Best MBA for working in the United States

A ranking on one column, and why

Very few employment reports say what graduates earn in each country. American schools publish their salaries for the whole class, which is overwhelmingly employed in the United States, and they split it by industry and job, not by country. A regional ranking that required a regional salary would cover a handful of schools. So for the United States, as for every region on this site, the order follows the share of the class placed there. Salary and payback stay in the table for information: when the United States takes at least 50% of the class, the school-wide salary stands in for a US figure and carries an asterisk.

26 American schools place 90% or more of their class at home, so the top of the table is a near tie decided by one or two points. Those points come from how many graduates leave for other countries, which says more about the international mix of the class than about the school's strength in America. The class profiles point the same way: international students make up on average 34.8% of the class at the five leading American schools, against 38.6% at the other American schools in the table.

Share or headcount: two different questions

Harvard places about 868 graduates in American jobs, the largest number in the ranking, even though its share is not the highest. A candidate asks two questions: will I find work in the country, and who will be there to help me? The share answers the first for the average graduate. The number of alumni hired each year answers the second, because it decides how many former students sit in each bank, firm or technology company you will contact.

The country is also not one market. Reports that split the United States by region usually show most graduates staying in the part of the country where the school sits, with New York, the Bay Area and a few large metropolitan areas drawing from everywhere. A school in Texas or the Southeast that keeps nearly its whole class in the country often keeps much of it in its own region, which is an advantage for someone who wants to live there and a limit for someone who wants the coasts.

Texas McCombs: where the class went

Industry, segment or regionConsultingFinance, all segmentsTechnologyHealthcareConsumer goods and retailEnergyWorking in the United StatesJob: consulting or strategyJob: product managementJob: general managementJob: marketingJob: corporate financeJob: operations and supply chain

Share of the class

28%

Salary reported	$190,000
Graduates, about	66
Payback with that salary	3.0 years

Reference person earning $90,000 before the MBA.

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Schools abroad with an American line

Oxford Saïd (14%), LBS (12%), HEC Paris (11%), Cambridge Judge (10%), RSM (8%), EDHEC (7%), INSEAD (6%), Warwick (5.9%) and Alliance MBS (5%) report enough graduates in the United States to enter the table. Oxford Saïd (£116,827), LBS (£143,262) and HEC Paris ($134,000) also publish a North American salary, in the school's currency, a figure no American school separates. These programs suit someone who wants to study in Europe or Asia and keep the American market open, and their small shares are what the outcome looks like in practice: a minority of the class, usually people with a prior link to the United States.

HKU (4%), IESE (3%) and Queen's Smith (2%) report a US line under 5% of the class and are listed but not ranked. A school can also report the country only in part, for instance a few American regions without the total; the school page shows the exact lines.

What the share cannot tell an international student

The figure that matters most to an international candidate is the share of international graduates who found work in the United States, and almost no report gives it. According to USCIS, F-1 students can work up to 12 months after the degree on Optional Practical Training, and graduates of eligible STEM programs can apply for a 24-month extension; several schools have designated their MBA or a track of it as STEM, which the school page or the school itself confirms. Beyond that period, most employers must sponsor an H-1B visa, which is subject to an annual cap. Large consulting firms, banks and technology companies are used to the process; many smaller employers are not. The hiring cycle matters too: in a slow year, firms hire fewer graduates who need sponsorship first.