Cost and return · figures from each school’s own report
Compare two or three MBA programs
INSEAD, LBS and Wharton cost $231,475, $364,753 and $402,342 for a $90,000 earner, and report three salaries that are not the same kind of figure.
Highest ten-year value for you
Wharton
NPV $312,208 · payback 3.9 years
| INSEAD | LBS | Wharton | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Program length | 10 months | 21 months | 21 months |
| Tuition and fees | $122,911 | $164,720 | $186,016 |
| Living budget | $33,564 | $42,533 | $84,866 |
| Total cost for you | $231,475 | $364,753 | $402,342 |
| Hired within three months | 81% | 86% | 87% |
| Salary reported | $111,880 | $121,772 | $185,000 |
| Kind of figure | median base salary | average base salary | median base salary |
| Payback after graduation | 7.6 years | 8.0 years | 3.9 years |
| 10-year NPV | -$9,307 | -$79,570 | $312,208 |
* school-wide salary: no figure published for this goal. US dollars at the ECB rate of the last update. Method.
Built by Radif Partners · figures checked · Method · Editorial policy
Comparing MBA programs well means comparing the same things: the total cost for you, salary given up included; the salary the school reports, with the kind of figure it is; the share of the class placed where you want to work; and the payback that follows from them. The tool opens on INSEAD, LBS and Wharton. For a person earning $90,000 today, INSEAD costs $231,475 over 10 months, LBS $364,753 over up to 21 and Wharton $402,342 over 21. Wharton reports a median base salary of $185,000, INSEAD a median base salary of €100,000, LBS an average base salary of £91,928. On those figures Wharton repays its cost 3.9 years after graduation, INSEAD 7.6 years and LBS 8.0 years. Two traps distort most comparisons: setting an average next to a median, and setting a one-year program next to a two-year one without counting the months of pay.
Four lines that make a fair comparison
The tool sets up to three schools in columns and reads the same lines for each: program length, tuition and fees, the living budget the school publishes, the total cost for your salary, the share of the class hired within three months or placed in the goal you choose, the salary reported for that goal, the kind of figure it is, the payback and the ten-year value. The highlighted result names the school with the highest ten-year value for you. That last line is the summary; the lines above it are where the decision is.
Change the goal before anything else. Set to consulting, the salary row shows what each school reports for consulting hires: €106,100 at INSEAD, £98,856 at LBS, $190,000 at Wharton. Set to a region, the share row shows how much of each class works there, which for many applicants matters more than any salary.
INSEAD or Wharton: the faster payback for you
Higher 10-year value
Wharton
| INSEAD payback | 7.6 years |
| Wharton payback | 3.9 years |
| INSEAD 10-year NPV | -$9,307 |
| Wharton 10-year NPV | $312,208 |
The mean against the median
An average base salary adds every graduate's base pay and divides by the number of graduates; a median is the pay of the graduate in the middle. In a class where most people earn close to a standard offer and a few earn far more, the average sits above the median. LBS's £91,928 is an average; Wharton's $185,000 is a median. Neither can be turned into the other without the full distribution, which schools rarely publish, so we keep the label next to every figure and do not adjust it.
A second trap is the base against total pay. A few schools report average total compensation, bonus included, which looks higher than a base salary for the same class. The kind of figure row of the tool names it for each school; when two columns show different kinds, read the gap as an upper bound.
One year against two
A one-year program costs fewer months of pay and returns you to work a year earlier, which counts twice in the model: less salary given up, and one more year of post-MBA pay inside the ten-year horizon. A two-year program gives a summer internship, paid and often the route to the final offer, and more time to change industry. In money terms, INSEAD gives up $75,000 for a $90,000 earner, Wharton $157,500. In career terms, the internship is the reason many career switchers choose two years, and no salary figure captures it.
Exchange rates add a third layer. Every amount is converted to dollars at the European Central Bank rate of October 13, 2026, so a move in the euro or the pound shifts European salaries and costs together while your own salary, typed in dollars, stays put. When two schools are close, check the comparison again after a large currency move, and if you are paid in another currency, convert your salary at the same rate before typing it.
What the columns cannot show
22 schools publish no salary and 24 publish tuition without a living budget; in the tool, their columns show what exists and leave the rest blank rather than borrowing a figure. Visa rules, the network in the country you want, the size of the class and the alumni base in your industry stay outside the table. For the six pairs readers compare most, we wrote a page each: INSEAD and HEC Paris, INSEAD and LBS, Harvard and Stanford, Wharton and Booth, Oxford and Cambridge, IESE and IE.
How much of the class a salary figure describes
Share of the class behind the salary
68%
| Graduates behind the figure | 272 |
| Not seeking (sponsored, start-ups, studies) | 80 |
Sponsored students and founders are usually out of the salary count.