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Katie Schenk - January 13, 2020
As we’ve seen before, the Cost of Attendance (CoA) is critical for international students. It includes tuition, fees, books, medical insurance, and everything you need to live during your studies - and you'll need to prove you can cover these costs to secure a visa.
Although universities publish CoA figures – even if it’s just tuition and the lowest possible amount they believe a student can survive with – it can be tough to compare apples to apples.
Costs are given in local currencies – pounds, euros, rupees, yuan, and dollars (that includes American, Canadian, Australian dollars as well as Hong Kong and Singapore dollars). That alone is enough to set your head spinning – and it gets more complicated when you try to work out your return on investment (ROI).
You’ll find salary statistics are often published as American dollars.
Even if you consider only European schools – and only those that charge in euros, you’ll still need to convert the amounts to dollars to estimate your ROI.
If you’re bringing euros or dollars to the table, it’s doable, but when you factor in a third home currency, you’re in for some serious head scratching. (Usually, you’ll find way more zeros than you want to see.)
Calculating ROI demands that you consider the cost of attendance + opportunity costs (including the duration of your studies) + loan interest (less any monies saved or awarded as scholarships) and weigh that against earning potential.
Of course, you don’t know your earning potential when applying to various schools.
The median reported salaries (whatever currency they’re reported in) don’t mean a lot. You could be on the low end of the salary scale now, which likely puts you on the lower end of the salary scale post-MBA – but location changes, internship experience, and career switching all play a role.
Absolutely. But, you still need to work out that ROI before you decide an MBA (and which MBA) is right for you. (Though, just to throw a little spanner into that, it’s worth noting that MBA experiences offer a lot more than simply monetary rewards.)
We’ve taken figures reported by universities – and converted them to US dollars and accounted for study duration so it’s possible to compare the top 50 apples. It’s worth noting, however, that we’ve only doubled the first year CoA for two-year US programmes, so there will be some variation.
Then, we’ve taken a look at the weighted three-year salary for each university, as reported by the 2019 FT World MBA Rankings – as well as their income increase percentage (so you can attempt to work out your future salary range based on your current one).
In the end, most of the figures are estimates only, but they’re a great jumping off point for calculating your ROI – and for piecing together your starting budget.
And, when listed in order of least to most expensive MBA programmes, you may find yourself considering a few schools that may not have crossed your mind previously.
We've got the data below, and a ROI calculator to make it even easier for you.
Hyderabad | India
Average salary increase: 187%
Weighted 3-year salary: $156,122
Course duration: 1 year
Bangalore| India
Average salary increase: 124%
Weighted 3-year salary: $178,774
Course duration: 1 year
Seoul | South Korea
Average salary increase: 100%
Weighted 3-year salary: $131,166
Course duration: 18 months
Durham City | UK
Average salary increase: 110%
Weighted 3-year salary: $120,556
Course duration: 1 year
Singapore
Average salary increase: 126%
Weighted 3-year salary: $134,036
Course duration: 1 year
Shanghai | China
Average salary increase: 195%
Weighted 3-year salary: $110,062
Course duration: 12 years
Coventry | United Kingdom
Average salary increase: 83%
Weighted 3-year salary: $118,406
Course duration: 1 year
Ahmedabad| India
Average salary increase: 100%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 186,170
Course duration: 2 years
Calcutta| India
Average salary increase: 139%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 158,138
Course duration: 2 years
Singapore
Average salary increase: 131%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 153,216
Course duration: 17 months
Milan | Italy
Average salary increase: 124%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 130,628
Course duration: 1 year
Singapore
Average salary increase: 133%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 118,415
Course duration: 15 months
London | United Kingdom
Average salary increase: 67%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 126,873
Course duration: 1 year
Cambridge | United Kingdom
Average salary increase: 98%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 163,508
Course duration: 1 year
Madrid | Spain
Average salary increase: 100%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 153,547
Course duration: 1 year
Pok Fu Lam | Hong Kong (China)
Average salary increase: 116%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 131,386
Course duration: 14 months
Oxford | United Kingdom
Average salary increase: 118%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 161,443
Course duration: 1 year
Barcelona | Spain
Average salary increase: 116%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 148,060
Course duration: 18 months
Clear Water Bay | Hong Kong (China)
Average salary increase: 108%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 156,202
Course duration: 1 year
Paris | France
Average salary increase: 106%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 142,622
Course duration: 16 months
Barcelona | Spain
Average salary increase: 128%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 151,076
Course duration: 15 months
Lausanne | Switzerland
Average salary increase: 76%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 151,944
Course duration: 1 year
Fontainbleau | France | Singapore
Average salary increase: 104%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 179,661
Course duration: 10 months
Gainesville, Florida | United States
Average salary increase: 151%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 121,000
Course duration: 2 years
Hyderabad | India
Average salary increase: 122%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 137,568
Course duration: 2 years
Shanghai | China
Average salary increase: 183%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 174,115
Course duration: 18 months
Austin, Texas | United States
Average salary increase: 104%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 151,235
Course duration: 2 years
Hyderabad | India
Average salary increase: 107%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 133,519
Course duration: 21 months
London | United Kingdom
Average salary increase: 102%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 169,675
Course duration: 18 months
Irvine, California | United States
Average salary increase: 1129%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 130,056
Course duration: 21 months
Atlanta, Georgia | United States
Average salary increase: 119%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 150,659
Course duration: 2 years
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania| United States
Average salary increase: 113%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 148,892
Course duration: 21 months
Washington DC| United States
Average salary increase: 121%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 147,384
Course duration: 2 years
Ann Arbor, Michigan| United States
Average salary increase: 108%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 157,727
Course duration: 2 years
Durham, North Carolina | United States
Average salary increase: 111%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 163,808
Course duration: 22 months
Ithaca, New York | United States
Average salary increase: 112%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 162,417
Course duration: 2 years
Charlottesville, Virginia | United States
Average salary increase: 114%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 157,437
Course duration: 2 years
New Haven, Connecticut | United States
Average salary increase: 121%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 172,547
Course duration: 2 years
Berkeley, California | United States
Average salary increase: 104%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 188,746
Course duration: 2 years
Los Angeles, California | United States
Average salary increase: 108%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 147,565
Course duration: 2 years
Evanston, Illinois | United States
Average salary increase: 99%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 170,830
Course duration: 2 years
Chicago, Illinois| United States
Average salary increase: 126%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 185,861
Course duration: 21 months
Los Angeles, California | United States
Average salary increase: 108%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 162,985
Course duration: 2 years
Boston, Massachusetts | United States
Average salary increase: 112%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 205,486
Course duration: 2 years
New York, New York| United States
Average salary increase: 114%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 184,099
Course duration: 20 months
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | United States
Average salary increase: 114%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 197,267
Course duration: 20 months
Hanover, New Hampshire| United States
Average salary increase: 114%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 173,636
Course duration: 2 years
Stanford, California| United States
Average salary increase: 129%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 228,074
Course duration: 2 years
New York, New York| United States
Average salary increase: 117%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 156,485
Course duration: 2 years
Boston, Massachusetts | United States
Average salary increase: 107%
Weighted 3-year salary: $ 188,173
Course duration: 2 years
Need a loan to cover the cost of attending your dream school?
Once you figure out the ROI on your studies, it's time to find the finances to pay for it - and Prodigy Finance is ready to help with that.
Prodigy Finance Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Post updated for accuracy and freshness on January 13, 2020. Originally published on Dec 5, 2017.
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