A master's in business administration, aka MBA degree, is increasingly becoming the most wanted and popular degree worldwide. Every year, as many as 250,000 students enrol in top MBA universities worldwide to get their MBA and 24% of them specialise in management programs. But which one should you choose to get the highest MBA ROI?
Well, an MBA degree is significantly expensive. This being said, the total cost of an MBA can exceed about 300,000 USD for a two years program. More if you’re a highly paid professional. So, it is exceedingly important to know how fast you’ll be able to repay your student loans or recoup your expenses over the degree.
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There are multiple factors that decide the rate and amount of ROI you get on your MBA degree. You must first be sure if an MBA is worth it for you. Remember, some professionals make more money without an MBA, compared to those with an MBA, in different job fields and positions. So, if money is the only thing you’re looking at, you should evaluate cases individually.
Multiple factors decide the ROI in MBA a student enjoys. These include the salary after doing an MBA from abroad, the cost of your MBA degree, and your lifestyle before you got into business school. Let us have a look at them all individually.
Factors Affecting ROI in MBA
Several factors add up to decide your ROI in MBA as an international student, such as:
- Starting MBA salary: The salary of an MBA in abroad at the earliest stage will decide how fast you recover your ROI. For example, for a 300,000 USD spent, if you land a job of about 60,000 USD as an education executive, your ROI will take longer to recover. Therefore, pitch your best and try your hardest to begin with a good salary.
- Signing bonuses: Survey suggests that apart from the initial salary, the signing bonus also makes for a huge reduction in student loans. On average, US companies pay 16,000 as a signing bonus to employees.
- Costs and expenses: If you were a student backed by a scholarship for your MBA abroad degree, you’ll have less expenses to repay for. Similarly, if your college was less expensive, you’ll make the ROI faster, even if your pay is less.
- MBA Specialisation: The ROI MBA programs you choose form a major role in deciding your pace of ROI in MBA. An MBA in HR, for example, makes about 69,000 USD on average per year, while an MBA in marketing or finance earns the highest, about 103,000 USD per year. You see the difference already!
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Cost of an MBA Abroad
Before calculating the return on investment of an MBA program abroad, it is extremely important to know the cost that you will face during the MBA degree. Note that not just the tuition fees, but also the living expenses and your time cost add up to your total net cost of an MBA abroad.
Look at it this way, you will spend two years getting your MBA degree. This means that you will not get any salary as you do normally because you won’t be working. Next, the tuition, living, and other student expenses also add to your total MBA cost. Therefore, on a whole, an MBA degree from the best universities and programs in the world can range between 28,000 USD to 12,000 USD for one year.
Therefore, on average, 30,000 USD for the entire MBA plus your unrealized income will be the total you’ll spend on your MBA.
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What are the Best ROI MBA Programs to Increase ROI?
Apart from the specialisation, the school, degree, and tuition cost also heavily change your ROI. Here is a list of the best ROI MBA programs to increase ROI on your MBA:
- MBA in Finance
- MBA in Marketing
- MBA in Business Management
- MBA in Hospitality Management
Let us know about the ROI of some of the top B-schools in the world:
School |
Tuition Cost in USD |
Salary Starting (in USD) |
ROI over ten years |
Stanford Graduate Business School |
119,000 |
125,000 |
325% |
Harvard Business School |
122,000 |
125,000 |
320% |
Arizona State University |
68,000 |
98,000 |
250% |
Imperial College Business School |
Unknown |
Previous plus 48,500 |
870,200 |
Ross School of Business |
Unknown |
120,000 |
826,300 |
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As you can see, the school you choose has a great influence on your speed of ROI and on your salary after doing MBA from abroad. You should also have a look at which specialisation in MBA is paid highest, and clubbing it with the best ROI MBA schools, choose your university and program.
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Salary, Jobs, and Positions after MBA Abroad
The cost to study MBA abroad comes at around 300,000 for two years. This amount is not just your tuition, and covers the living, ore arrival, and ancillary costs as well. However, scholarships which are fully or partially funded can significantly reduce your amount, increasing your ROI in return.
Let us look at the salary prospects and jobs after an MBA abroad and before it:
Roles |
Salary before MBA (in USD) |
Salary after MBA (in USD) |
Investment Banker |
85,000 |
100,000 |
Business Intelligence |
83,550 |
119,572 |
Finance |
68,000 |
98,000 |
Marketing and Management |
80,000 |
103,000 |
Human Resources |
40,000 |
69,171 |
Note that these are just average values. The monetary income is subject to change with experience, specialisation, college, placement, and age. But you get an idea, the ROI over a ten years’ time frame usually exceeds 200%, which is a lot. Your career will thank you.
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If you’ve made up your mind to pursue MBA from Abroad, you might as well consult an expert online to brush your profile up and apply to the top universities around the globe. Speak with our experts for free today and get advice on specialisation, colleges, and the application procedure. Your career counts on you.