MBA Salary to Tuition Ratio

ROI For Top MBA Programs

Comparing Full-time MBA Median Starting Salary to Total Out-of-State Tuition

What is the ROI for an MBA?

The Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business has created a new ‘MBA Salary to Tuition Ratio’ tool for evaluating top-ranked MBA programs. The ratio compares the median salary of full-time MBA program graduates to the total out-of-state tuition and fees for the two-year-program, allowing prospective students to gauge a program's cost-effectiveness. The tool can serve as a valuable indicator in assessing top-ranked programs and their potential return on investment (ROI).

If a salary to tuition ratio is high, it means that graduates typically earn a salary that is high relative to the total cost of tuition, making the program a stronger investment. On the other hand, a low ratio implies that the starting salary is not as high compared to tuition cost, indicating that the program may not offer as favorable of an ROI.

Other ROI Factors to Consider

Aside from the MBA salary to tuition ratio, other considerations such as program reputation, desired career path, scholarships and fellowships, cost of living, and overall job market for MBA degree holders should also be taken into account. However, the salary to tuition ratio remains a useful tool in making an informed decision about your educational investment.

Salary to Tuition Ratio	U.S. News & World Report Ranking	School	Median Starting Salary (Class of 2022)	Tuition and Fees (Out-of-State Total)	% Received Offer
0.97	08 (Tie)	Yale University	$160,000	$165,400	95.7%
1.12	08 (Tie)	University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Ross)	$165,000	$147,056	99.0%
1.06	06 (Tie)	Dartmouth College (Tuck)	$175,000	$165,442	98.0%
1.15	14	University of Virginia (Darden)	$175,000	$152,600	98.0%
0.98	15 (Tie)	Cornell University (Johnson)	$154,853*	$157,418	97.0%
1.00	18	Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)	$148,067*	$147,456	97.0%*
0.98	19	University of California, Los Angeles (Anderson)	$145,000	$149,248	93.9%
1.11	20 (Tie)	University of Texas, Austin (McCombs)	$129,854	$117,440	94.3%
1.08	17	Emory University (Goizueta)	$165,000	$151,689	98.0%§
1.10	24 (Tie)	Rice University (Jones)	$152,000*	$138,000	89.9%§
1.62	26	Georgia Institute of Technology (Scheller)	$136,819*	$84,516	100.0%
1.04	03	University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)	$175,000	$167,748	98.7%
1.09	01	University of Chicago (Booth)	$175,000	$161,051	96.8%
1.02	10	New York University (Stern)	$170,000	$166,330	94.1%
1.07	11 (Tie)	Duke University (Fuqua)	$160,055	$150,000	98.0%
1.05	15 (Tie)	University of Southern California (Marshall)	$150,314*	$143,560	97.0%§
0.92	22 (Tie)	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flager)	$133,517	$145,018	96.0%
1.05	24 (Tie)	Georgetown University (McDonough)	$138,552*	$131,344	96.0%
1.16	22 (Tie)	Indiana University (Kelley)	$130,000	$111,666	96.2%
1.28	20 (Tie)	University of Washington (Foster)	$143,203	$112,254	99.0%
1.02	27 (Tie)	Vanderbilt University (Owen)	$139,711*	$136,640	97.0%
1.02	30	University of Notre Dame (Mendoza)	$130,000	$126,880	96.0%
0.82	27 (Tie)	The University of Texas at Dallas (Jindal)	$106,000*	$129,878	96.0%
1.00	02	Northwestern University (Kellogg)	$165,000	$163,572	99.0%
1.11	06 (Tie)	Stanford University	$175,000	$157,146	93.0%
0.99	04	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)	$165,000	$165,992	96.6%§
1.08	05	Harvard University	$175,000	$162,748	95.0%
1.01	11 (Tie)	University of California, Berkeley (Haas)	$155,000	$152,866	93.8%
1.03	11 (Tie)	Columbia University	$175,000	$169,150	95.0%
1.53	27 (Tie)	University of Rochester (Simon)	$162,000	$105,816	95.0%

* Median starting salary data not available, mean starting salary data is used
† Class of 2022 data not available, Class of 2021 data is used
‡ Median starting salary and Class of 2021 data is used
§ % received offer data not available, % accepted offer data is used