Cost and return · figures from each school’s own report
MBA ROI: which schools repay their cost, and how fast
For a $90,000 earner before the degree, Wharton leads our whole-class ranking with a payback of 3.9 years and a ten-year value of $312,208.
Best fit for any industry (whole class), on your salary
Wharton
87% of the class (about 773 graduates) · $185,000 · payback 3.9 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 0% of the class are not ranked. Method.
| # | School | Share | About | Salary | Payback | 10-year NPV | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WhartonPhiladelphia · 21 months | 87% | 773 | $185,000 | 3.9 years | $312,208 | 91 |
| 2 | UVA DardenCharlottesville · 21 months | 89.3% | 322 | $175,000 | 4.1 years | $257,290 | 87 |
| 3 | Chicago BoothChicago · 21 months | 87.8% | 558 | $175,000 | 4.1 years | $260,413 | 85 |
| 4 | ColumbiaNew York · 20 months | 90.4% | 888 | $175,000 | 4.5 years | $223,915 | 85 |
| 5 | MIT SloanCambridge · 21 months | 87.1% | 377 | $175,000 | 4.2 years | $245,659 | 82 |
| 6 | HarvardBoston · 21 months | 84% | 792 | $185,000 | 4.0 years | $300,068 | 82 |
| 7 | Dartmouth TuckHanover · 21 months | 87% | 264 | $175,000 | 4.3 years | $234,883 | 79 |
| 8 | KelloggEvanston · 21 months | 85.5% | 457 | $175,000 | 4.3 years | $241,009 | 76 |
| 9 | Stanford GSBStanford · 21 months | 81% | 352 | $185,000 | 4.0 years | $296,469 | 74 |
| 10 | NYU SternNew York · 21 months | 86% | 289 | $175,000 | 4.7 years | $194,432 | 72 |
| 11 | Emory GoizuetaAtlanta · 21 months | 81.7% | 105 | $175,000 | 3.9 years | $282,532 | 70 |
| 12 | Michigan RossAnn Arbor · 21 months | 84.3% | 319 | $170,000 | 4.2 years | $236,467 | 69 |
| 13 | Cornell JohnsonIthaca · 21 months | 83% | 229 | $175,000 | 4.5 years | $220,137 | 67 |
| 14 | Berkeley HaasBerkeley · 21 months | 84.1% | 230 | $167,250 | 4.5 years | $196,335 | 64 |
| 15 | Yale SOMNew Haven · 21 months | 79.9% | 293 | $175,000 | 4.3 years | $234,097 | 59 |
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 87% (no salary published) · Alliance MBS 94% (no salary published) · CEIBS 90% (no living budget published) · EDHEC 84% (no salary published) · Esade 90% (no salary published) · Fudan 94.4% (no salary published) · HKUST 95% (no salary published) · IESE 80% (no salary published) · IIM Ahmedabad PGPX 96.4% (no living budget published) · IIM Lucknow IPMX 92.6% (no living budget published) · Nanyang (NTU) 93% (no salary published) · NUS 93% (no living budget published) · Rice Jones 71.3% (no living budget published) · SDA Bocconi 79% (no living budget published) · SKK GSB 93% (no salary published) · SMU 80% (no salary published) · USC Marshall 71% (no living budget published) · WashU Olin 78% (no living budget published).
Built by Radif Partners · figures checked · Method · Editorial policy
The return on an MBA is the extra salary it brings, set against everything it costs, including the pay you stop earning while you study. We compute it for 40 schools that publish both a graduate salary and a student living budget, for one reference person earning $90,000 before the degree. Wharton comes first on our fit score: 87% of its class had accepted a job within three months, at a median base salary of $185,000, for a total cost of $402,342 and a payback of 3.9 years after graduation. The fastest payback belongs to Emory Goizueta, 3.9 years. 11 of the 40 ranked schools end the ten years below zero for that person, 6 of them programs of a year or less whose graduates report a lower salary. Change the salary in the tool and every line moves: a higher salary today means more pay given up and a smaller gap after the degree.
Four lines of cost, one line of gain
The cost side of the model has four lines: tuition, mandatory fees, the living budget the school itself publishes, and the salary you would have earned during the months of study. For a two-year program, the median monthly pay of the summer internship comes back as income, counted for 2.5 months. A scholarship, when you type one, is subtracted. At Wharton, the reference person gives up $157,500 of salary on top of $270,882 of direct costs.
