Best MBA for… · figures from each school’s own report
Best MBA for investment banking in 2026
Chicago Booth leads our investment banking ranking today, with 8.3% of its class hired by banks and a salary of $175,000.
Best fit for investment banking, on your salary
Chicago Booth
8.3% of the class (about 53 graduates) · $175,000 · payback 4.1 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 2% of the class are not ranked. Method.
| # | School | Share | About | Salary | Payback | 10-year NPV | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chicago BoothChicago · 21 months | 8.3% | 53 | $175,000 | 4.1 years | $260,413 | 63 |
| 2 | Yale SOMNew Haven · 21 months | 18% | 66 | $175,000 | 4.3 years | $234,097 | 60 |
| 3 | UCLA AndersonLos Angeles · 21 months | 13.3% | 38 | $175,000 | 4.2 years | $245,041 | 60 |
| 4 | WhartonPhiladelphia · 21 months | 14.2% | 126 | $175,000 | 4.3 years | $240,066 | 58 |
| 5 | NYU SternNew York · 21 months | 28% | 94 | $175,000 | 4.7 years | $194,432 | 55 |
| 6 | Berkeley HaasBerkeley · 21 months | 6.5% | 18 | $175,000 | 4.2 years | $252,244 | 54 |
| 7 | ColumbiaNew York · 20 months | 17.1% | 168 | $175,000 | 4.5 years | $223,915 | 50 |
| 8 | Dartmouth TuckHanover · 21 months | 13% | 40 | $175,000 | 4.3 years | $234,883 | 48 |
| 9 | CMU TepperPittsburgh · 21 months | 4.5% | 6 | $175,000 | 4.1 years | $258,237 | 46 |
| 10 | KelloggEvanston · 21 months | 6.4% | 34 | $175,000 | 4.3 years | $241,009 | 42 |
| 11 | MIT SloanCambridge · 21 months | 3.6% | 16 | $175,000 | 4.2 years | $245,659 | 37 |
| 12 | HarvardBoston · 21 months | 6% | 57 | $175,000 | 4.4 years | $227,927 | 28 |
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: Oxford Saïd 5% (no salary published) · Stanford GSB 3% (no salary published).
Built by Radif Partners · figures checked · Method · Editorial policy
Investment banking is a narrow line inside the finance section of an employment report, and only 12 schools publish it in a form we can rank. Today Chicago Booth comes first, with 8.3% of its class in investment banking and a salary of $175,000, followed by Yale SOM (18%, $175,000) and UCLA Anderson (13.3%, $175,000). The largest proportion belongs to NYU Stern, at 28%. 12 schools report the same banking base of $175,000, so cost and share weigh more than pay. The ten-year value assumes a reference person earning $90,000 before the MBA; type your own salary in the finder above and the 12 schools are ranked again. Schools that report banking only inside a single finance line, or that publish no salary for it, are listed below the ranking with the reason, never scored on a guess.
A segment, not an industry
Employment reports give finance as one industry and then, when the school chooses, break it into segments. Investment banking is the segment that covers mergers advice, equity and debt capital markets and, at some schools, sales and trading; the label on each school page is the school's own. Because it is a slice of a slice, shares are small and the bar for ranking is lower: 2% of the class instead of the 5% used for whole industries. 12 schools clear it with all the figures the score needs.
| # | School | Share of class | Graduates, about | Salary | Payback | 10-year NPV | Fit score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chicago Booth | 8.3% | 53 | $175,000 | 4.1 years | $260,413 | 63 |
| 2 | Yale SOM | 18% | 66 | $175,000 | 4.3 years | $234,097 | 60 |
| 3 | UCLA Anderson | 13.3% | 38 | $175,000 | 4.2 years | $245,041 | 60 |
| 4 | Wharton | 14.2% | 126 | $175,000 | 4.3 years | $240,066 | 58 |
| 5 | NYU Stern | 28% | 94 | $175,000 | 4.7 years | $194,432 | 55 |
| 6 | Berkeley Haas | 6.5% | 18 | $175,000 | 4.2 years | $252,244 | 54 |
| 7 | Columbia | 17.1% | 168 | $175,000 | 4.5 years | $223,915 | 50 |
| 8 | Dartmouth Tuck | 13% | 40 | $175,000 | 4.3 years | $234,883 | 48 |
| 9 | CMU Tepper | 4.5% | 6 | $175,000 | 4.1 years | $258,237 | 46 |
| 10 | Kellogg | 6.4% | 34 | $175,000 | 4.3 years | $241,009 | 42 |
Every ranked school publishes its own banking salary. NYU Stern has the highest share and Columbia the most bankers by number, about 168.
How a banking offer is paid
Post-MBA bankers join as associates. Large banks set an associate base for each class year in each city, which is why 12 schools print the same banking salary, $175,000. The base is the smaller part of the first full year for many associates: the year-end bonus depends on the bank's results, the group and the individual rating, and it is never published by schools. A good bonus year makes banking look far better than the table shows; a poor one narrows the gap with consulting, where the base is the larger part of pay.
The hours explain part of that premium, and attrition explains the rest. Many associates leave after two or three years for private equity, corporate development or a company finance team, so the ten-year value, which assumes steady salary growth, is a convention rather than a forecast.
The calendar starts before classes do
Banks fill most of their MBA associate seats through the summer program. Firms open networking events in the first weeks of the first year, students apply for the summer within a few months, and offers to return come at the end of the summer. Career switchers carry the burden: someone without a finance background needs the technical preparation done before arriving. One-year programs have no summer, so their banking hires come from direct recruiting and are fewer; very few of them appear in this table.
Chicago Booth or Yale SOM: the faster payback for you
Higher 10-year value
Chicago Booth
| Chicago Booth payback | 4.1 years |
| Yale SOM payback | 4.3 years |
| Chicago Booth 10-year NPV | $260,413 |
| Yale SOM 10-year NPV | $234,097 |
Distance to the trading floors
The 2 schools of the table located in New York, NYU Stern and Columbia, place on average 22.6% of the class in banking, against 9.4% for the other ranked schools. Being a subway ride from the banks lets students take coffee meetings during term, attend evening events and hold part-time roles during the year, which matters in a recruiting process built on early networking. A school far from a financial center compensates with treks and alumni events, and students who already worked at a bank before the MBA lose less from the distance than career switchers do.
Banking schools that are not ranked
Oxford Saïd (5%) and Stanford GSB (3%) report a banking line without a salary we can attach to it, so they are not scored. A share that equals the school's whole finance line suggests the school did not split the segment out; the school page shows the exact wording. 42 schools in our data publish a finance share with no banking line at all; for them, the finance ranking is the relevant one.
What the numbers leave out
An international student targeting a bank in New York or London depends on the bank's willingness to sponsor a work visa, which the reports do not measure. Banking hiring is also cyclical: in a year with few deals, banks take smaller associate classes and a report shows a lower share for reasons outside the school. And a share counts the graduates who accepted banking offers, not those who wanted one. The investment banking career page covers the job itself.