This is the best time in history to graduate with an MBA degree, according to John Byrne, the founder and editor of Poets & Quants.
Poets & Quants, a website providing coverage of graduate business schools, has been keeping track of employment and salary statistics for this year’s new MBAs.
“At all the top schools, placement rates are above 90 percent within three months of graduation and starting compensation is well into the six figures,” said Byrne.
The Stanford Graduate School of Business reported 92 percent of its graduates receiving job offers 90 days after its graduation ceremony. Though, only 88 percent have accepted an offer.
Below is Poets & Quants list of schools that released information on this year’s employment of MBAs.
The top industries hiring MBAs are financial services (asset management), consulting and tech.
Consulting firms have been upping their starting pay packages to Harvard MBAs, reported Poets & Quants, by around $5,000 for the third year in a row. In 2014 consulting firms offered Harvard MBAs a bit over $160,000; in 2017 they’ve shelled out almost $175,000. These figures include sign-on bonuses and other types of compensation like tuition reimbursement or stock options, according to Poets & Quants.
On the downside, Byrne said, this success applies to the top 50 programs. Other programs lack the necessary resources to deal with current pressures, he said, such as declining interest in two-year programs, the increase of alternative programs like online MBA degrees and accelerated one-year programs, and declining international applicants.