Tuck | Mr. Invest In Change
GMAT 710, GPA 3.1
Tuck | Mr. Chemical Engineer
GRE 326, GPA 3
INSEAD | Mr. Future AI Product Manager
GMAT 715, GPA 3.7
NYU Stern | Mr. Operations Strategy & Youth Leadership
GMAT 770, GPA 4
IE Business School | Mr. JD Garay
GRE GPA: 3.9, GPA 3.0
Kellogg SOM | Mr. Military To Entrepreneur
GMAT 745, GPA 2.38
London Business School | Mr. Decarbonisation
GMAT 695, GPA 3.5
Kellogg SOM | Mr. MENA Growth Equity
GMAT 730, GPA 3.4
Kellogg SOM | Mr. West Point Logistics
GRE 327, GPA 2.76
Harvard | Mr. Energy & AI PM
GRE 328, GPA 9.65
Tepper | Mr. Tech Mil-Veteran
GMAT TBD, GPA 3.35
Columbia | Mr. European MBB Consultant
GMAT 645 (Gmat Focus), GPA 8.2
MIT Sloan | Mr. Startup Strategy
GMAT 720, GPA 3.7
Stanford GSB | Mr. Mid-Market PE
GMAT 770, GPA 4
Stanford GSB | Mr. MBB Guy From Big 4 & Startup
GRE 325, GPA 3

MBA Pay By Occupation & Industry: Here’s How Much You’re Worth

A school-by-school look at how much MBA grads are earning in every industry

by: Jeff Schmitt on September 01, 2026 | 35 minute read

UCLA Anderson students outside Marion Anderson Hall.

MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT 

Want to work in the entertainment industry? Go to where the action is: New York City and Los Angeles. Technically, NYU Stern grads drew the highest salaries at $195,000, though intra-city rival Columbia Business School might be a better representation with 8 Media & Entertainment grads pulling in $153,621. Out West, 9 grads from UCLA Anderson started out at $135,022, while 3 USC Marshall grads earned $117,667 in an industry best-known for just-in-time hiring.

U.S. News Rank School 2025 Media and Entertainment Industry Low 2024 Media and Entertainment Industry Low 2023 Media and Entertainment Industry Low 2025 Media and Entertainment Industry Average 2024 Media and Entertainment Industry Average 2023 Media and Entertainment Industry Average 2025 Media and Entertainment Industry High 2024 Media and Entertainment Industry High 2023 Media and Entertainment Industry High
1 Stanford NA NA NA $162,900 $187,857 NA NA NA NA
2 Wharton NA $115,000 NA NA $151,600 NA NA $210,000 NA
3 University of Chicago (Booth) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
4 Northwestern (Kellogg) $67,123 $135,000 NA $152,308 $162,000 NA $250,000 $250,000 NA
4 Harvard $93,750 $135,000 $145,000 $172,282 $173,458 $155,000 $260,000 $270,000 $175,000
6 MIT (Sloan) NA NA $120,000 NA NA $190,000 NA NA $310,000
7 New York University (Stern) $145,000 $125,000 $110,000 $195,000 $139,250 $140,688 $240,000 $150,000 $193,440
7 Columbia $125,000 $87,000 $75,000 $153,621 $142,267 $132,857 $220,000 $190,000 $210,000
9 Dartmouth (Tuck) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
10 California-Berkeley (Haas) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
11 Yale SOM $130,000 $86,000 $85,000 $150,000 $105,166 $142,234 $160,000 $120,000 $181,170
11 Virginia (Darden) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
13 Michigan (Ross) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
14 Duke (Fuqua) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
15 Cornell (Johnson) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
16 Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
16 Vanderbilt (Owen) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
18 Texas (McCombs) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
18 UCLA (Anderson) $75,000 $83,200 $80,000 $135,022 $131,388 $129,624 $200,000 $175,000 $155,000
20 University of Washington (Foster) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
21 Indiana (Kelley) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
21 North Carolina (Kenan Flagler) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
23 Emory (Goizueta) $167,000 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
23 Texas-Dallas (Jindal) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
25 USC (Marshall) $95,000 $70,720 $95,000 $117,667 $94,831 $125,388 $133,000 $122,500 $184,000

NON-PROFITS

MBAs don’t enter the Non-Profit sector to make money…and the numbers bear it out. In 2025, Stanford GSB reported the highest average pay in the sector at $170,167 – a number based on six hires. While Yale SOM is known as the ‘Non-Profit’ school, it placed just four graduates in the field, at a $100,262 starting average no less.

U.S. News Rank School 2025 Non-Profit Industry Low 2024 Non-Profit Industry Low 2023 Non-Profit Industry Low 2025 Non-Profit Industry Average 2024 Non-Profit Industry Average 2023 Non-Profit Industry Average 2025 Non-Profit Industry High 2024 Non-Profit Industry High 2023 Non-Profit Industry High
1 Stanford NA NA $85,000 $170,167 NA $126,800 NA NA $185,000
2 Wharton $120,000 $95,000 $72,000 $158,442 $139,333 $130,000 $210,000 $250,000 $185,000
3 University of Chicago (Booth) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
4 Northwestern (Kellogg) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
4 Harvard $130,000 $70,000 $110,000 $141,643 $121,842 $145,722 $180,000 $180,000 $240,000
6 MIT (Sloan) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
7 New York University (Stern) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
7 Columbia NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
9 Dartmouth (Tuck) NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
10 California-Berkeley (Haas) NA $59,305 NA NA $114,551 NA NA $208,000 NA
11 Yale SOM $51,049 $90,000 $77,000 $100,262 $107,100 $108,907 $140,000 $135,000 $135,000
46 Boston U. (Questrom) NA NA $85,000 NA NA $97,500 NA NA $105,000
48 Arkansas (Walton) $50,000 NA NA $50,000 NA NA $50,000 NA NA

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