Top 10 MBA Programs for Salary Potential

Stanford Graduate School of Business in California is not just home to one of the world’s highest ranked MBA programs, it also graduates students with the highest weighted average salary. According to the FT’s 2019 Global MBA Ranking, this sum is $228,074, up from $214,742 the year before. Stanford is also ranked top for career progress and alumni praise its responsive alumni network. 

Alumni from the top 100 schools ranked by the FT globally judged HBS top among schools from which they would recruit MBA graduates. Harvard has been the world’s highest ranked school many times and is currently placed second in the FT list. It has the second highest weighted average salary in the ranking behind Stanford at $205,486. 

Alumni of INSEAD in France and Singapore earn an average weighted salary of nearly $180,00, the highest among European schools ranked by the FT and above the average in the table of about $138,000. INSEAD is ranked third overall but is still the highest ranked institution in Europe and it came top globally in the FT list in 2016 and 2017. It was only the second European institution to top the ranking.  

According to the 2018 QS Return on Investment Report, MBA alumni from Columbia Business School earn the fourth highest salaries globally on graduation: $125,000. Columbia is one of the most renowned schools globally and its location in the Big Apple is a big perk, with alumni often securing highly paid jobs close by on Wall Street, especially in investment banking and brokerage.   

Fudan University School of Management in Shanghai has the highest increase on pre-MBA salaries among alumni at FT-ranked schools three years from graduation, with a 195 percent increase in this time. The average salary was around $110,000. What’s more, Fudan alumni are ranked third by the FT in terms of career progress and were the sixth most likely globally to be employed three months after graduation, with 97 percent of graduates hired by this point. 

At the prestigious Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, India, all of the MBA graduates are employed within three months of graduation. The salary achieved after three years is high: $178,774, which is a 124 percent increase on their pay before the MBA. 

The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania needs few introductions. A member of the Ivy League, it’s topped numerous MBA rankings several times over the years. According to The Economist’s list, Wharton has the second-highest post-MBA salary globally. After just three months, Wharton MBA graduates have boosted their pay by about 63 percent to $135,716 on average. 

The Swiss school IMD is the best in the world for MBA students who want global mobility in their career. IMD is top for this criterion in the FT ranking, based on alumni citizenship and the countries they worked in pre-MBA. IMD has been top for international mobility since 2006. Alumni praise the diverse alumni network — virtually all the MBA students at IMD are from abroad. The average salary after three years is $153,806, up 76 percent on pre-program pay. 

Sungkyunkwan University GSB in South Korea has the world’s best career service, according to the FT ranking. Although it is ranked 42nd overall globally, the school’s MBA students highly praised the work of the careers team in getting them well-paid jobs. What’s more, the school is rated highly for career progress (14th) and value for money (16th). The salary after three years is $131,166, but given the lower cost of living in South Korea this goes much further. 

Reportedly the first business school in mainland China to offer a full-time MBA program, CEIBS today is a global force, with campuses in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Zurich, and Ghana. The school’s MBA program reflects this, drawing students from Asia, Oceania, North America, and even Europe. The FT currently has CEIBS ranked as one of the best MBA programs in the world for salary increase.