Wharton 2022 graduates earn a base salary of $175,000, the highest in school history

Yet another prestigious business school has MBA graduates landing positions at record-breaking base salaries this year. Last week, the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania luck Ranked as having the 4th largest full-time MBA program in the United States, it announced a median base salary for 2022 graduates of $175,000. Schools do not report average bonuses.

The nearly 13% increase in median base salary is the result of higher salaries in the alumni industries most valued by the school, including consulting, investment banking and technology, said Wharton College MBA Director of Career Management. One Sam Jones said. luck.

“Certainly, looking at the top industries of interest that Wharton students enrolled in and pursued at Wharton, these were industries that were really competing for talent,” he says. was compensating these industry talents at a higher level than last year.”

Wharton also had a banner year in terms of the number of students who received job offers or pursued entrepreneurship after graduation. % got a job offer after graduation. The School’s Her 2022 MBA Careers Nearly 60 of her 852 alumni have started their own businesses this year, according to her report. That’s double her number of students pursuing entrepreneurship in 2021.

Wharton officials hypothesize that two of the main drivers for students starting their own companies are the school’s Venture Lab in the new Tangen Hall building. The message for this new building began when the 2022 class was applying to Wharton, Jones explains. This space is dedicated to innovation and entrepreneurship. Jones also said he suspects COVID has had something to do with the surge in his entrepreneurial MBA since Wharton.

“There were a lot of people sitting at home looking at the four walls and reflecting and thinking about what they wanted to do with their lives,” he says. “It may have made interest in starting your own business more rejuvenated. That’s what we see when we look at trends.”

Financial services remains the top field for Wharton MBA graduates, with nearly 40% of 2022 graduates finding employment in the industry. The most popular avenues in financial services for Wharton students are investment banking and private his equities, both with reported median base salaries of $175,000.

Consulting is the second most popular career path for Wharton MBA graduates, with approximately 25% of the class progressing into this field. Salaries at large consulting firms are trending upwards, and this is reflected in Wharton’s MBA report. The median base salary this year was $175,000. Wharton doesn’t report bonuses, but according to Management Consulted data, her MBA for consulting could earn up to $240,000 in total compensation.

This year, the top three consulting firms, McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company and The Boston Consulting Group, also announced that starting salaries will continue to rise. In 2022, the starting salary for new MBA graduates at MBB companies was $175,000. However, in 2023, Bain and McKinsey will offer his $192,000 base salary, while BCG will offer his $190,000.

“The fiercest competition in the labor market is the competition for ‘talented people,’ and consulting firms are competing not only among companies, but also against Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and traditional American companies for this talent. are also competing,” said Namaan Mian, an executive officer at Chief Management Consulting, previously said. luck.

Technology is another growth area for Wharton MBA graduates. About 17% of graduates landed jobs at tech companies this year, and he had a median base salary of $153,500. Jones says there has been a growing interest in technology at the school, especially over the past decade.

“A lot of these tech brands resonate with students because they use them every day, and that’s fascinating,” he says. “The industry tends to be innovative. It tends to move fast. It tends to be agile.

Students fill a variety of roles at technology companies, but some of the more popular roles include product and project management, Jones said. Business development, corporate strategy, partnerships, and sales roles are also pursued by Wharton MBA graduates.

Despite a spike in tech layoffs in recent months, Wharton officials expect the field to continue to be a boon for graduates.

“Yes, we are seeing a slight correction in the tech industry right now,” says Jones. “However, we remain cautiously optimistic that strong adoption will continue this year and into the future.”

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