Our nation’s capital is more than just Hollywood for craven people.
If you plan to pursue an MBA in Washington DC, in all probability you’re itching to get a front row seat to the fall of Rome—if it hasn’t already happened. But DC is a cultural melting pot with a food scene to match and a Mid-Atlantic hub for technology whose reach expands to the Beltway and beyond. Not to mention a musical mecca that produced homegrown heroes Duke Ellington, Chuck Brown, and Bad Brains.
It’s precisely this rich cultural tapestry set against a revolting political backdrop that might compel one to pursue an MBA in the Chocolate City.
TL;DR: do you want to get a foot in the door at the Department of Defense while sampling the best Ethiopian cuisine this side of Addis Ababa? Look no further than DC.
With that in mind, let’s take a deeper dive into the top 4 DC MBAs with the highest starting salaries:
American University’s Kogod School of Business
Recent Kogod School of Business graduates earned an starting salary of $78,556 and a median salary of $73,500, according to statistics released by the school. The top industries to employ Kogod MBAs are in consulting, finance, and accounting. Top employers of Kogod graduates include Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte, Raytheon, and more.
George Mason School of Management
Graduates from the George Mason School of Management’s 2016 MBA class posted record employment numbers for the school, with 98 percent of MBA students employed at graduation. The average starting salary is $92,545. The most popular industries include government, financial Services, nonprofit, and consulting. Notable employers include Aetna, Boeing, Booz Allen Hamilton, CapitalOne, Costar Group, Deloitte, FDIC, Hilton, PWC, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Justice.
Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business
Georgetown McDonough School of Business graduates earned an average starting salary of $108,081 with a $25,329 signing bonus. Around 93 percent of McDonough MBAs received offers within three months of graduation. The top three industries to employ graduates are within financial services (30 percent), where MBAs posted starting salaries of $109,834, followed by consulting (29 percent), with starting salaries of $118,336. Technology (14%) was the third highest, with starting salaries of $101,464. Top employers of McDonough graduates include Amazon, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Citi, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Google, IBM, KPMG, PepsiCo, PwC, Starbucks, and Wells Fargo.
University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business
UMD Smith graduates from the class of 2016 earned an average starting salary of $96,000, according to statistics released by the school. About one-fourth of all graduates ended up in consulting positions, earning a median salary of $94,000. Another 25 percent worked in marketing/sales, taking in a median salary of $105,000. Over 16 percent worked in finance/accounting, earning a median salary of $95,000.