They say a consultant is someone who comes in to solve a problem and stays around long enough to become part of it. It turns out they also get paid pretty well, particularly if they have an MBA.
For the past three years, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) has collaborated with the MBA Career Services Employer Alliance (MBA CSEA) to deliver an annual survey of MBA graduate data in conjunction with the Employment Module of AACSB’s Business School Questionnaire (BSQ).
Among the many data points gathered by this survey are data on the starting salaries of MBA graduates by a number of factors, including the industry in which they receive employment, the geographic location of their employment, their level of pre-MBA program work experience, and more.
A preview of the results by AACSB showed consultants with an MBA make an average of $USD122,433, compared to Finance/Accounting professionals on $112,695. IT professionals with an MBA make an average of $US91,957.
MBA Graduates’ Starting Salaries by Professional Function
| Professional Function | N of Schools Reporting | N of Graduates Reporting | Weighted Average Salary (USD) |
| Consulting | 71 | 2,032 | $122,433 |
| Finance/Accounting | 73 | 1,878 | $112,695 |
| General Management | 55 | 701 | $107,292 |
| Other | 50 | 489 | $101,041 |
| Marketing/Sales | 74 | 1,218 | $100,433 |
| Operations/Logistics | 53 | 471 | $97,119 |
| Human Resources | 10 | 29 | $95,453 |
| Information Technology | 23 | 96 | $91,957 |
Source: 2015–16 BSQ Employment Module—MBA CSEA Sections. Notes: All salary data represent weighted averages, based on the number of MBA graduates reporting salaries in each category.
