The Big Payback: The Highest Paying Jobs for MBAs
Even in 2019, the search for the right MBA program is as unique as each student, and the reasons for applying are as varied as the programs themselves. Advancement in an existing career is an obvious motivation, as is breaking into a new industry or shifting one’s career focus.
One thing that all MBAs can likely agree with, however, is that earning potential is a leading incentive. This brings up questions about the most lucrative fields. Choosing the right concentration can be the first step toward achieving a position that will truly pay off. The following is a look at the current highest paying jobs for MBAs, as well as the majors that can open the necessary doors.
The Highest Paying Jobs for MBAs
Topping the list of the highest paid professions for MBAs in 2018 is strategic management. This specialization leads the way in terms of early to mid career salary, with salary averages beginning at around $125,000. Professionals with this degree and concentration earned $148,000 at the mid-point of their careers. Among the career functions for MBAs with a strategy focus are management consultant, senior strategy manager, senior product manager. Google, Amazon, PwC, and Intel are among the companies hiring for strategic management based positions.
Second on the list of highest paying MBA careers is technology management, which for many grows out of a background in IT or software development. According to Monster.com, tech management careers can start at around $113,000 per year, and advancement leads to a jump to upwards of $165,000. Roles such as senior project manager, vice president of IT, and IT director all emerge from a tech background. Companies such as Accenture, Deloitte, Cisco Systems, and HP all offer leading starting salaries in the IT management field.
Entrepreneurship also falls into the top three earning fields for MBAs. Starting salaries, according to data gathered from PayScale, hover around $100,000 per year, and reach up to around $135,000. Such roles as senior project manager and management consultant are options in the entrepreneurial field, as are various leadership roles in the growing fintech industry. Top hiring companies for entrepreneurship MBAs, according to PayScale, are Amazon, IBM, General Electric, and the Boeing Company.
A career in finance is the fourth of the highest paying categories for MBAs, with a starting salary hovering in the $100,000 range. Those with their sights upon chief financial officer, portfolio management, or financial management positions can hope to land jobs in this arena with high earning power. New York Life Insurance, Fidelity Investments, and Vanguard are currently seeking MBAs for various finance positions.
Along with strategy, tech management, entrepreneurship, and finance, marketing ranks among the most lucrative fields for MBAs. While some marketing jobs do not require an MBA, one can see a wider, more profitable range of options with a specialized study in marketing. Upper level marketing positions can start at around $80,000 per year, and can grow well above $120,000. Current listings for MBAs with a marketing focus include Dell, Microsoft, and, of course, Amazon.
MBA Recruiter: Starting Your MBA Career with Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, a leader in computer networking, is constantly looking for MBA talent. Founded in 1984 by two computer scientists from Stanford University who sought an easier way to connect different types of computer systems, the multinational corporation now hires MBAs from top business school across the country. Continue reading…
What San Diego MBAs Offer the Best Return on Investment?
Attending a Master of Business Administration program in San Diego sounds like a great idea. There’s great weather year round, beautiful beaches, and you get to enjoy the laid-back California attitude. But do you get a good return on your investment (ROI) going to school in San Diego?
The ROI of your MBA program can be difficult to determine considering the many factors that come into play. Not only do you need to compare the cost of tuition and expected salary upon graduation from each school, but you also have to take into account the cost of living where you go to school and your salary change pre- to post-MBA.
In this article, we’re going to take a look at the best San Diego MBA programs to get the highest return on your investment.
Fowler College of Business Administration – SDSU
MBA students who chose to attend the Fowler College of Business Administration at SDSU can expect affordable tuition and decent job prospects. These MBA graduates have one of the best returns on their investments in San Diego.
Over 70 percent of the most recent Fowler MBA class had a job within three months of graduation, and that percentage increased to 82.94 percent at six months post graduation. MBA students who were employed found jobs at GEICO, EY, PepsiCo, HSBC Group, Qualcomm, and more.
Tuition
Tuition at Fowler is very affordable. In fact, full-time Master of Business Administration students who are California residents can expect to pay just $29,938 over the course of their degree—$7,223 a semester. Non-California residents can expect to pay a little more, approximately $47,758 over two years.
