MBA Jobs Report: Tuck, Cornell Johnson and Vanderbilt

Three top US business schools reported placement data this week, with Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and Cornell Johnson showing modest improvements from last year. At Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Business, however, the average base salary has decreased , albeit by less than USUS$1,000.

Rise in salaries and job offer rates for Tuck MBA class of 2014

Of the 259 graduates in Tuck’s MBA Class of 2014, 98% had job offers within 3 months compared to 95% of graduates last year. The average starting salary for Tuck’s MBA class of 2014 is US$117,860 versus US$115,301 for the class of 2014 – an increase of 2.5%. The average signing bonus is US$28,712 and the average amount for guaranteed compensation is US$34,431.

While finance and consulting were the most popular industries for the Tuck MBA classes of 2013 and 2014, the order has reversed. The majority last year’s MBA graduates (30%) worked in financial services, while consulting was a close second at 27%. This year, however, 35% of Tuck MBA graduates took jobs in consulting, followed by financial services at 25%. MBA graduates who took jobs in consulting had the highest mean and median salaries (US$130,723 and US$135,000 respectively), but the highest maximum salary of US$225,000 went to an MBA graduate working in financial services.  

Salaries and employment rate are also up at Cornell Johnson

Cornell Johnson has also seen slight salary and employment rate increases. While only half of the MBA career statistics have been posted to Cornell Johnson’s external site, Donna Fleming, associate director of Johnson’s Career Management Center, shared the 2014 career statistics with TopMBA.com.

In terms of employment rate, 90% of 2014 Cornell Johnson’s two-year MBA graduates received offers within three months compared to 89% last year. The mean base salary also went up from US$109,000 in 2013 to US$110,700 in 2014 – an increase of 1.5%. The percentage of Cornell Johnson MBAs working in finance has gone up from 35% last year to 38% this year, with the majority of finance MBAs working in investment banking (11%) and managerial finance (8%). The percentage of MBA graduates working in consulting stayed the same at 23%. Salary-wise, graduates who took MBA jobs in consulting fared better with an average base MBA salary of US$128,500, as opposed to US$102,300 for their counterparts working the finance industry.

As for other MBA job roles, the percentage of graduates working in general management increased from 8% to 12% and the percentage of Cornell Johnson MBAs working in marketing roles decreased from 22% to 16%.

Increase in total Owen MBA compensation but decrease in average base salary

Wednesday’s article on the Vanderbilt News website paints a picture of robust MBA hiring and higher overall salaries for the 175 graduates from Owen’s MBA Class of 2014, but omits a year-on-year comparison of average base salaries and employment rates. While it is true that the total compensation for Owen MBAs is higher this year compared to last, a look at the figures in the 2013 and 2014 reports show that the percentage of students receiving an offer and the average base salary have both gone down a little.

As for employment rate, 96% full-time Owen MBA graduates from the class of 2013 received a job offer within three months, compared to 94% for the class of 2014. Last year’s average base salary for all students (both US citizens and foreign nationals) was US$101,301 while this year’s average base salary has decreased by less than 1% to US$100,513. The highest salaries are also lower compared to last year, with the highest salary for international students seeing a US$60,000 decrease from US$190,000 in 2013 to US$130,000 for 2014.

When you look at total compensation (base salary plus average signing bonus and other compensation), however, the numbers are higher this year compared to last year. The average amounts for signing bonus and other compensation have both risen slightly. Last year’s average signing bonus was US$19,521 and while this year’s is US$20,138 – a 3% increase. The increase is greater for other compensation which rose 15% from US$12,443 last year to US$14,374 this year.

The majority of Owen MBAs work in finance and consulting. The salaries  are better for consulting graduates, who make up 23% of this year’s graduating class and have seen higher average base salaries overall from US$103,083 in 2013 to US$108,458 in 2014 – a possible all-time high. Compared to the average consulting salary of US$100,760 for the class of 2007, this year’s figure represents a 7.7% increase over the past seven years.

The majority of consultants work in management consulting which has seen a salary increase, but the average base salaries for those working in healthcare consulting has gone down almost US$10,000 from US$83,000 in 2013 to US$73,333 in 2014. A little over a quarter (27%) of 2014 Vanderbilt MBA graduates took post-MBA jobs in finance with an average base salary of US$94,562 compared to US$99,264 for 2013. Vanderbilt officials declined to comment.