Best MBA for… · figures from each school’s own report
Best MBA for consulting: our 2026 ranking
UVA Darden places 37.3% of its class in consulting at a reported $190,000, the strongest combination in our ranking today.
Best fit for consulting, on your salary
UVA Darden
37.3% of the class (about 135 graduates) · $190,000 · payback 3.5 years
Fit score: share of the class (40%), salary (30%) and ten-year NPV for you (30%), each as a percentile among the schools shown. Schools under 5% of the class are not ranked. Method.
| # | School | Share | About | Salary | Payback | 10-year NPV | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UVA DardenCharlottesville · 21 months | 37.3% | 135 | $190,000 | 3.5 years | $365,502 | 86 |
| 2 | KelloggEvanston · 21 months | 37.5% | 200 | $190,000 | 3.7 years | $349,220 | 84 |
| 3 | Dartmouth TuckHanover · 21 months | 41% | 125 | $190,000 | 3.7 years | $343,094 | 84 |
| 4 | Chicago BoothChicago · 21 months | 36.7% | 233 | $190,000 | 3.5 years | $368,625 | 83 |
| 5 | Duke FuquaDurham · 21 months | 34% | 122 | $190,000 | 3.5 years | $375,543 | 82 |
| 6 | Michigan RossAnn Arbor · 21 months | 33.5% | 127 | $190,000 | 3.4 years | $380,749 | 82 |
| 7 | Yale SOMNew Haven · 21 months | 36.9% | 135 | $190,000 | 3.8 years | $342,309 | 76 |
| 8 | Texas McCombsAustin · 21 months | 28% | 66 | $190,000 | 3.0 years | $428,448 | 74 |
| 9 | MIT SloanCambridge · 21 months | 32.3% | 140 | $190,000 | 3.6 years | $353,870 | 72 |
| 10 | ColumbiaNew York · 20 months | 33.2% | 326 | $190,000 | 3.9 years | $333,666 | 69 |
| 11 | WhartonPhiladelphia · 21 months | 28.2% | 250 | $190,000 | 3.7 years | $348,278 | 69 |
| 12 | Berkeley HaasBerkeley · 21 months | 26.8% | 73 | $190,000 | 3.6 years | $360,456 | 68 |
| 13 | Emory GoizuetaAtlanta · 21 months | 40.8% | 52 | $175,000 | 3.9 years | $282,532 | 67 |
| 14 | Vanderbilt OwenNashville · 21 months | 29% | 46 | $175,000 | 3.6 years | $302,793 | 54 |
| 15 | HarvardBoston · 21 months | 21% | 198 | $190,000 | 3.8 years | $336,138 | 53 |
Share: % of the graduating class (or of those who accepted a job) the school reports for this goal. About: that share applied to the class size. * no salary published for this goal: school-wide figure. Salaries in US dollars at the ECB rate of the last update; “average” marks a mean where the school publishes no median.
Placing graduates here but not ranked: AGSM UNSW 10% (no salary published) · Alliance MBS 12% (no salary published) · CEIBS 9.7% (no living budget published) · EDHEC 10% (no salary published) · Fudan 13.7% (no salary published) · HKU 9% (no salary published) · IE 18.29% (no salary published) · IESE 41% (no salary published) · IIM Ahmedabad PGPX 17.9% (no living budget published) · IIM Bangalore EPGP 50% (no living budget published) · IIM Lucknow IPMX 35% (no living budget published) · Rice Jones 24.1% (no living budget published) · SKK GSB 21% (no salary published) · SMU 10% (no salary published) · WashU Olin 5.8% (no living budget published) · RSM 4% (under 5%).
Built by Radif Partners · figures checked · Method · Editorial policy
For consulting, the best MBA is the one whose class goes there in numbers and whose report shows what the firms paid. Reading each school's latest employment report, UVA Darden comes first today with 37.3% of its graduates hired in consulting and a consulting salary of $190,000, ahead of Kellogg (37.5%, $190,000) and Dartmouth Tuck (41%, $190,000). Pay barely separates the leaders: 13 ranked schools report exactly $190,000 for the industry, so the share of the class and the cost of the degree make the difference. The ten-year value is computed for a reference person earning $90,000 before the MBA. Enter your own salary in the finder above to re-rank the 38 schools; 17 more are listed under the table with the reason they are not ranked.
Same starting pay, different pipelines
Consulting is the industry where MBA salaries converge most. The firms that hire the most graduates set one base salary for their post-MBA associates in each country and pay it to everyone in the class of new hires, whatever the school. In the reports we read, 13 of the 38 ranked schools print the same figure, $190,000. That leaves two things to separate schools: how much of the class the firms take, and what the degree costs. The table weighs both, with the salary still counted for the schools whose graduates land in smaller firms or abroad at a lower base.
| # | School | Share of class | Graduates, about | Salary | Payback | 10-year NPV | Fit score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UVA Darden | 37.3% | 135 | $190,000 | 3.5 years | $365,502 | 86 |
| 2 | Kellogg | 37.5% | 200 | $190,000 | 3.7 years | $349,220 | 84 |
| 3 | Dartmouth Tuck | 41% | 125 | $190,000 | 3.7 years | $343,094 | 84 |
| 4 | Chicago Booth | 36.7% | 233 | $190,000 | 3.5 years | $368,625 | 83 |
| 5 | Duke Fuqua | 34% | 122 | $190,000 | 3.5 years | $375,543 | 82 |
| 6 | Michigan Ross | 33.5% | 127 | $190,000 | 3.4 years | $380,749 | 82 |
| 7 | Yale SOM | 36.9% | 135 | $190,000 | 3.8 years | $342,309 | 76 |
| 8 | Texas McCombs | 28% | 66 | $190,000 | 3.0 years | $428,448 | 74 |
| 9 | MIT Sloan | 32.3% | 140 | $190,000 | 3.6 years | $353,870 | 72 |
| 10 | Columbia | 33.2% | 326 | $190,000 | 3.9 years | $333,666 | 69 |
INSEAD has the deepest pipeline in proportion, with 50% of its graduates in consulting, while Columbia sends the largest number, about 326 people, because its class is larger. Both facts matter for a candidate: a high share means the curriculum, the clubs and the second-year students are organized around case interviews; a large number means more alumni in each office and more interview slots for the school.
Recruiting runs on the firms' calendar
Consulting hires MBA students mostly through the summer internship. Firms present on campus in the first autumn, case interviews for the internship take place in the first winter, and a good summer ends with a full-time offer before the second year starts. A student who arrives without a plan and decides in the spring has already missed the main round for that year. One-year programs compress the same steps into a few months and recruit mostly for direct full-time roles, which is why their consulting share can swing from one class to the next. Our case interview guide covers what the rounds test.
Strong consulting schools outside the ranking
Several schools send a large part of their class to consulting without publishing what those graduates earn: IESE (41%), SKK GSB (21%), IE (18.3%) and Fudan (13.7%). Without a salary the payback and the ten-year value cannot be computed, so these schools are shown apart rather than scored on a guess. IIM Bangalore EPGP (50%), IIM Lucknow IPMX (35%), Rice Jones (24.1%) and IIM Calcutta MBAEx (18.2%) publish a salary but no student living budget, which leaves the total cost open. RSM report a consulting line under 5% of the class, too thin to rank. If one of these schools is on your list, its page shows the full report line and the reason the figure is missing.
UVA Darden or Kellogg: the faster payback for you
Higher 10-year value
UVA Darden
| UVA Darden payback | 4.1 years |
| Kellogg payback | 4.3 years |
| UVA Darden 10-year NPV | $257,290 |
| Kellogg 10-year NPV | $241,009 |
What a consulting offer pays beyond the base
The salary column is a base. Post-MBA consulting offers usually add a signing bonus, sometimes a tuition reimbursement for sponsored students who return, and a performance bonus after the first year that depends on the firm and the rating. Reports give the signing bonus as a separate median when they give it at all, and none publishes the performance bonus. The ten-year value counts the signing bonus times the share of the class that received one, and nothing for the later bonuses, so it errs on the low side for a consultant who stays several years.
The wide gap between a strategy firm and the national average is visible in public data. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counts all management analysts, at every level and in every firm size, and its percentiles sit well below what the leading schools report:
Management analysts: where a salary sits in the U.S.
Position
below the median
| 25th percentile | $77,950 |
| Median | $101,860 |
| 75th percentile | $133,370 |
BLS, May 2025, all employers and levels.
What the table cannot tell you
Consulting firms hire by office. A school's report rarely says how many of its consulting hires needed a work visa, how many joined in the country of the school, or how many were sponsored students returning to a firm that paid for the degree. In a weak year firms can hire fewer associates or push start dates back, and the report of that class shows a lower share without anything changing at the school. Read the ranking as a picture of the last cycle, and check the employer list on each school page for the firms you actually want. The consulting career page explains the career path itself.