Business school employment statistics show how MBA and other business graduates moved into work after the Class of 2024. Across the reported schools, three-month offer rates ranged from 81.4% at Tepper to 96.3% at Mays, while reported salary measures ranged from a $109,000 average for Lehigh’s one-year MBA to a $175,000 median at Columbia. These figures are not directly interchangeable: schools report different populations, definitions, geography, and salary measures.
Contents
- At-a-glance employment and salary comparison
- Job offers and offer acceptance
- Salary, bonuses, and guaranteed compensation
- Who graduates are and where they work
- Industries and major employers
- Online MBA and career-change outcomes
- How to read business school employment reports
At-a-glance employment and salary comparison
The following comparison keeps each school’s terminology and measurement period visible. “Offer” means a job offer, while “accepted” means an offer accepted by the graduate. Salary figures are averages unless marked median or otherwise specified.
| School and Class of 2024 | Employment measure | Salary measure |
|---|---|---|
| Columbia Business School | 89% received offers; 86.4% accepted offers within three months | $175,000 median base salary |
| Vanderbilt MBA | 91% received offers; 90% acceptance among those with offers | $150,000 average starting salary |
| Mays FTMBA | 96.3% received offers; 81.5% accepted offers within three months | $133,075 average starting salary |
| Johns Hopkins Carey full-time MBA | 86% received offers; 87% accepted offers within 90 days | $127,500 median base salary |
| Yale SOM full-time MBA | 84.8% received offers by three months | $160,000 median salary |
| Lehigh 1-MBA | Not stated in the supplied outcome figure | $109,000 average salary |
The table illustrates why a ranking based on one percentage can mislead. Columbia reports both offers and acceptances, Vanderbilt reports acceptance among graduates with offers, and Carey uses a 90-day window. Mays reports a particularly high received-offers rate but a lower accepted-offer rate, which measures a different stage of the job search.
Job offers and offer acceptance
Cornell Johnson’s Two-Year MBA Class of 2024 included 291 graduates, of whom 261 were seeking full-time employment. Cornell Johnson reported that 81% received a job within three months of graduation and 79% accepted offers within three months. The school also reported 88% offer attainment among U.S. work-authorized graduates and 71% among non-U.S. work-authorized graduates. These results come from the Cornell Johnson 2024 Employment Report Data.
Columbia Business School reported that 89% of its Class of 2024 received offers three months after graduation and 86.4% accepted offers in the same period. Vanderbilt Business School reported a 91% job-offer rate within three months for its MBA Class of 2024, with a 90% acceptance rate among those with offers. Tepper School reported an 81.4% job-offer rate within three months.
Mays Business School reported two distinct measures for its FTMBA Class of 2024: 96.3% received offers within three months, while 81.5% accepted a job offer within three months. Johns Hopkins Carey Business School reported that 87% of its full-time MBA Class of 2024 accepted full-time offers within 90 days. A separate Carey Business School blog reported an 86% full-time-offer rate within 90 days, so the two Carey figures describe different outcomes.
Yale SOM reported that 84.8% of its Class of 2024 received offers by three months after graduation. Yale’s Employment Data PDF reported 86.6% of residents receiving an offer by three months after graduation. Because the Yale figures use different report labels and populations, they should not be treated as a single rate.
Salary, bonuses, and guaranteed compensation
Reported pay varies substantially by school and by statistic. Columbia Business School’s Class of 2024 compensation summary reported a $175,000 median base salary and a $370,000 high base salary. The report said 100% of students reported base salary data. For additional compensation, 71.3% reported signing bonus data; the median signing bonus was $30,000 and the high was $151,000. Another 12.3% reported other guaranteed compensation, with a $21,185 median and $225,000 high.
Cornell Johnson reported a $161,967 average base salary for its Class of 2024. The average was $163,232 for U.S. work-authorized graduates and $159,606 for non-U.S. work-authorized graduates. These are averages, so they are not directly comparable with Columbia’s median base salary.
Yale SOM reported a $160,000 median salary for its full-time Class of 2024. Vanderbilt reported a $150,000 average starting salary. Tepper’s compensation highlights page listed a salary of $186,043 for its full-time MBA outcome data. The supplied report does not identify that Tepper figure as an average or median, so it is best read as the school’s listed salary statistic rather than converted into another measure.
Johns Hopkins Carey reported a $127,500 median base salary, a $37,550 average signing bonus, and $41,214 in average additional guaranteed compensation. NC State Jenkins’ Online MBA Class of 2024 reported a $137,320 average salary and a $59,900 average signing bonus. Lehigh Business reported a $109,000 average salary for its one-year MBA Class of 2024 and a $140,176 average salary for its FLEX MBA Class of 2024.
Lehigh University reported a $95,000 average starting salary for its overall graduate Class of 2024. That broader graduate figure should not be used as a direct substitute for the business-school MBA figures. Mays reported a $133,075 average starting salary for its FTMBA Class of 2024.
