Are MBA Starting Salary Figures Inflated?

Before I started MBA school in 2001, I thought that receiving my MBA would be the ticket to a higher salary. After all, the media regularly reports on how high MBA starting salaries are. The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) reported that the average MBA starting salary for 2006 students was $82,000 with an average signing bonus of over $17,000. However, when I graduated from MBA school and saw the starting salary data from my own class, I learned the ugly truth - the MBA starting salary figures that are often reported by the media can be inflated.

How can this be? It's not that MBA schools are lying and providing false data; rather, MBA schools are only using select data in reporting their starting salary figures. Upon graduation, each student is given a survey asking what their starting salary is.

Here is where the MBA starting salary deception comes in - not all students have jobs when the data is collected. In fact, in my class, only a small percentage of students actually had jobs when the MBA starting salary figures were collected. The students who did have offers typically had more experience than the students who did not have jobs. Thus, the MBA starting salary figures reflected only a small portion of the class who had higher than average starting salaries. The actual MBA starting salary figure was much lower than what was reported.

In addition, MBA starting salary figures are muddled as salaries of students returning to their previous jobs are included with students beginning new roles. Part-time MBA students who are receiving raises to return to their previous company can also boost the MBA starting salary numbers when added with full-time students who are seeking a career change, especially when these students are compared with part-time students returning to lucrative law and medical careers.

The MBA Career Services Council has set standards which should seek to prevent the practice of inflating MBA starting salary figures. Their website states that at least 80% of students should be considered when reporting any statistics, including starting salary figures. In addition, the MBA Career Services Council states that the number of students who have accepted employment be clearly stated when the MBA starting salary data is shown, with footnotes provided detailing how many students are reflected in the given data.

For more information about MBA programs, see The Insider's Guide to Finding the Best MBA Program For You

C.M. Paulson is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to receiving her MBA from the University of Pittsburgh's Katz School of Business, Ms. Paulson worked for almost ten years for two Fortune 100 companies in a variety of analytical and management roles.