One of the most important aspects to research in your quest for find the best MBA is to figure our the potential salary.
You need to be able to link the salary to the circumstances of the environment of the Business School. For example, in Europe, the salary is not like it is in the USA. Not only do you need to establish the average MBA salary for your chosen business school, you also need to be able to link this to your own particular circumstances and experience. In Europe, salary is already deducted by pensions, expenses for the employee/employer, insurances etc. This makes the salary of a business school in the USA higher.
As a starting point, you should look at the differences in average graduating MBA salaries (at the business schools where you are planning to study) based on the career paths that previous MBA graduates have chosen, as there may be differences that exist because of location and industry.
These are the questions which should arise in comparing the Business Schools:
- What are the average starting salaries for MBA graduates with 5 or 10 years experience?
- What are the average salaries of the students who start the MBA program of the Business School
- What are the circumstances of the Business School, where is it situated, what do locals earn and how is the payout system. (if a lot of students from the home country take part in the program it means that the home country has influence on the average salary). This is related to the question if the average graduating MBA salaries vary by geographical location, i.e. will you need to move once you graduate to realize your full salary-earning potential?
There are several resources which inform you about the salaries of MBA’s. We advise you to check out the top 30 salary ranking that Businessweek below. Remember that these amounts are averages and that CEOs like Bill Gates and Michael Dell were able to achieve much higher salaries.
Businessweek MBA Salary rankings
This is the salary Ranking Return on Investment Business Schools, Top 30 by Business Week:
