EMBA Graduates and Their Debt Burden at Selected Business Schools
School | Average Debt | % In Debt |
Georgetown (McDonough) | $112,446 | 47% |
Pepperdine (Graziadio) | $91,829 | 82% |
Thunderbird | $81,642 | 71% |
Washington (Olin) | $78,801 | 46% |
Emory (Goizueta) | $77,795 | 72% |
Vanderbilt (Owen) | $77,362 | 57% |
Minnesota (Carlson) | $68,678 | 68% |
Virginia Tech | $68,067 | 71% |
Arizona State (Carey) | $64,135 | 41% |
Rice (Jones) | $52,421 | 45% |
Fordham University | $45,000 | 80% |
Wisconsin Business School | $40,000 | 50% |
Ohio State (Fisher) | $37,347 | 32% |
Brigham Young (Marriott) | $35,737 | 49% |
Source: Business schools reporting to U.S. News & World Report
Part-time MBA students, who typically are getting their degrees at night while holding down full-time jobs during the day, also are racking up formidable debt. The school reporting the highest level of debt for its part-time students was Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School, where the average debt burden was $80,185–more than the debt assumed by full-time MBA graduates at such top-tier schools as Harvard or Stanford, though some costs were covered by scholarships. Masters scholarship is awarded to candidates who can demonstrate significant academic and extra-curricular achievements.
In fact, the amount of debt part-timers are assuming at many schools, without big brands or strong alumni networks, often exceeds or comes shockingly close to the debt of full-time students at many of the best schools in the world. Syracuse University’s Whitman School, which is ranked 79th by U.S. News, reported that 94% of its part-time students are graduating with debt of $61,157.
The figures for part-time students is even more surprising than the numbers for EMBA students who often have access to career development offices and networking opportunities. Most evening MBA candidates have little to no career support at many schools, making it harder to quickly get a return on their investment. So students are graduating with mountains of debt, yet seldom see significant increases over pre-MBA compensation.
Average Debt Burden Of Part-Time MBAs at Selected Business Schools
School | Average Debt | % In Debt |
Pepperdine (Graziadio) | $80,185 | 57% |
Michigan (Ross) | $69,296 | 41% |
New York (Stern) | $68,902 | NA |
Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) | $66,582 | 63% |
UCLA (Anderson) | $66,315 | 59% |
Northwestern (Kellogg) | $64,163 | NA |
Syracuse (Whitman) | $61,157 | 94% |
Washington (Olin) | $57,222 | 46% |
Minnesota (Carlson) | $54,117 | 52% |
UC-Berkeley (Haas) | $52,175 | 67% |
Rice (Jones) | $51,225 | 45% |
Arizona State (Carey) | $50,411 | 71% |
DePaul (Kellstadt) | $49,445 | 48% |
Georgia Tech | $43,258 | NA |
Fordham | $39,040 | 92% |
Ohio State (Fisher) | $37,347 | 32% |
Wisconsin Business School | $30,000 | 65% |
Virginia Tech (Pamplin) | $27,142 | 23% |
Source: Business schools reporting to U.S. News & World Report
DON’T MISS:
Questions about this article? Email us or leave a comment below.