Who graduates are and where they work
Columbia’s Class of 2024 profile provides context for interpreting its outcomes. The class had 844 students entering in 2022 and averaged five years of work experience. Women represented 44% of the class, minorities of U.S. origin represented 42%, and non-U.S. citizens represented 51%. Columbia reported an average GMAT score of 729, with a reported range of 700 to 760.
Geography also shapes employment results. Columbia reported that 79% of graduates took jobs in the United States, 9% took jobs in Asia, 5% took jobs in Europe, 4% took jobs in Central and South America, 3% took jobs in Africa and the Middle East, and 0.3% took jobs in other regions. These percentages describe the location of jobs reported by Columbia graduates, not the location of the school or the citizenship of every graduate.
The Cornell results show another important distinction. Cornell separately reported outcomes for U.S. work-authorized and non-U.S. work-authorized graduates: offer attainment was 88% for the former group and 71% for the latter, while average base salaries were $163,232 and $159,606, respectively. Work authorization is therefore a relevant lens when comparing employment outcomes across schools with internationally diverse classes.
Industries and major employers
Mays Business School reported the industries entered by its MBA graduates: 20% entered consulting, 15% financial services, 15% retail, 10% technology, 5% higher education, 5% energy, and 5% government. These reported shares identify several destinations but do not form a complete industry distribution in the supplied figures.
Columbia’s report listed hiring totals for selected employers. McKinsey hired 50 new Columbia hires from the Class of 2024 and 62 Columbia hires in total. Boston Consulting Group hired 29 new hires and 36 in total. Amazon hired 14 new hires and 14 in total. PwC hired 12 new hires and 15 in total, while Bain & Company hired 12 new hires and 21 in total.
The distinction between “new hires” and “total hires” matters. A total can include graduates who had a prior relationship with the employer or who were not counted as new hires in the report. Employer counts are therefore useful for understanding recruiting concentration, but they are not a complete ranking of employer quality or career outcomes.
Online MBA and career-change outcomes
NC State Jenkins’ Online MBA Class of 2024 reported a 91.1% employment rate. The same outcome report listed 3.6% starting or having started a business, 2.7% unemployment, and 2.7% having left the workforce. More than 75% of NC State Jenkins Online MBA graduates changed jobs while in the program; among those job changers, 43% changed companies and 54% were promoted. Graduates who changed companies saw an average salary increase of 38%, and graduates who were promoted also saw an average salary increase of 38%.
These figures describe career movement during or around the program, rather than only post-graduation placement. They may be especially relevant to working professionals comparing an online MBA with a traditional full-time program. The 91.1% employment rate, $137,320 average salary, and $59,900 average signing bonus come from the NC State Jenkins Online MBA Class of 2024 career outcomes report.
Carey’s employment report also included a job-search activity measure: graduates reported an average of 25,091 full-time jobs posted on Handshake each month. More than 47% of Carey graduates accepted jobs through school-facilitated activities, according to the Carey Business School blog, “The data is in: The 2024 Full-time MBA Employment Report.” This is a measure of the school’s reported recruiting environment and pathway, not a guarantee that an individual graduate will receive an offer.
Lehigh’s outcome categories show why “employed” is not always the only reported destination. For the one-year MBA Class of 2024, 21% received multiple job offers, while 88% were employed, in continuing education, or pursuing military or volunteer experience. For the FLEX MBA Class of 2024, 100% were employed, continuing education, or pursuing volunteer experience. Lehigh University’s overall graduate Class of 2024 reported 82% employed, in continuing education, or pursuing military or volunteer service; 68% were employed, 13% were in continuing education, and 18% were still seeking employment.
How to read business school employment reports
Start with the population. Cornell identifies 261 graduates seeking full-time employment within a 291-person two-year MBA class. Columbia describes students entering in 2022, while NC State reports an online MBA cohort. A rate calculated over job seekers is not automatically comparable with one calculated over all graduates or residents.
Next, identify the timing and outcome definition. “Received an offer within three months,” “accepted an offer within three months,” and “accepted within 90 days” are separate measures. The difference between Cornell’s 81% job rate and 79% accepted-offer rate, or between Mays’ 96.3% received-offers rate and 81.5% accepted-offer rate, shows why both measures belong in a comparison.
Finally, match the salary statistic. Median base salary, average starting salary, average salary, and a high salary answer different questions. Bonuses also require coverage rates: Columbia reported signing-bonus data for 71.3% of graduates, while its other guaranteed compensation figure covered 12.3%. A careful reader should preserve those denominators, the Class of 2024 measurement period, the geography, and whether the result is an estimate, reported outcome, or forecast. The figures summarized here are reported outcomes from the named schools; no forecast is included in the supplied employment reports.