Salary
The mean starting salary for MBA graduates at Fowler is $61,467.
ROI
The salary-to-debt ratio for Fowler MBA graduates who are residents of California is .487, which means that Fowler MBAs can expect to pay off their debt in just the first year. For non-California residents, the ratio is .777, which is still less than a year to pay off the debt.
University of San Diego School of Business Administration
Choosing to attend the University of San Diego School of Business Administration is a fairly reliable choice for return on investment. 83 percent of MBA graduates can expect to be employed three months post graduation at top companies including Amazon, Deloitte, Intel, Bank of America, eBay, Boston Consulting Group, and 21st Century Fox. But what does it look like when you compare tuition to expected salary?
Tuition
Tuition is a bit pricey compared to the other San Diego business schools. For an MBA student, it costs $1,475 per unit with 56 units required. That equals around $82,600 for tuition over two years. In addition, MBA students can expect $1,153.50 a semester for health insurance coverage with approximately $200 in additional fees. Total, over the two years, MBA students can expect to pay $87,614 for tuition and fees.
Salary
Upon graduation, MBA students at USD can expect an average starting salary of $72,363 with a range of $50,000 – $100,000.
ROI
The salary-to-debt ratio for a USD MBA graduate is 1.21, indicating that it would take you only 1.2 years to earn back what you paid for the program if every dime of your salary went to paying off your tuition.
Rady School of Management – UC San Diego
The Rady School of Management is one of the more expensive Master of Business Administration programs in San Diego, at the same time it has some of the best job prospects. Three months post-graduation, 82 percent of Rady MBA graduates accepted employment, and 10 percent started their own business for a total employment rate of 92 percent. Those individuals accepted jobs at such companies as IBM, Boeing, Cisco Systems, Amazon, Tesla Motors, Ernst & Young, Gartner, and Deloitte.
Tuition
Tuition for full-time MBA students who are also California residents is $48,961 a year—$97,922 total. For non-residents, tuition costs $55,546 a year or $111,092 total. Other non-tuition fees including campus fees and health insurance can cost an additional $4,000 a year or $8,000 over the course of the program.
Salary
Rady MBA graduates, on average, earn $84,335 as a starting salary ($87,500 median).
ROI
The salary-to-debt ratio for the Rady School Master of Business Administration program is 1.255 for California residents and 1.41 for non-California residents.
Other San Diego MBA Programs
As for the three other Master of Business Administration programs available in San Diego, not much information is provided.
- Fermanian School of Business – Point Loma Nazarene University: The cost of tuition is $825 a unit for 42 units, for a total cost of $34,650 for twelve months. So, as long as you earn more post-MBA than $40,000 it’s a good investment, though little post-MBA graduation employment information is available.
- California International Business University (CIBU): CIBU costs approximately $26,000 to earn a full-time MBA. No employment information is provided.
- California School of Management & Leadership – Alliant University: An MBA at Alliant costs $698 per unit for a total of 36 to 42 units—$25,128 to $29,316 total. No employment information is provided.
Getting Paid: Highest MBA Salaries in Chicago
Like most parts of the country, the U.S. heartland is undergoing a massive shift on all fronts, becoming more urbane, diverse, and open to outsiders than seemingly ever before.
Many communities are becoming increasingly diverse, attracting international residents at an unprecedented rate. Young, urban professional-types who once flocked to the coasts are now moving in droves to Midwestern cities, which were once dismissively filed under “fly-over territory.” Nowhere is this change more apparent than in the Windy City.
Chicago’s long been home to major players in media, education, finance, and food and beverage (shout-out to Giordano’s Deep Dish Pizza), but doing business in the city now also means something new. Like most major metropolitan areas, Chicago’s slowly dipping its toes into the tech game; the city’s home to Groupon, Grubhub, Orbitz, and Reverb.
So, take your pick, aspiring MBAs! When it comes to Chi-City, you’ll be a veritable kid in a candy store.