The gain side is a single line repeated each year after graduation: the salary the school reports, rising 5% a year, minus the salary you would have kept without the degree, rising 3% a year from today. The payback period is the point where the sum of those yearly gaps covers the total cost. The net present value runs 10 years from the first day of class and discounts costs and gains at 5% a year. Return on cost, shown in the calculator, is that NPV divided by the present value of the costs: 79% at Wharton. The method page writes out each formula.
| # | School | Share of class | Graduates, about | Salary | Payback | 10-year NPV | Fit score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wharton | 87% | 773 | $185,000 | 3.9 years | $312,208 | 91 |
| 2 | UVA Darden | 89.3% | 322 | $175,000 | 4.1 years | $257,290 | 87 |
| 3 | Chicago Booth | 87.8% | 558 | $175,000 | 4.1 years | $260,413 | 85 |
| 4 | Columbia | 90.4% | 888 | $175,000 | 4.5 years | $223,915 | 85 |
| 5 | MIT Sloan | 87.1% | 377 | $175,000 | 4.2 years | $245,659 | 82 |
| 6 | Harvard | 84% | 792 | $185,000 | 4.0 years | $300,068 | 82 |
| 7 | Dartmouth Tuck | 87% | 264 | $175,000 | 4.3 years | $234,883 | 79 |
| 8 | Kellogg | 85.5% | 457 | $175,000 | 4.3 years | $241,009 | 76 |
| 9 | Stanford GSB | 81% | 352 | $185,000 | 4.0 years | $296,469 | 74 |
| 10 | NYU Stern | 86% | 289 | $175,000 | 4.7 years | $194,432 | 72 |
| 11 | Emory Goizueta | 81.7% | 105 | $175,000 | 3.9 years | $282,532 | 70 |
| 12 | Michigan Ross | 84.3% | 319 | $170,000 | 4.2 years | $236,467 | 69 |
| 13 | Cornell Johnson | 83% | 229 | $175,000 | 4.5 years | $220,137 | 67 |
| 14 | Berkeley Haas | 84.1% | 230 | $167,250 | 4.5 years | $196,335 | 64 |
| 15 | Yale SOM | 79.9% | 293 | $175,000 | 4.3 years | $234,097 | 59 |
Why a ranking and not a list sorted by NPV
Sorting on NPV alone would reward any school with a high salary, even if a large part of its class found no job within three months. The fit score weighs three percentile ranks: the share of the class hired (40%), the salary reported (30%) and the ten-year value (30%). Wharton leads on both, with the largest ten-year value at $312,208, yet UVA Darden comes second while 4 schools with a higher NPV sit below it, because it hired 89.3% of its class. Sort the tool on the NPV column if money alone decides for you; at the other end of that sort, Ivey finishes at -$330,028.
The salary you give up while you study
Salary given up, net of the internship
$157,500
| Gross salary not earned | $157,500 |
| Per month away | $7,500 |
Pension contributions and raises you would have had are not counted here.
Your salary today moves the whole order
The reference salary is an assumption, the same for every school, so that rankings compare programs rather than people. Your own result can be far from it. At Wharton, someone earning $60,000 before the degree would see a payback of 2.6 years and a ten-year value of $577,022; at $150,000, the payback becomes 9.7 years and the value -$217,421. Two effects add up: each extra dollar earned today is a dollar given up during the program, and the gap with the reported salary narrows.
The second effect can turn the gain negative. When your current pay is above the salary a school reports, every year after the degree shows a loss in the model, whatever the length of the program. INSEAD lasts only 10 months, yet its graduates report $111,880 in dollars: its ten-year value goes from -$9,307 at $90,000 to -$536,404 at $150,000. A one-year program still gives up fewer months of pay, so it keeps an edge for people whose salary sits below the reported figure. Above it, the degree has to be justified by a change of industry, country or job that the averages cannot show.
What stays outside the model
Taxes are left out: they shrink gains and the salary given up alike, so they change the size of the result more than the order. Visa rules, the job you held before, a sponsor who keeps paying you, and the cost of moving a family are not in any school report. The model also assumes you land a job at the reported salary. A median says half the class earned less, and the hiring rate in the second column says how many found nothing within three months. Use the ranking as a first sort, then open the payback calculator with a loan or the side-by-side comparison for the last few names.
Wharton: when the MBA pays back, for your salary
Payback after graduation
3.9 years
| Total cost with the salary given up | $402,342 |
| Salary after (median base salary) | $185,000 |
| 10-year NPV | $312,208 |
Same assumptions as the main calculator; US dollars.