Does it Matter Where You Get Your MBA?

Recent reports suggest that business school rankings might matter less than many MBA applicants believe. Several of these articles imply that MBA candidates need not compare measures besides starting salaries upon graduation when choosing a business school.

So, does it matter where you get your MBA?

Yes, it most definitely matters—and the following guide explains why. This article presents controversial reports that attempt to compare MBA programs as investments, analyzes the deficiencies in these comparisons, and explains why securing admission to the best MBA programs still makes sense. Appreciating the limitations of these reports first requires understanding some basic valuation techniques, which we will use to kick off our analysis.

Comparing Investments in Education

Most of us are familiar with the phrase return on investment (ROI), the profit from an investment relative to the amount invested. This financial ratio is a metric or performance measure. Usually expressed as percentages, the results of ROI calculations help investors evaluate and compare investments.

One way to express this ratio is through a simple formula:

ROI = (Investment’s Final Value – Investment’s Cost) / Investment’s Cost

This simple percentage expression permits easy, standardized comparison of payoffs and returns from different investments. However, it’s also limited. A key restriction is that, unlike powerful approaches such as the usually superior (but more complex) discounted cash flow model, simple ROI calculations don’t account for the time value of money or interest on the investment. That’s why combining a simple ROI analysis with other metrics that value an investment over time generally offers more accurate and comprehensive insights.

Nevertheless, simple ROI valuation analysis remains popular because of its straightforward versatility. Accordingly, one can apply simple ROI percentage calculations to help value and compare educational investments like university degrees, such as MBAs and specialized business master’s degrees.

Six Studies Comparing MBA Programs as Investments

Return on investment metrics that help to compare MBA degree programs often focus on the salary-to-debt ratio, which compares a recent graduate’s starting salary to the total amount of student loans used to finance the degree. In this way, salary-to-debt ratios provide a standardized way of comparing the value of different degree programs.

1. 2024 ROI Ranking of MBA Programs by Poets&Quants

Several new analyses have been recently published that reframe how MBA programs are compared financially. One such study appeared in Poets&Quants, a respected source for business schools, which ranked MBA programs not just by starting salaries, but by overall return on investment (ROI), taking into account the cost of attendance, time to repay loans, and salary gains.

Using newly compiled data on debt load and compensation, Poets&Quants ranked business schools based on how quickly graduates were able to recover their investment. Rather than reinforcing traditional rankings, this ROI list reshuffled the order, showing that some mid-tier programs offer stronger payback potential than the elite ones.

When ROI is used as the key metric, the rankings shift in unexpected ways. For example, Texas A&M’s Mays Business School and Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business are typically ranked outside the top 25 in overall reputation, but they rose to near the top when sorted by ROI, all thanks to lower costs and competitive salaries. In contrast, top-tier programs like Stanford and Harvard, while boasting high graduate salaries, also come with significant debt burdens, extending the payback period.

Indeed, based on ROI alone, schools like Mays and Scheller may provide a faster financial return than many elite programs. These findings suggest that for students looking at the financial impact of an MBA, school selection should account not just for reputation, but for how effectively the degree translates into financial return.

2. Georgia Tech’s MBA Salary-to-Tuition Ratio Analysis

The Poets & Quants ranking wasn’t the only recent report that recognized this trend. A more recent ROI analysis comes from Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business. Using publicly available salary data and tuition, the school developed a salary-to-tuition ratio metric, offering students a straightforward comparison of MBA program value.

The ratio compares the median salary of full-time MBA program graduates to the total out-of-state tuition and fees for the two-year program, allowing prospective students to gauge a program’s cost-effectiveness. The tool can serve as a valuable indicator in assessing top-ranked programs and their potential return on investment (ROI).

Based on this metric, several programs not traditionally ranked among the top tier emerge as solid performers in terms of financial return. Georgia Institute of Technology leads the list with a salary-to-tuition ratio of 1.58. Graduates from Scheller reported a median starting salary of $140,000, while the total out-of-state tuition and fees amounted to $88,672. Furthermore, 88.4% of graduates received job offers, indicating strong employment outcomes.

