University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business
BRAND ALSO RESULTS IN MORE BONUS MONEY
Not surprisingly, employers also are more willing to provide bonus enticements to graduates of the most prestigious programs. Consider the College of New Jersey, which has an undergraduate business program that ranks among the top 50 in the U.S. and is a mere hour-and-a-half drive from New York City. Only 11% of its business graduates received sign-on bonuses this year. At Penn State University’s Smeal College of Business, nearly a four-hour drive from New York, fully half of this year’s graduates were given signing bonuses.
The bigger the brand, the more likely graduates were given incentives to take a job. At Wharton, 81% of the Class of 2016 landed a sign-on bonus averaging $10,493. At Michigan’s Ross School, 76% got the perk, averaging $8,940. At Georgetown, 70% received a sign-on bonus that averaged $8,423.
So you have to factor this perspective into the numbers. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have a job that is less meaningful or challenging. It doesn’t mean that you would end up making more later on. But immediately after graduation, the pay you are offered will reflect the perceived value of the brand by employers. It’s a lesson Donald Trump learned early on in life.
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| Pay Rank & School | Total Average Pay | Average Salary | Average Bonus | % Getting Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. UPenn (Wharton) | $86,065 | $77,566 | $10,493 | 81% |
| 2. UC-Berkeley (Haas) | $81,251 | $74,654 | $9,702 | 68% |
| 3. Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) | $81,051 | $75,696 | $10,500 | 51% |
| 4. Michigan (Ross) | $78,952 | $72,164 | $8,940 | 76% |
| 5. Virginia (McIntire) | $78,157 | $71,944 | $9,004 | 69% |
| 6. New York (Stern) | $78,052 | $71,448 | $9,571 | 69% |
| 7. Cornell (Dyson) | $77,596 | $70,552 | $9,702 | 73% |
| 8. USC (Marshall) | $74,746 | $70,865 | $9,702 | 40% |
| 9. Rutgers-New Brunswick | $73,903 | $61,218 | $18,121 | 70% |
| 10. Georgetown (McDonough) | $73,867 | $69,908 | $8,423 | 47% |
| 11. Washington (Olin) | $71,509 | $66,681 | $7,428 | 65% |
| 12. UNC (Kenan-Flagler) | $70,458 | $66,330 | $8,391 | 49% |
| 13. Emory (Goizueta) | $70,138 | $65,559 | $8,176 | 56% |
| 14. Notre Dame (Mendoza) | $68,948 | $61,200 | $12,701 | 61% |
| 15. Lehigh | $68,881 | $65,995 | $6,341 | 46% |
| 16. Texas-Austin (McCombs) | $68,560 | $64,354 | $7,264 | 58% |
| 17. Northeastern (D’Amore-McKim) | $67,418 | $60,810 | $10,325 | 64% |
| 18. Wake Forest | $67,072 | $62,669 | $6,571 | 67% |
| 19. Indiana (Kelley) | $66,379 | $60,510 | $8,760 | 67% |
| 20. SMU (Cox) | $66,020 | $61,805 | $9,162 | 46% |
| 21. Illinois-Urbana-Champaign | $63,820 | $60,462 | $5,741 | 59% |
| 22. Richmond (Robins) | $63,594 | $60,952 | $6,605 | 40% |
| 23. Penn State (Smeal) | $62,276 | $59,243 | $6,122 | 50% |
| 24. Fordham (Gabelli) | $61,953 | $59,376 | $5,857 | 44% |
| 25. Texas Christian (Neeley) | $61,382 | $58,078 | $7,510 | 44% |
| 26. Drexel | $61,214 | $58,871 | $5,857 | 40% |
| 27. Maryland (Smith) | $60,855 | $58,512 | $5,857 | 40% |
| 28. Wisconsin | $60,741 | $58,741 | $5,000 | 40% |
| 29. Univ. of Washington (Foster) | $60,696 | $58,353 | $5,857 | 40% |
| 30. Texas A&M (Mays) | $60,463 | $57,177 | $6,086 | 54% |
| 31. Georgia (Terry) | $59,310 | $56,500 | $6,109 | 46% |
| 32. James Madison | $59,080 | $57,585 | $4,672 | 32% |
| 33. College of New Jersey | $58,770 | $58,000 | $7,000 | 11% |
| 34. Connecticut-Storrs | $58,493 | $57,453 | $5,050 | 21% |
| 35. Rutgers-Newark | $58,407 | $56,596 | $7,872 | 23% |
| 36. Babson | $58,355 | $56,012 | $5,857 | 40% |
| 37. Boston (Questrom) | $58,309 | $56,975 | $7,492 | 18% |
| 38. Michigan State (Broad) | $58,150 | $57,300 | $5,000 | 17% |
| 39. Brigham Young (Marriott) | $58,051 | $56,702 | $3,853 | 35% |
| 40. Minnesota (Carlson) | $57,813 | $56,080 | $5,855 | 30% |
| 41. Purdue (Krannert) | $57,228 | $55,276 | $5,741 | 34% |
| 42. Pittsburgh | $55,833 | $55,000 | $5,626 | 15% |
| 43. Ohio State (Fisher) | $55,480 | $53,641 | $5,437 | 34% |
| 44. Arizona State (Carey) | $55,474 | $53,975 | $6,783 | 22% |
| 45. Massachusetts (Isenberg) | $54,414 | $53,127 | $4,557 | 35% |
| 46. Arizona (Eller) | $52,414 | $50,143 | $5,678 | 40% |
| 47. Elon (Love) | $52,109 | $50,000 | $5,700 | 37% |
| 48. Denver (Daniels) | $50,870 | $49,776 | $6,079 | 18% |
| 49. Tennessee (Haslam) | $49,722 | $47,758 | $4,911 | 40% |
| 50. Missouri (Trulaske) | $45.552 | $44,729 | $3,743 | 22% |
Source: Poets&Quants analysis
DON’T MISS: RANKING THE TOP 50 UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOLS or ACCEPTANCE RATES AT THE TOP 50 UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS PROGRAMS
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