EMBA: The Most Likely Degree To Be Recommended By B-School Alumni

EMBA ROI AFTER TEN YEARS: $1.2 MILLION IN CUMULATIVE SALARY

Some 99% of EMBA alumni described their business school experience as “good to outstanding”–highest of any alumni with advanced business degrees. Some 95% called their EMBA program “personally rewarding,” highest again for any degree program, while 87% said it was “professionally rewarding,” and 71% said the experience was “financially rewarding.” Full-time, two-year MBA programs did slightly better on professional and financial satisfaction, with 91% and 82%, respectively, agreeing that the found their MBA programs rewarding.

An analysis of the return-on-investment of EMBA programs showed that it took graduates only 2.5 years to recoup their investment, a year quicker than traditional two-year MBA programs, largely because Executive MBA students do not have to quit their jobs to gain the degree. The median ROI in three years for EMBA programs was pegged at 198%, at five years, it was 486%, while at ten years, it was an impressive 1,747%–higher than for any other advanced business degree and four times the return of a traditional MBA. GMAC said full-time, two-year MBAs had a ten-year ROI of 445% (see table below).

Those numbers translated into big income changes. GMAC estimated that the median cumulative base salary after graduation at the three-year mark was $373,000, at five years, $632,000, and at ten years, it was $1.2 million.

CALCULATING THE ROI OF GRADUATE BUSINESS PROGRAMS

Source: GMAC 2016 Alumni Perspectives Survey

The EMBA alumni in the survey said the largely choose to enroll in their programs for personal development and to develop managerial knowledge and technical skills (see below table). But half of the EMBA graduates also hoped to achieve an increase in salary by getting the degree, while 43% believe the degree would increase the chances that they would receive more challenging and interesting projects at work.

KEY FACTORS IN ALUMNI DECISION TO ENROLL IN A BUSINESS PROGRAM