<p>Top MBA schools are around $200,000+. Yet once you get out of there, you start making around $135,000, or a little less. Is it all worth it? These numbers are based off of the US News reports. IM sure some make much more, and much less.</p>
<p>Hey, I think you forget that $135,000 is PER year and you work for more than 1 year! lol And now you do the math for the rest :D</p>
<p>
[quote]
Top MBA schools are around $200,000+. Yet once you get out of there, you start making around $135,000, or a little less. Is it all worth it? These numbers are based off of the US News reports. IM sure some make much more, and much less.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>$135k/200k is a 0.675 ratio. </p>
<p>As a point of comparison, a bachelor's degree, even from a public school, probably costs around $80k total (including room & board), and we're not even talking about the opportunity cost of not working. Yet the average college grad makes only $35k to start. That's only a 0.4375 ratio, which is even worse than the MBA ratio calculated above. So does that mean that a bachelor's degree isn't worth it either?</p>
<p>no wonder they can afford nice cars..</p>
<p>$135K?</p>
<p>Good luck trying to find one of those jobs coming out of b-school in this market.</p>
<p>It might be wise to explore an MBA at a school in a state where you're already a resident. This could knock out-of-state tuition out of the picture, and cut the cost more than in half.</p>
<p>How do you figure top MBA schools cost $200K+? If you include opportunity cost, then yes, but otherwise, thought it was still below $150K.</p>
<p>HBS is $50k/year = $100k, plus room and board for 2 years in Boston? Yeah, I can see that.</p>
<p>Still, your ROI is very nice.</p>
<p>$100K+ for room and board for two years in Boston as a student? I don't think so. </p>
<p>As a member of the working world in NYC post-MBA, my costs are much less than that.</p>
<p>Well, given the ridiculously lavish lifestyle that many HBS students enjoy, I can certainly see some of them easily splashing out more than $100k a year just on "room and board". Some of them think nothing about going out every night, and spending $100+ per night on food and drinks (Ok, mostly drinks). </p>
<p>But I certainly agree that you don't need to have that kind of lifestyle.</p>
<p>Historically, the top MBA schools put their graduates in a position to get some lucrative jobs. You don't get back the money immediately, but in time. Whether that is worth it for any individual has to be analyzed.</p>
<p>The return if you do well in a top program is unmatched. The $135K figure counts people who choose non profit, teaching, etc. and there are many. </p>
<p>That return goes down considerably in lower ranked programs. I question return in any program ranked below 25.</p>
<p>Maybe you should get your MBA so that you know how to run the numbers and determine whether it is truly worth it or not.</p>
<p>$50 million dollar bonuses and millions of dollars worth in stock options? Is that worth it?</p>
<p>
[quote]
you start making around $135,000, or a little less.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I am sure salaries for 2009 grads will be a little less. We want to look at the base salaries, not including the one time signing bonus. The other guaranteed compensation part will be more or less irrelevant.</p>
<p>Career</a> Hiring Data - MBA Recruiting - Harvard Business School</p>
<p>I have this question too. Even if you go to Harvard, Wharton, etc., is the salary bump worth it? </p>
<p>As noted, these schools charge $100k total just for tuition. If you figure $30k/year to live (including room, board, health insurance, car, etc.), that's $160k total, without a lavish lifestyle by any measure.</p>
<p>So is paying $160k worth it? What if you decide you want to start a company/write a book/change careers/etc.?</p>
<p>EDIT: Thanks, munkeegirl!</p>
<p>it's not 160k/year. It's just 160k.</p>
<p>Only yourself can answer the question "is it worth it?"
Everyone's own personal situation is unique. For example, if you only are making 60k and don't ever expect to break 6 figures, then sure, investing 200k to make 135k/yr is absolutely worth it. However, if you are already earning 80-90k and believe that you can continue to be successful then maybe a 200k MBA isn't worth it. So if you feel that you could achieve the same success without an MBA and save the tuition and opp. cost then forgoing an MBA may be worth it. Personally, I don't mind investing in human capital if it meant receiving a higher salary and a salary that will increase more rapidly then I would have had without an MBA. Also some b-schools post an average pre-mba salary and the post-mba salary immediately after graduation, this would be worth taking into consideration also.</p>
<p>Perhaps there is a mistake here. The investment (tuition etc) is one time only. Yet the return, say $135000, is mentioned only once but you earn that, theoretically, year after year after year, that is, if your salary went up because of the MBA by say $50, 000 you make up the investment in 4 yrs and thereafter make a profit, so to speak.</p>
<p>ramaswami: I absolutely agree with you on that... I can't believe that many people have ignore that fact: our salary is a cash in flow of many years and the MBA is just a one time cost. We can use IRR, net present value ... to calculate our net profit.</p>