Many MBA students are mature individuals who had responsible jobs before returning to school to earn the degree. When an MBA receives a salary in excess of $95,000, it may be because that individual is a physician, attorney, or a 30-year-old stock analyst who earned more than $80,000 before receiving the MBA degree.
Many top business schools prefer to admit applicants who have more than two years of work experience. An inexperienced applicant who intends to go right into an MBA program after graduating with a bachelor degree cannot expect to command the same salary as a person with experience.
Starting salaries vary by field or concentration. Students concentrating in finance or accounting may command higher starting salaries than those who choose general management or marketing as their concentration. Finally, there is considerable variation in salaries by geographic region, students' grades, and the state of the economy at graduation time.
The median salary of graduating students is used as the ranking criterion.