I just saw that the fees at Stanford are going up - to $57,300 per year.

They're estimating that a single person living on campus, who takes no study trip will be out over $90k for their first year, including expenses, making the whole program near closer to $200k.

I have no doubt this pays investment will pay off in a few years - but really, how do people even come up with the initial capital for these expensive programs? Loans only go so far.

My guess is that most students cover most of the cost with loans. $180k seems quite straightforward. http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/finaid/types/federal_loans.html

According to Businessweek, the average post-graduation loan debt for Stanford grads is around $84k. I'm guessing that the rest is made up from scholarships (the average student gets around $24k) and savings.

Scholarships are given to a really high percentage of students. Here are some info from several schools:
- Simon School of Business:
http://simon.rochester.edu/programs/full-time-mba/tuition-financial-aid/scholarships/index.aspx
- Tepper School of Business
http://tepper.cmu.edu/mba/tuition-financial-aid/index.aspx
- Olin Business School: http://www.olin.wustl.edu/ACADEMICPROGRAMS/MBA/TUITIONFINANCIALAID/Pages/default.aspx

They're estimating that a single person living on campus, who takes no study trip will be out over $90k for their first year, including expenses, making the whole program near closer to $200k.

Even though it sounds like a lot a grad would make that back in two or three years. Loans all the way!