When compared with long-established programs such as Harvard Business School and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, the contrast becomes apparent. Both Harvard and Duke reported median salaries of $175,000, but their tuition costs were significantly higher, over $155,000, resulting in a lower ROI of 1.12. Likewise, Stanford Graduate School of Business posted a median salary of $185,000, but with a total tuition exceeding $166,000, its ROI also stood at 1.11

These insights emphasize a growing reality: a high return on investment does not always correlate with brand-name status. Programs that combine moderate tuition with competitive salaries and solid job placement can offer exceptional value for students prioritizing long-term financial returns.

3. The Quacquarelli Symonds Ten-Year MBA Study

Quacquarelli Symonds, the World MBA Tour promoter famous for compiling global business school statistics, also released a return on investment study ranking business schools. Their study focused on comparisons of MBA programs worldwide over ten years.

The United States QS study’s ROI results kick off with the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business, the Michigan Ross School of Business, the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, and Penn State University’s Smeal College of Business occupying the top four slots. Yet here again, even with return on investment data spanning an entire decade, a pattern emerged bearing similarities to the studies above.

In the QS study, Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business (9), the University of Virginia Darden School of Business (4), Pennsylvania State University’s Smeal College of Business (3), and Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business (1) all ranked ahead of such top-tier schools as the Harvard Business School, UCLA Anderson, and the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Suggesting that the generally accepted mid-career milestone of ten years was still too soon after graduation for the prestigious schools’ graduates to dominate the rankings, the QS study’s editors also offered this analysis:

While some of the names included here can hardly be described as obscure, it’s notable that many of North America’s most prestigious schools do not feature at this stage – give it a few more years, though, and those high salaries will really kick in. At this point, though, this table is an indication of the ability of MBA programs outside the M7 to pay for themselves and offer considerable dividends beyond that.

4. 2025 Financial Times Global MBA Rankings: Value for Money Insights

The 2025 Financial Times Global MBA Rankings provide a comprehensive evaluation of MBA programs worldwide, incorporating metrics such as career progress, value for money, and salary increase. Notably, in the “Value for Money” category, the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business and the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business ranked highest, surpassing several elite colleges. This indicates that graduates from these programs experience substantial salary increases relative to their tuition costs, highlighting that brand or prestige is not the sole determinant of financial return. Such findings underscore the importance of assessing ROI when selecting an MBA program.

5. GMAC 2025 Prospective Students Survey: ROI Surpasses Rankings in Importance

The Graduate Management Admission Council’s (GMAC) 2025 survey, encompassing 4,912 prospective MBA students from 147 countries, indicates a significant shift in applicant priorities. While previously school rankings were considered a top consideration, only 29 percent of candidates now see them as a primary factor in their decision-making process, down from 37 percent the previous year.

In contrast, the emphasis on return on investment (ROI) and career outcomes has grown substantially. Applicants are now increasingly evaluating programs based on tangible outcomes such as career advancement opportunities, salary growth, and alignment with personal values, rather than solely on institutional prestige.

This trend underscores that where you obtain your MBA is becoming less critical than the value and outcomes the program delivers. Prospective students are seeking programs that offer a solid ROI, practical skills, and alignment with their career goals, regardless of the school’s traditional ranking.

6. Bloomberg Businessweek Best Business School Rankings 2024–25: Employer Satisfaction Highlights Non-Elite Programs

For Bloomberg Businessweek’s 2024–25 MBA rankings, it surveyed 5,292 students, 9,222 alumni, and 734 employers. The inclusion of employer surveys ensures that the rankings reflect not only academic and alumni perspectives but also the views of companies that recruit MBA graduates.

The 2024–25 MBA rankings, which incorporate feedback from employers, alumni, and students, reveal that certain non-elite programs are excelling in areas highly valued by recruiters. For example, Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business secured the 16th position overall, receiving commendations for entrepreneurship and compensation. Notably, it ranked ahead of traditionally esteemed institutions such as Columbia Business School (17th) and UCLA Anderson (18th).

These findings suggest that prestige or brand does not always equate to superior job outcomes. Employers are increasingly prioritizing practical experience, leadership qualities, and skills over brand name. For prospective students, this underscores the importance of evaluating MBA programs based on tangible outcomes and fit, rather than solely on historical prestige.

Does ROI Analysis Suggest That School Choice Doesn’t Matter?

