According to the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), many MBA graduates land starting base salaries nearly triple that of those who only have a bachelor's degree.
The average salary for the class of 2021 bachelor's degree graduates was $55,911, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
On the other hand, Payscale data shows that for MBA graduates in the U.S., the average base salary is $92,000. Though, GMAC reports that number can be high as $115,000.
Fortune ranked the top five full-time, in-person MBA programs in the U.S. out of the 69 programs that participated in their survey.
California's Stanford Graduate School of Business landed the top spot on the list. Graduates of the program had a median base salary of $158,400.
It has an acceptance rate of 6.2%, and tuition comes in at $76,950 a year.
Some of the wealthiest people in the U.S. graduated from the school, including Nike's Phil Knight and Apple's Laurene Powell Jobs.
Top 5 full-time MBA programs with the highest starting salaries for graduates
- Stanford Graduate School of Business
- New York University: Stern, University of Chicago: Booth, University of Pennsylvania: Wharton (tie)
- --
- --
- Harvard Business School
New York University's Stern School tied for second place with the University of Chicago: Booth and the University of Pennsylvania: Wharton.
Graduates from all three schools land a median base salary of $155,000.
Sign up now: Get smarter about your money and career with our weekly newsletter
Don't miss:
Forget Bill Gates’ strategy: This is the best Wordle starting word according to MIT researchers
These are the top 5 best cities in the world for millennial travelers