Chicago, US · 21 months · class of 635
Chicago Booth MBA: cost, salary and payback
Booth sent 36.7% of its class of 2025 into consulting, more than into finance, and still comes first in our banking ranking.
Paid back after graduation in
4.1 years
Total cost $386,014 · 10-year NPV $260,413
| Tuition and fees, whole program | $186,256 |
| Living budget | $72,258 |
| Salary given up, 21 months | $157,500 |
| Summer internship earned | −$30,000 |
| Total cost | $386,014 |
| Salary after: median base salary | $175,000 |
| Signing bonus × share receiving it | $19,500 |
| 10-year net present value | $260,413 |
| Return on the cost (present values) | 68% |
US dollars at the ECB rate of the last update. Raises of 5% a year with the MBA and 3% without, discounted at 5%, before tax. How this is calculated.
Fees and budget read on October 13, 2026 · employment: Class of 2025 (school standard) · Built by Radif Partners · Method
- Tuition and fees
- $186,256
- Total cost, salary given up included
- $386,014
- median base salary
- $175,000
- Payback, reference person
- 4.1 years
Two years at Chicago Booth cost $258,514 in tuition, fees and the school's living budget, before the salary you stop earning; tuition for the second year will only be set in the spring, so the figure doubles the first-year rate. For a person earning $90,000 today, the 21 months away add $157,500, and the summer internship, paid a median $12,000 a month, gives part of it back, for a total of $386,014. The class of 2025 reported a median base salary of $175,000, and 65% of accepted offers carried a signing bonus with a median of $30,000. That repays the total 4.1 years after graduation and leaves a ten-year net present value of $260,413, number 3 of 40 in our overall ranking. What sets Booth apart is balance: 36.7% of graduates went into consulting and 31.6% into finance, both at medians at or above the school-wide figure, with a survey that reached 96.8% of the class.
Consulting is the biggest single destination
Finance is not the largest industry in Booth's report. Consulting is: 36.7% of graduates at a median of $190,000. The 3 largest recruiters in the report, Boston Consulting Group (52), McKinsey & Company (35) and Bain & Company (30), hired 117 graduates between them. That puts Booth number 4 of 38 in our consulting ranking. With a class of 635, one firm cutting back moves the share a little, where at a small school it can move it a lot.
Chicago Booth: where the class went
Share of the class
36.7%
| Salary reported | $190,000 |
| Graduates, about | 233 |
| Payback with that salary | 3.5 years |
Reference person earning $90,000 before the MBA.
Banking first in our ranking, with a modest share
Investment banking took 8.3% of the class at $175,000, and Booth ranks number 1 of 12 in our investment banking ranking. That rank does not come from the largest share: 6 schools in our data send a larger part of the class into banking. It comes from the combination our score weighs, a share large enough to count, the banking median and a strong ten-year value for the whole program. Private equity took 5.3% at $175,000, asset management 5.3% at $165,000 and venture capital 1.5% at $130,000.
Not everyone in the class looked for a job. The school counts sponsored students returning to their employer and graduates starting a business outside the salary figures, so the median describes the job seekers who accepted an offer and reported pay.
What the bill and the summer look like
Tuition is billed per academic year of three quarters, and the living budget is the school's nine-month figure for each year, plus a computer allowance in the first year; health insurance sits inside the personal expenses line. The summer between the two years pays a median of $12,000 a month, as high as any school in our data, which the calculator subtracts for about 2.5 months. Against Wharton, Booth's payback for the reference person is 4.1 years against 3.9 years; the Wharton and Booth comparison goes line by line.
Chicago Booth: when the MBA pays back, for your salary
Payback after graduation
4.1 years
| Total cost with the salary given up | $386,014 |
| Salary after (median base salary) | $175,000 |
| 10-year NPV | $260,413 |
Same assumptions as the main calculator; US dollars.