By now, astute readers may have noticed an interesting pattern in the study results above. Overall, none of these ROI analyses argues convincingly in favor of striving for admission to a top-tier business school.

The only analysis that convincingly argues in favor of admission to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, and similar business schools in all cases exclusively depends on total compensation.

From a return on investment perspective, that’s the only metric that consistently argues for striving for admission to the best business schools. In part, that’s because elite business school alumni often earn larger proportions of their compensation from stock and bonuses besides salary. But in general, valuations that compare salary-to-debt ratios and salary uplifts often transform the game into one that the most expensive business schools cannot win.

Factors Omitted by ROI Analysis of MBA Programs

But does that conclusion mean that one’s choice of business school doesn’t matter? No, it does not. That’s because other issues exist with strictly applying these ROI valuation techniques to MBA programs. After all, this type of quantitative analysis fails to account for all the important factors.

Mid-Career Salary Gains

First, depending on a graduate’s field of concentration, starting and early-career salaries can be far lower than peak career salaries, and accordingly skew an ROI analysis against the better business schools. In fact, data provided by PayScale to Poets & Quants disclosed that some MBA program concentrations lead to careers that start slowly with rather modest earnings but can almost double their salaries by mid-career.

Moreover, even assuming higher mid-career salaries, the QS editors suggest that more than ten years is needed to fully account for peak earnings potential among alumni from the most selective schools. See our BSchools guide, “MBA Salary Guide – Starting Salaries for the Highest Paying MBA Concentrations,” for a more in-depth analysis of these trends.

Classmates as Educational and Networking Resources

Second—and probably most important—attending a better business school affords tremendous benefits in terms of networking opportunities to build lifelong relationships with extremely capable classmates who already have first-hand experience tackling a broad range of key business issues. Peter de Vroede, who earned his MBA from top-ranked Berkeley Haas, explains these advantages:

The school where you get your MBA will determine who your fellow students will be. If you are going to a top MBA program, you are likely to learn as much from your fellow students as you will from your professors.

In my cohort, we had people with an amazing array of professional backgrounds. They were knowledgeable, experienced, and extremely smart. We seldom had a case study where someone in the class didn’t have first-hand knowledge of the industry being discussed. And on several occasions, they had direct knowledge of [the] deal or strategic situation being discussed. We had several MDs and a couple of lawyers. We had a couple of PhDs with impressive track records in research — one in computer science and one in materials science. . .

If you go to a mediocre program, the professors may still be there, but that cadre of successful, experienced, and informed fellow students probably won’t be. So the textbook part of the education will be there, but that intense, highly collaborative interaction that can be so serendipitous and valuable just won’t be. And for a top-tier program, that’s a lot of value.

That, of course, extends to the network you will become a part of after you graduate. A top-tier MBA program will have year after year cohorts of similar distinction, all there to be tapped into whenever your career requires.

That’s not to say you can’t get value out of a lesser program. There is definitely some amount of an MBA education that really is “textbook”, and the value of learning it in the company of a more accomplished cohort of students isn’t as great.

But for the most part, the MBA experience is about gaining those “textbook” principles and learning about how to apply them in a number of business situations from practitioners who have had direct experience doing so.

Yes, the Business School Where You Get Your MBA Matters

Amy X. Wang, a journalist who has previously worked as a reporter at Quartz, suggests that ROI analysis implies that “brand names are not nearly as important to future wealth as many MBA candidates might think.” And in some cases, she may be correct.

Nevertheless, BSchools instead agree with de Vroede. On balance, and other things equal, the educational and networking benefits from classmates at the best business schools are so compelling that striving to win admission to the best MBA programs remains the wisest long-term strategy.

Fortunately, these days, an education at one of the nation’s better business schools falls within reach of vastly larger numbers of applicants than a limiting focus only on the highly selective full-time, on-campus programs might suggest. In fact, one of the biggest secrets in graduate management education involves the way online and part-time programs offer easier “back door” entry into top-ranked business schools.

For surprising research and analysis about these possibilities, see our BSchools guide, “Is a Part-Time MBA Program Worth It?” Related research also appears in our other guides, especially “MBA vs. Professional MBA vs. Executive MBA Programs,” and “What is a GMAT Waiver and How Does it Influence the MBA Application Process?”