The MBA vs inflation

With 128k+ layoffs and counting in the tech industry this year, business schools — weathering a 25% dip in domestic applications — are hoping to scoop up some of this talent.

• Some programs are waiving requirements for standardized test scores for people who were recently laid off. Others are tossing application fees.

Yet the economic downturn isn’t as bad as 2008, and inflation has complicated the picture. Can an MBA salary beat the rising cost of living?

It depends on how you use it

Per data collected by Bloomberg, in 2022, the median salary gain between students’ pre-MBA jobs and their first job after graduation was $85k. Between 2018 and 2022, the median growth in MBA earnings was 28.1%, compared to 18.7% for all US workers and 17.6% inflation.

MBA graduates who went into consulting and technology, ~50% of grads, fared the best in terms of scoring median salaries that have outpaced inflation. Of course, the tech sector isn’t exactly thriving right now.

And it’s important to note — despite being “masters” of business, MBAs aren’t immune from inflation.

Between 2018 and 2022, around half of new MBA grads entered fields where the median growth in compensation did not keep pace with inflation.