Where Chicago Booth stands in our rankings
- #3 of 40 · Any industry (whole class)
- #4 of 38 · Consulting
- #5 of 39 · Finance, all segments
- #1 of 12 · Investment banking
- #5 of 10 · Private equity
- #13 of 40 · Technology
- #17 of 39 · Working in the United States
Our fit score, reference person earning $90,000 before the MBA (method). Third-party rankings play no part in it. For reference, Chicago Booth was ranked 20 in the FT Global MBA 2026.
What the Chicago Booth MBA costs
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Tuition, whole program | $179,952 |
| Mandatory fees | $6,304 |
| Living budget, whole program | $72,258 |
| Salary given up: $90,000 a year for 21 months | $157,500 |
| Summer internship earned | −$30,000 |
| Total cost, reference person | $386,014 |
Chicago Booth employment report: Class of 2025
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Median base salary | $175,000 |
| Signing bonus (median) | $30,000, received by 65% |
| Summer internship, per month (median) | $12,000 |
| Graduates who accepted an offer within three months | 87.8% |
| Response rate to the survey | 96.8% |
Chicago Booth graduates by industry
| Industry, as the school names it | Share | Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Consulting | 36.7% | $190,000 |
| Financial Services (total) | 31.6% | $175,000 |
| Technology (total) | 14.1% | $151,000 |
| Law | 4.5% | $225,000 |
| Healthcare (total) | 4.1% | $145,000 |
| Education/Government/Non-Profit | 1.9% | $117,850 |
| Consumer Products | 1.7% | $128,000 |
| Manufacturing | 1.3% | $160,000 |
| Energy - Clean Tech/Renewables | 0.6% | not published |
| of which investment banking (investment banking (Investment Banking/Brokerage)) | 8.3% | $175,000 |
| of which private equity (private equity) | 5.3% | $175,000 |
| of which venture capital (venture capital) | 1.5% | $130,000 |
| of which asset management (asset management (Investment Management/Research)) | 5.3% | $165,000 |
Where Chicago Booth graduates went to work
| Region | Share | Salary |
|---|---|---|
| US (US (total) + US Mid-Atlantic + US Midwest + US Northeast + US South + US Southwest + US West) | 94.9%* | not published |
| Canada | 0.4% | not published |
| Europe | 0.9% | not published |
| Asia | 1.3% | $150,000 |
| Middle East | 0.4% | not published |
| Latin America | 2.1% | $90,000 |
Chicago Booth graduates by job function
| Function | Share | Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Consulting | 37.7% | $190,000 |
| Finance (total) | 30.3% | $175,000 |
| Investment Banking | 11.9% | $175,000 |
| Investment Management/Research | 5.8% | $165,000 |
| Private Equity | 5.5% | $175,000 |
| Venture Capital | 1.9% | $140,000 |
| Company Finance (Analysis/Treasury) | 2.1% | $140,000 |
| Real Estate | 1.3% | $145,000 |
| General Management | 7.7% | $147,500 |
| Corporate Strategy/Strategic Planning | 6.2% | $160,000 |
| Product Management (Tech) | 5.1% | $180,000 |
| Law | 4.7% | $225,000 |
| Marketing | 2.6% | $128,000 |
| Business Development | 2.3% | not published |
| Operations - Production/Supply Chain/Logistics | 1.7% | $155,000 |
| Analytics/Data Science | 0.9% | not published |
Employers named by Chicago Booth
Boston Consulting Group (52) · McKinsey & Company (35) · Bain & Company (30) · Amazon (20) · Goldman Sachs (11) · JPMorgan Chase & Co. (11) · Evercore (7) · L.E.K. Consulting (7) · PwC Strategy& (7) · Google (6) · Accenture (5) · Capital One (5) · EY-Parthenon (5) · Kearney (5)
Number of hires in brackets where the school gives it.
The Chicago Booth class
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| International students | 37% |
| Women | 41% |
| Average years of work experience | 5 |
| GMAT median | 740 |
| Class size | 635 |