The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania offers the best return on investment for graduates who complete their master's degree, according to a new ranking out of Georgetown University.
Two years after completing their master's in business program, Wharton graduates see the highest annual earnings net of debt payments at $165,600. "We take debt payments into account in addition to earnings because a significant debt load can offset high earnings," wrote authors of the ranking, which comes out of Georgetown's Center on Education and the Workforce. Their analysis found the majority of business programs lead to median earnings that are roughly 10 times students' debt payments two years after graduation.
Two years after graduation, associate's degree holders in business have median annual earnings of $30,000 after debt payments. The financial returns for a business degree rise to $43,200 after debt payments for bachelor's degree holders and $51,600 for master's degree holders.
Below are the 30 top-ranked institutions for master's in business degrees based on the annual earnings net of debt payments two years after completion of the program. The rankings below include ties.
1. University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School (Philadelphia): $165,600
2. Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business (Hanover, N.H.): $162,000
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management (Boston): $159,600
4. Columbia University's Columbia Business School (New York): $157,200
5. Stanford (Calif.) Graduate School of Business: $156,000
6. University of Chicago's Booth School of Business: $148,800
7. Yale School of Management (New Haven, Conn.): $140,400
8. University of Virginia's Darden School of Business (Charlottesville): $140,400
9. Duke University's Fuqua School of Business (Durham, N.C.): $135,600
10. UCLA Anderson School of Management (Los Angeles): $130,800
11. Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management (Evanston, Ill.): $129,600
12. Emory University's Goizueta Business School (Atlanta): $126,000
13. Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business (Houston) : $122,400
14. Santa Clara (Calif.) University's Leavey School of Business: $121,200
15. Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, N.J.): $121,200
16. Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business (Pittsburgh): $118,800
17. Georgia Institute of Technology's Scheller College of Business (Atlanta): $116,400
18. Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Business (Provo, Utah): $114,00
19. Cornell University's SC Johnson College of Business (Ithaca, N.Y.): $112,800
New York University's Stern School of Business: $112,800
20. McCombs School of Business at University of Texas at Austin: $108,000
21. Texas A&M University's Mays Business School (College Station): $106,800
22. Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management (Nashville, Tenn): $104,400
23. University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business (Los Angeles): $103,200
Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business (Washington, D.C.): $103,200
University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management (Minneapolis): $103,200
24. University of Arkansas' Walton College of Business (Fayetteville): $100,800
California State University - Los Angeles: $100,800
Washington University's Olin Business School (St. Louis): $100,800
25. Kettering University (Flint, Mich.): $99,600