINANCE	33%	$200,000	$204,104	$180,000	$225,000	$145,000	$147,810	$27,500	$41,000
Private Equity	16%	$20,000	$201,429	$183,750	$215,000	$150,000	$152,889	$27,500	$38,750
Investment Mgt.& Hedge Funds	8%	$212,500	$219,915	$200,000	$240,000	$205,000	$231,591	$60,000	$56,111
Venture Capital	6%	$212,500	$212,000	$171,250	$262,500	$35,000	$46,143	NA	NA
I-Banking	3%	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
Other	1%	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
TECHNOLOGY	35%	$185,000	$192,394	$170,000	$210,750	$30,000	$47,536	$25,000	$24,907
Enterprise	19%	$195,000	$202,138	$176,000	$225,000	$35,000	$48,769	$17,000	$20,464
Consumer	7%	$165,000	$176,042	$161,250	$186,250	$25,000	$54,942	$35,000	$34,200
FinTech	4%	$199,000	$177,800	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
Other Tech	4%	$188,000	$190,167	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
CONSULTING	11%	$192,000	$187,765	$190,000	$192,000	$30,000	$34,133	$30,000	$40,667
HEALTHCARE	5%	$175,000	$183,000	$160,000	$180,000	NA	NA	NA	NA
NONPROFIT	1%	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
CPG	2%	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
ENERGY	4%	$166,000	$169,625	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
MEDIA/ENTERTAINMENT	2%	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
REAL ESTATE	1%	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
RETAIL	1%	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
OTHER*	3%	$175,000	$168,002	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

* Includes Automotive, Government, Manufacturing (non-automotive), and Transportation & Logistics; source: Stanford GSB

STANFORD VS. HARVARD: DIFFERENT RECOVERIES

Stanford’s results stand in contrast to those reported this winter by Harvard Business School, where the MBA Class of 2025 saw a much clearer rebound in total compensation. At Harvard, rising base salaries were reinforced by a recovery in bonuses and incentive pay, pushing overall compensation meaningfully higher after a soft 2024.

It has historically been difficult to compare the two programs, widely regarded as the two best MBA programs in the United States, because of key structural differences between the two programs. Harvard traditionally sends a much larger share of its class into traditional post-MBA roles – particularly consulting and finance, sectors that tend to deliver richer bonus packages. Stanford, meanwhile, has been a school where a smaller share of grads seek conventional employment and a sizable portion pursue entrepreneurial or self-directed paths, making the school’s outcomes more vulnerable to volatility in incentive pay. But even this paradigm is shifting: This year 16% of Stanford’s Class of 2025 pursued entrepreneurship, down from 18% in 2024; Harvard saw 17% of its latest class go the startup route.

There is also the difficulty of an apples-to-apples comparison when Harvard does not publish average salaries, instead confining its report to median figures.

STANFORD MBA INDUSTRIES 2017-2025

Industry – %	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017
FINANCE	33	37	38	33	33	34	33	31	31
Private Equity	16	20	18	14	15	15	16	13	15
Investment Mgt.	8	9	2	5	4	7	3	5	3
Venture Capital	6	7	13	12	11	9	9	9	7
I-Banking	3	2	NA	NA	NA	1	1	2	1
Other Finance	1	NA	5	2	4	2	1	1	3
TECHNOLOGY	35	22	24	30	29	28	24	33	25
Enterprise	19	9	10	10	6	13	NA	NA	NA
Consumer Electronics	7	6	9	7	14	11	NA	2	1
FinTech	4	5	2	7	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
Other Tech	4	2	3	4	NA	4	1	2	3
CONSULTING	11	14	15	15	18	15	18	18	20
HEALTHCARE	5	6	4	5	5	4	6	5	4
NONPROFIT	1	NA	1	1	NA	1	1	4	3
CPG	2	2	3	2	2	4	3	2	4
ENERGY	4	5	3	2	1	1	1	1	1
MEDIA/ENTERTAINMENT	2	5	2	5	4	3	3	3	1
RETAIL	1	NA	NA	NA	NA	1	1	NA	2
GOVERNMENT	NA	2	NA	1	NA	0	NA	NA	NA
REAL ESTATE	1	2	2	2	2	3	2	1	3
OTHER	3	4	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

Source: Stanford GSB

DON’T MISS HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL CLASS OF 2025 JOBS REPORT: OFFERS REBOUND, PAY SOARS and 2024 BROUGHT SMALL SALARY, BIG BONUS SETBACKS FOR STANFORD MBAs

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