Lisbon, PT · 12 months
Lisbon MBA (Nova SBE / Católica) MBA: cost, salary and payback
The lowest tuition of any European school in our data, for a 12-month MBA run jointly by two Lisbon business schools that publish no employment report.
Paid back after graduation in
salary not published
Total cost $129,046
| Tuition and fees, whole program | $39,046 |
| Living budget | $0 |
| Salary given up, 12 months | $90,000 |
| Total cost | $129,046 |
| Salary after: salary | not published |
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. The school publishes no living budget: the figure above is yours. How this is calculated.
Fees and budget read on October 13, 2026 · employment: latest report (school standard) · Built by Radif Partners · Method
- Tuition and fees
- €34,900
- Total cost, salary given up included
- n/a
- Salary
- not published
- Payback, reference person
- not computable
The Lisbon MBA is a joint degree of Nova SBE and Católica Lisbon, ranked as one program, and its full-time international track charges €34,900 for 12 months according to the NOVA Program Catalog 2026-2027, about $39,046 at the ECB rate. No other European school in our data charges less. The rest of the cost is unknown from official sources: the program's own website blocks automated reading, and the university catalogue gives no fee schedule beyond tuition and no living budget. There is no employment report either, so no salary for recent graduates; the only pay figures the schools quote come from a third-party ranking survey of alumni, which this site does not use. Our model therefore cannot compute a total cost or a payback for the reference person earning $90,000, and the program stays out of our rankings. What we can say is that 12 months away cost that person about $90,000 in salary, more than the tuition itself.
Two schools, one degree
Nova SBE and Católica Lisbon are separate schools, yet the international MBA is a single joint degree carrying both names, and rankings treat it as one program. The catalogue describes a 12-month accelerated program that includes a short immersion at MIT Sloan. The class figures the schools publish describe a mixed room: 62% international, 42% women, 17 nationalities, quoted in a school news item rather than a dated class profile.
Cheap tuition, unknown everything else
$39,046 of tuition compares with a median of $96,117 across the 19 other European schools in our data. That gap is the whole case for the program on price. It does not tell you the cost of a year in Lisbon, which the schools leave to you; type your own rent and living estimate in the calculator above. It also does not tell you what graduates earn. A school that cites only ranking-survey salaries measured a few years after graduation gives you no starting salary to repay the cost against. An alumni average a few years out mixes promotions, career changes and moves abroad, so it says little about the first job after a Lisbon degree.
The practical test is simple: ask admissions for the latest employment report, with the share of graduates employed within three months, the median base salary and the countries where they work. If they cannot supply one, price the degree on what you would earn in Portugal or in your target market, and compare with one-year European programs that publish a salary and a living budget, such as Cambridge Judge, IMD and Imperial.
A fee or a salary in US dollars
In US dollars
$111,880
| 1 EUR | $1.119 |
ECB reference rate of October 13, 2026. Prices on the ground do not follow exchange rates one for one.
The cost that does not depend on the school
For the reference person earning $90,000, the 12 months of study mean about $90,000 of salary given up before tax, more than the tuition. On a program this inexpensive, the salary you leave behind is the main line of the bill, so the earlier in your career you go, the cheaper the degree becomes. The mini below converts your own salary into that cost.
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.
Where Lisbon MBA (Nova SBE / Católica) stands in our rankings
Not ranked: Lisbon MBA (Nova SBE / Católica) does not publish a living budget for students or a graduate salary, which our ranking needs. Its cost is complete above.
Our fit score, reference person earning $90,000 before the MBA (method). Third-party rankings play no part in it. For reference, Lisbon MBA (Nova SBE / Católica) was ranked 79 in the FT Global MBA 2026.
What the Lisbon MBA (Nova SBE / Católica) MBA costs
| Item | EUR, and US dollars |
|---|---|
| Tuition, whole program | €34,900 $39,046 |
| Living budget | not published |
The Lisbon MBA (Nova SBE / Católica) class
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| International students | 62% |
| Women | 42% |
| Nationalities | 17 |
Not published by Lisbon MBA (Nova SBE / Católica) in the documents we read: a living budget for students; a graduate salary; the split of the class by industry; where graduates went to work; the split by job function. We leave these blank rather than fill them with an estimate.