But for many MBA students, the return on investment still looks hard to beat.
“The enduring benefit of business school from a top school is as long as you select the right industries, the economic return is lucrative,” he said.
“That’s an easy one for me,” said the Trilogy Software and ESW Capital founder. “There’s nothing on the business knowledge that you’re going to come out of there that is a fraction of what you would get from building your own thing for that two years.”
Outcomes across the other so-called “Magnificent 7” business schools—Chicago (Booth), Columbia Business School, MIT (Sloan), Northwestern (Kellogg), Stanford (GSB), UPenn (Wharton)—show similar strength. Recent graduates reported median base salaries ranging from about $175,000 to $185,000 within three months of receiving their diploma.
Admission to a top program, she said, is effectively entry into an “elite club of industry-wide influencers and changemakers”—along with the expectation graduates will perform at a high level.
“Employers are competing for top talent to fill these positions because the stakes are high—missed opportunities or unforced errors in investment banking or top-tier consulting firms can cost millions of dollars,” Coward added. “With great responsibility comes great compensation, but also an expectation for impeccable performance and well-vetted talent.”
If the six-figure salaries sound appealing, getting into a top MBA program is far from easy. Acceptance rates at many leading programs typically fall between 20% and 30%, making admission highly competitive.
According to Beaton, successful applicants typically demonstrate four key qualities:
Coward encourages applicants to think about admissions in terms of mutual return on investment—not just what the school can offer them, but what they can bring to the program.
“There are limited seats in each cohort. If the admissions office says ‘yes’ to you that means they have to say ‘no’ to another applicant who could be just as qualified,” she said. “What is your ROI to the incoming cohort and the brand’s reputation?”
