No, that isn’t the latest fine given to a Big 4 firm by the SEC for shitty auditing. That is the median cash compensation—after graduation and working for 35 years—for someone who got an MBA from one of the top 50 business schools in the U.S., according to an analysis for the website Poets&Quants by PayScale, which collects salary data from individuals through online pay comparison tools.
The analysis says that $5.7 million is a premium of $2.3 million over those with just an undergraduate degree.
The 50 MBA schools included in PayScale’s analysis (ranked by estimated lifetime earnings) were:
- Harvard Business School
- Stanford University – Graduate School of Business
- University of California-Berkeley – Haas School of Business
- Dartmouth College – Tuck School of Business
- University of Virginia – Darden School of Business
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Sloan School of Management
- Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management
- Cornell University – Johnson Graduate School of Management
- University of Pennsylvania – Wharton School
- University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) – Anderson School of Management
- Duke University – Fuqua School of Business
- University of Michigan – Stephen M. Ross School of Business
- Columbia Business School
- Carnegie Mellon University – Tepper School
- University of Chicago – Booth School of Business
- University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill – Kenan-Flagler Business School
- Georgetown University – McDonough School of Business
- University of Washington – Foster School of Business
- University of Texas-Austin – McCombs School of Business
- New York University – Leonard N. Stern School of Business
- Vanderbilt University – Business School
- Santa Clara University – Leavey School of Business
- George Washington University – School of Business
- University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management
- University of California-Irvine – Paul Merage School of Business
- Boston University – School of Management
- Babson College – F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business
- Southern Methodist University – Cox School of Business
- Indiana University – Kelley School of Business
- University of Wisconsin – Madison School of Business
- University of Utah – David Eccles School of Business
- University of Connecticut – School of Business
- Washington University – Olin Business School
- University of Maryland – Robert H. Smith School of Business
- Johns Hopkins University – Carey Business School
- Arizona State University – W. P. Carey School of Business
- University of Iowa – Henry B. Tippie College of Business
- Rutgers Business School
- Villanova University – Villanova School of Business
- Brigham Young University – Marriott School of Business
- Case Western Reserve University – Weatherhead School of Management
- University of Rochester – Simon School of Business
- University of Colorado-Boulder – Leeds School of Business
- CUNY Bernard M Baruch College – Zicklin School of Business
- Ohio State University – Fisher College of Business
- Drexel University – Bennett S. LeBow College of Business
- University of Southern California – Marshall School of Business
- Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management
- Syracuse University – Martin J. Whitman School of Management
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – College of Business
According to the analysis, a person’s estimated median pay would surpass $8 million over a 35-year period if he or she graduated with an MBA from the top five schools on the list above:
- Harvard: $8.5 million
- Stanford: $8.33 million
- California Berkeley: $8.25 million
- Dartmouth: $8.24 million
- Virginia: $8.2 million
While at first glance the $5.7 million of median cash compensation earned over 35 years might seem a little lower than you would have thought, but that’s because the analysis doesn’t factor in stock-based compensation, the cash value of retirement benefits, or other non-cash benefits, such as health care.
Here’s a chart Poets&Quants and PayScale provided showing the cash value of an MBA:
You can read the full analysis here.
Related article:
Take It From a Former Public Accountant: Having a CPA/MBA Makes Sense
Surprised Wharton was number nine.