Getting an MBA degree is supposed to lead to a higher salary, right? That’s what a lot of people think – but it’s not necessarily true. According to a recent article from the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ (NACE) Journal of Salary Administration, while business schools have the greatest number of graduates (24.6 %), they only have the eighteenth highest average starting salary ($98,659).
Salaries for MBAs have trended downward over the past few years. Researchers from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) found in 2012 that the average salary for MBAs was $115,000. By 2014, this number dropped to $112,000 for women and $120,000 for men.
Average starting salary for mba graduates
According to PayScale’s 2015-2016 survey, the average starting salary for MBA graduates is $75,833. This is a 2.7% increase from 2014. The data comes from 296 colleges.
Hopefully, this salary benchmarking guide has broadened your job hunting horizons. If you want to work for a financial firm, software company, or even a top consultancy firm—take a look at the above list of average MBA salaries and see if you’re willing to make that kind of commitment. And with that said, there’s no guarantees in any career field; all we can do is try to stack the odds in our favor.
The opportunity to learn from renowned experts, earn a degree from an elite university, and make connections with managers and CEOs are the major incentives for pursuing an MBA degree. However, the costs of obtaining such a degree will make or break an individual’s decision to pursue this path of education. It is essential that future students are financially prepared for any additional expenses that may arise while obtaining their MBA degrees.
This is my top choice. I’m always looking for new information about potential careers, especially for careers that have a high starting salary (let’s be honest, I’m all about the dollars). My previous blog post was focused on the entry level side of things and not so much on salaries. This blog post should add to the information and provide details that I didn’t include in mine. That way it will be even more possible to help people make informed career choices.