The 5 Highest Chicago MBA Salaries
Northwestern Kellogg School of Management
Northwestern Kellogg School of Management graduates earned average starting salaries between $106,000-$138,000, depending on their chosen industry. According to recent statistics, the four most popular industries to attract Kellogg MBAs were consulting (32.6 percent), where the starting salary hovers around $138,204 with a $29,375 signing bonus. MBAs in tech (22 percent) earned a starting salary of $119,713 with a $23,749 signing bonus. MBAs that specialize in consumer products (13.8 percent) earned an average starting salary of $106,052 with a $26,634 signing bonus. MBAs in financial services (12.8 percent) earned an average starting salary of $128,090 with a $32,100 signing bonus. Top employers of Kellogg graduates include: Adobe Systems, Amazon, Anheuser-Busch, Apple, Bain & Co, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Boston Consulting Group, Cisco Systems, DaVita Healthcare Partners, Dell, Deloitte, Facebook, General Motors, Goldman Sachs, Google, JPMorgan Chase, Linkedin, Mars, McKinsey & Company, Microsoft, Nike, PepsiCo, among others
DePaul Kellstadt Graduate School of Business
Recent graduates from the DePaul Kellstadt Graduate School of Business posted record employment numbers for the school. According to an overview the school published, 92 percent of 2016 MBAs landed positions within 120 days of graduation. The average starting salaries for Kellstadt’s available MBA concentrations are as follows: Accountancy at $83,000; economics at $90,000; finance at $89,000; management at $83,000; marketing at $75,500; and real estate at $75,000. The most popular industries to attract Kellstadt graduates were accounting, financial services, manufacturing, health care, and consulting. Top employers include: Allstate, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Boston Consulting Group, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, GE Capital, General Mills, Google, Groupon, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, PwC, United Airlines, and Wilson Sporting Goods, among others.
Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business
According to statistics surveying the most recent MBA class, the average starting salary for Mendoza College of Business graduates is $105,000 with a $20,000 signing bonus. About 91 percent of MBAs received job offers within three months of graduation. The most popular industries to attract Mendoza MBAs are within tech (27.1 percent), financial services (18.8 percent), consumer products (14.6 percent), and consulting (11.5 percent). MBAs working in tech earned average starting salaries of around $110,000; financial services, $110,000; consumer products, $100,000; and consulting, $105,000. Top employers of Mendoza MBAs include: Deloitte, Procter & Gamble, PwC, Deutsche Bank, IBM, Discover, Allstate, IBM, Samsung, Amazon, American Airlines, ExxonMobil, Johnson & Johnson, AT&T, Kraft, Hershey, Heinz, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Major League Soccer, United Airlines, General Mills, General Motors, Microsoft, GlaxoSmithKline, and Citibank, among others.
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Chicago Booth School of Business graduates earned an average starting salary of $125,000, according to recent statistics. The top industries to attract Booth MBAs are financial services (36 percent), consulting (27.5 percent), and technology (16.7 percent). Booth MBAs working in financial services earn average starting salaries of $125,000 with a $40,000 signing bonus; consulting, $145,000 with a $25,000 signing bonus; technology, $125,000 with a $30,000 signing bonus. Top employers of Booth graduates include McKInsey & Company (7.1 percent), Boston Consulting Group (4.7 percent), Amazon (3.9 percent), Bain & Company (3.1 percent), Accenture (2.6 percent), Google (2.4 percent), Bank of America Merrill Lynch (2.2 percent), and PwC Strategy (2 percent).
University of Illinois at Chicago Gies College of Business
On average, Gies College of Business graduates can expect to start their careers in the $90,000 range with a $10,000 signing bonus. According to statistics supplied by the school, MBA grads have a 94 percent employment rate. The most popular industries are technology (20.3 percent), financial services (18.8 percent), consulting (15.6 percent), and consumer products (12.5 percent). Liautaud MBAs who took positions in tech started at $94,000; financial services, $87,857; consulting, $89,125; and consumer products, $95,800. Liautaud graduates work for a broad range of companies, but top employers include AT&T, Johnson & Johnson, Walt Disney, Amazon, Chrysler, Hewlett-Packard, Sears, Google, State Farm, City of Champaign, Bank of America, and Whirlpool Corporation.
