Salaries in the Top Business Schools
Graduates of the nation's top business schools have the reputation for working in highly lucrative industries like management consulting, investment banking, and investment management. Graduates of two of the nation's top programs -- Stanford University's Graduate School of Business and Harvard Business School -- earned median annual compensation in excess of $150,000 in their first year out of school, excluding performance bonuses.
Other People Are Reading
-
Top Business Schools
-
Various companies publish rankings of business schools and one of the best known is U.S. News & World Report. In their 2011 survey of 437 business schools, the publisher awarded the top three spots to, respectively, Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, Harvard Business School and The Wharton School and Sloan MIT (tied for third place).
Components of Compensation
-
Most business schools publish an annual employment report containing compensation information about each graduating class. The figures are typically broken down into three categories: base salary, signing bonus, and other guaranteed compensation. The last component usually refers to guaranteed bonuses. Discretionary performance bonuses are not captured by the statistics, and can be significant, particularly in finance where they can exceed the amount of base salary.
-
Median Compensation
-
Data from the top two business schools indicates median compensation well into the six-figure range. Median annual compensation for Stanford University's Graduate School of Business graduates was $165,000 broken down into median base salary of $120,000, signing bonus of $20,000, and additional compensation of $25,000. Harvard Business School's median compensation was $153,000, broken down into median base salary of $110,000, signing bonus of $20,000, and additional compensation of $23,000.
Compensation by Industry, Function, and Geography
-
Median statistics mask differences in compensation among different industries, functions, and geographies. At Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, for example, the highest median base salaries were in private equity and investment management ($150,000), and the lowest salaries in nonprofit ($80,000). By function, private equity and investment management received the highest median salaries ($150,000) and strategy planning and other finance jobs the lowest ($100,000). By geography, the United States came in first with a median base salary of $120,000 and Mexico last at $85,000.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Ryan McVay/Stockbyte/Getty Images
