| What You Can Expect To Pay & What You Can Expect To Get From An M7 School
An MBA degree from an M7 school is pretty much a sure thing. No one is going to question your decision to go to any of these schools, and very few of the graduates from these institutions regret their choice to attend. But none of this comes cheap.
The highest estimated cost of the MBA degree among these elite schools is at Stanford where the price tag, including living expenses, is now more than $200,000. Of course, that’s the price before any scholarship grants–and it turns out that if you need financial help Stanford is among the more generous business schools in the world. The average annual grant to an MBA student at Stanford is $35,830 and 52% of the students receive fellowship support from the school. That’s an important part of the financial puzzle to keep in mind when you apply to these schools. Don’t let the sky high tuition scare you off. Stanford, Harvard, and Chicago Booth are awarding large sums of money to students that make essentially make the return on investment of their MBA degrees outrageously good. In effect, every school has a two-tier pricing structure for the MBA: the full sticker price and the discounted price. Stanford and Harvard claim to only give out money based on need, but all the other schools are using the cash to lure the best qualified applicants to their programs. Once you’re in one of these MBA programs, you can see what kind of teaching methods you’re likely to encounter. There’s no surprise that Harvard is on the extreme end when it comes to case study teaching. The school estimates that 80% of all the learning at HBS is via the case method. It’s also no surprise that the team with the most team project work–25% is Kellogg, known around the world for its highly collaborative culture. Among the M7 schools, MIT Sloan claims that it piles on the most experiential learning, with 22% of the teaching delivered that way. The largest core classes are at Harvard which puts as many as 94 students in a classroom. The smallest core courses are at Stanford and Chicago Booth which claim that they sign up no more than 50 students per class. Interestingly, every school estimates that the typical class size for electives is exactly 43 students. Costs Of An M7 MBA Degree| Stats | Stanford | Harvard | Wharton | Chicago | Columbia | Kellogg | MIT | | Total Estimated Cost | $202,870 | $190,028 | $195,084 | $189,866 | $192,936 | $177,614 | $192,028 | | Two-Year Tuition | $123,750 | $117,750 | $136,420 | $123,040 | $126,296 | $123,192 | $127,500 | | Student Debt Burden | $77,599 | $78,991 | $117,200* | $72,959* | $114,800* | $88,740* | $80,598 |
Source: P&Q analysis The M7 Scholarship Grants| Stats | Stanford | Harvard | Wharton* | Chicago* | Columbia* | Kellogg | MIT* | | Total Scholarship Money | $15.7 million | $31.5 million | $16.9 million | $16.3 million | $10.1 million | $11.8 million | $8.1 million | | % of Gross Tuition | 31.0% | 28.6% | 14.8% | 22.6% | 12.5% | 27.9% | 15.6% | | Average Annual Grant | $35,830 | $32,000 | $30,500 | $30,000 | $20,500 | $22,800 | $28,220 | | % of MBAs on Scholarship | 52% | 50% | 33% | 60% | 46% | 35% | 35% |
Source: P&Q analysis The M7 MBA Experience| Stats | Stanford | Harvard | Wharton | Chicago | Columbia | Kellogg | MIT | | Case Study Teaching | 40% | 80% | 40% | 30%* | 40% | 30% | 30% | | Lecture Teaching | 20% | ——- | 30% | 40%* | 30% | 28% | 20% | | Experiential Learning | 15% | 5% | 10% | ——- | ——- | ——- | 22% | | Team Project Learning | ——- | 10% | ——- | 10%* | 15% | 25% | ——- | | Size of Core Classes | 50 | 94 | 57 | 50 | 66 | 58 | 66 | | Size of Elective Classes | 43 | 43 | 43 | 43 | 43 | 43 | 43 |
Source: Business schools reporting to Bloomberg Businessweek
Pay, Placement & Industry Choices Of M7 Graduates
The payoff of an M7 education is indisputable. There are few educational degrees, with the exception of a degree in computer science, that payoff as quickly as an MBA from one of these top schools and–more importantly–builds on its value over the course of a career. The first-year compensation package for M7 grads tends to be above $150,000, once you include a sign-on bonus, other year-end compensation, and possible stock options and perks that schools don’t even bother to tally.
Where M7 grads actually end up varies by school, but all of these institutions have world-class companies and organizations regularly recruiting their MBAs. The Pay & Placement Rates For M7 MBAs| Stats | Harvard | Stanford | Wharton | Columbia | MIT | Chicago | Kellogg | | 20-Year Pay | $3,233,000 | $3,011,000 | $2,989,000 | $2,796,000 | $2,723,000 | $2,558,000 | $2,544,600 | | 2014 Median Salary | $125,000 | $125,000 | $125,000 | $119,400 | $124,400 | $120,000 | $120,000 | | 2014 Median Sign-On Bonus | $25,000 | $25,000 | $25,000 | $25,000 | $25,000 | $25,000 | $25,000 | | 2014 Median Other Comp | $34,700 | $31,500 | $27,000 | $22,390 | $20,000 | $26,000 | ——– | | 2014 Median Total Comp | $184,700 | $181,500 | $177,000 | $166,790 | $169,400 | $171,000 | $145,000 | | 2014 Offers at Graduation | 88% | 80% | 88% | 83% | 86% | 90% | 85% | | 2014 Offers 3 Months Later | 93% | 94% | 98% | 97% | 95% | 98% | 94% |
Source: Business school employment reports & Payscale Notes: 20-year income estimates are by Payscale and reflect historical income up to 2013 and not future income; 2014 median total is comp reflects all three key pay components together, though not all graduates receive all three How Industry Choices In 2014 Compare Across the M7 Schools| Industry | Kellogg | Harvard | Stanford | Wharton | Chicago | Columbia* | MIT | | Consulting | 35% | 23% | 16% | 26% | 28% | 34% | 34% | | Finance | 14% | 33% | 29% | 36% | 36% | 35% | 14% | | Technology | 18% | 17% | 24% | 14% | 14% | 12% | 26% | | Consumer Products/Retail | 14% | 7% | 8% | 10% | 8% | 6% | 11% | | Healthcare | 6% | 5% | 4% | 6% | 2% | 2% | 6% | | Manufacturing | 5% | 5% | 1% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 3% | | Energy | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 3% | —— | 2% | | Media/Entertainment | 1% | 3% | 4% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% | | Non-Profit/Government | 1% | 3% | 6% | 2% | 2% | 2% | —– | | Real Estate | 1% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 3% | —– | | Starting A Business | 5% | 8% | 17% | 7% | 2% | 3% | 7% |
Source: 2014 school employment reports Notes: * Indicates that the school includes sponsored students in its numbers. If Columbia subtracted out the sponsored students in consulting, for example, the percentage going into that industry would fall to 26% from 34%. Some categories are not always exactly the same across the schools. The M7 Alumni Networks| Stats | Stanford | Harvard | Wharton | Chicago | Columbia | Kellogg | MIT | | Total Living Alumni | 18,142 | 80,917 | 43,144 | 48,968 | 42,361 | 46,675 | 12,122 | | Active Alumni Clubs | 92 | 106 | 73 | 91 | 71 | 70 | 7 | | Countries With Alumni Clubs | 36 | 48 | 36 | 40 | 39 | 57 | 4 | | Fortune 500 CEO Alums | 10 | 40 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
Source: P&Q analysis |
