What It Costs To Get A Top Executive MBA In The U.S.

Think 2025 might be the year you finally enroll for that Executive MBA you’ve been putting off? Be prepared to shell out big bucks.

The top five programs in Poets&Quants for Execs’ latest ranking of the best U.S. EMBA programs average nearly $218,000, with some pushing close to a quarter-million dollars. Even the least expensive options on our list will set you back tens of thousands.

Cost isn’t the whole story, of course. Many programs offer scholarships, and employer sponsorships can help offset the price. Here’s a look at how the most expensive EMBA programs stack up and where to find the best bargains.

Total Costs of P&Q’s Top 10 EMBA Programs

A comparison of total program costs for the top 10 Executive MBA programs as ranked by Poets&Quants for 2024-2025. Total costs represent tuition and fees for the complete program, as reported on the schools’ program websites. In-state resident tuition is displayed and may be higher for out-of-state students at select schools.
2024 P&Q rank
School
Total Cost
1 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) $230,100
2 Northwestern (Kellogg) $236,958
3 University of Chicago (Booth) $210,500
4 New York (Stern) $226,100
5 University of Michigan (Ross) $186,000
6 UCLA (Anderson) $192,720
7 Yale SOM $224,500
8 Texas-Austin (McCombs) $162,000
9 Cornell (Johnson) $186,510
10 Fordham (Gabelli) $114,000

 

MOST EXPENSIVE EMBAs BY TOTAL COST

If you’re considering an Executive MBA in 2025, Poets&Quants for Execs has scoured school websites to find the total program cost for more than 60 schools on our 2024 Executive MBA composite ranking. (Total cost is tuition and required fees for the entire program, as reported on the school websites.)

Not surprisingly, several of the top-ranked programs are among the most expensive. Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management (ranked No. 2 overall), for example, costs $236,958 while University of Pennsylvania’s The Wharton School (No. 1) will set your back $$230,100.

NYU Stern (No. 4), Yale School of Management (No. 7), UC-Berkeley Haas (No. 27), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) (No. 11) all cost more than $200,000.

Those aren’t even the most expensive. That honor goes to Columbia Business School (tied for No. 14 in our ranking) at a whopping $239,880 for its 20-month program.

10 Most Expensive P&Q Ranked EMBAs

2024 P&Q rank
School
Total Cost
14 Columbia Business School $239,880
2 Northwestern (Kellogg) $236,958
1 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) $230,100
4 New York (Stern) $226,100
7 Yale SOM $224,500
27 UC-Berkeley (Haas) $212,000
3 University of Chicago (Booth) $210,500
11 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) $208,300
6 UCLA (Anderson) $192,720
9 Cornell (Johnson) $186,510

Of course, the sticker prices at preferred EMBA programs aren’t necessarily the price students will pay. Many schools offer scholarships – some more generous than others – and several will help prospective students reach out to their employers for tuition assistance.

Some employers value continuing education for its professionals in order to train them for the business challenges in the evolving future-of-work. That is especially true for employees who have shown a commitment to their firms and plan to use their EMBA degrees to advance their careers within their current organizations. It never hurts to ask.

The Executive MBA Council (EMBAC) found that 29.4% of EMBA students received partial employer sponsorship while 16.1% got full-sponsorship. More than 67% of EMBA programs offered scholarships and fellowships at average award of $14,319.

The degree should also be looked at as an investment. The career coaching, professional networks, and resume boosts an EMBA brings can lead to significant career advancements in future years. The Executive MBA Council (EMBAC) found that 23.9% of students exiting an EMBA program in 2023 reported getting a raise by the time they exited the program. 42% reported getting a promotion during the program.

HUNTING FOR EMBA BARGAINS

If cost is an important consideration, you can find some bargains on our ranking list. Of course, this disregards all other factors like location, program focus, and tuition support.

The EMBA at University of North Carolina (Cameron) (ranked No. 63) is the least expensive on our list at a total cost of $22,502. Other EMBA bargains include No. 23 Xavier University (Williams) at $72,000 and No. 25 Saint Joseph’s University (Haub) at $72,450.

Seventeen programs from our ranking are priced under $80,000.

17 EMBAs Under $80K

2024 P&Q rank
School
Total Cost
48 Marquette University $79,500
44 Rochester Institute of Technology (Saunders) $78,000
28 Vanderbilt University: Owen $77,576
55 University of Arizona (Eller) $77,000
36 University of Georgia (Terry) $76,619
50 University of Houston (Bauer) $74,700
25 Saint Joseph’s (Haub) $72,450
23 Xavier (Williams) $72,000
43 Virginia Commonwealth University $65,000
61 Hult International Business School $65,000
49 University of Florida (Warrington) $62,808
58 Kennesaw State University (Coles) $57,500
37 Boise State University $54,900
42 Brigham Young University $54,608
35 University of South Florida (Muma) $47,500
53 Florida Atlantic University $38,600
63 University of North Carolina (Cameron) $22,502

NEXT PAGE: Total Cost at P&Q Ranked EMBA programs for 2024-2025