For the past three years, AACSB has collaborated with the MBA Career Services Employer Alliance (MBA CSEA) to deliver their annual survey of MBA graduate data in conjunction with the Employment Module of AACSB’s Business School Questionnaire (BSQ). Among the many data points gathered by this survey are data on the starting salaries of MBA graduates by a number of factors, including the industry in which they receive employment, the geographic location of their employment, their level of pre-MBA program work experience, and more. Table 1 shows a sample of these data, broken out by the professional function in which they serve:
Table 1. MBA Graduates’ Starting Salaries by Professional Function
|
Professional Function |
N of Schools Reporting |
N of Graduates Reporting |
Weighted Average Salary (USD) |
|
Consulting |
71 |
2,032 |
$122,433 |
|
Finance/Accounting |
73 |
1,878 |
$112,695 |
|
General Management |
55 |
701 |
$107,292 |
|
Other |
50 |
489 |
$101,041 |
|
Marketing/Sales |
74 |
1,218 |
$100,433 |
|
Operations/Logistics |
53 |
471 |
$97,119 |
|
Human Resources |
10 |
29 |
$95,453 |
|
Information Technology |
23 |
96 |
$91,957 |
Source: 2015–16 BSQ Employment Module—MBA CSEA Sections. Notes: All salary data represent weighted averages, based on the number of MBA graduates reporting salaries in each category.
As one might expect, the professional functions with the largest average starting salaries are also the most popular, judging by the number of MBA graduates reporting employment. Interestingly, though, that pattern is interrupted, mainly due to the popularity of the Marketing/Sales category.
Look out for my next post, in which I will compare the same data from the 2016–17 iteration of the survey, prior to its upcoming release!
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