EARLY-CAREER RETURN ON INVESTMENT AT P&Q RANKED BUSINESS SCHOOLS
This table shows the estimated five-year Return on Investment in both dollars and percent for all 91 business school programs ranked by Poets&Quants in 2024.
ROI ($) is calculated by taking the average salary of 2023 graduates multiplied over five years and subtracting the total cost of the degree over four years. ROI (%) is calculated by subtracting total cost from total salary and dividing by total cost.
2024 P&Q Rank |
School |
In-State Total Cost (4-year) |
Total Salary (5-year) |
ROI $ |
ROI % |
| 1 | University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) | $309,442 | $536,075.00 | $226,633.00 | 73.24% |
| 2 | University of Southern California (Marshall) | $354,548 | $466,235.00 | $111,687.00 | 31.50% |
| 3 | Georgetown University (McDonough) | $323,857 | $504,295.75 | $180,438.75 | 55.72% |
| 4 | University of Virginia (McIntire) | $164,004 | $465,900.00 | $301,896.00 | 184.08% |
| 5 | University of Michigan (Ross) | $141,272 | $471,470.00 | $330,198.48 | 233.73% |
| 6 | Cornell University (Dyson SC John) | $238,409 | $490,330.00 | $251,921.00 | 105.67% |
| 7 | University of Notre Dame (Mendoza) | $309,404 | $435,000.00 | $125,596.00 | 40.59% |
| 8 | University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) | $93,216 | $432,218.05 | $339,002.05 | 363.67% |
| 9 | New York University (Stern) | $350,874 | $460,330.00 | $109,456.00 | 31.20% |
| 10 | Georgia Institute of Technology (Scheller) | $161,392 | $414,420.00 | $253,028.00 | 156.78% |
| 11 | Washington University in St. Louis (Olin) | $321,592 | $451,855.00 | $130,263.00 | 40.51% |
| 12 | Villanova University School of Business | $310,884 | $415,040.00 | $104,156.00 | 33.50% |
| 13 | Emory University (Goizueta) | $299,420 | $426,575.00 | $127,155.00 | 42.47% |
| 14 | Indiana University (Kelley) | $113,375 | $383,525.00 | $270,150.00 | 238.28% |
| 15 | University of Illinois (Gies) | $161,896 | $398,990.00 | $237,094.00 | 146.45% |
| 16 | Northeastern University (D’Amore-McKim) | $347,284 | $418,200.00 | $70,916.00 | 20.42% |
| 17 | Boston University (Questrom) | $319,994 | $385,395.00 | $65,401.00 | 20.44% |
| 18 | University of Richmond (Robins) | $293,660 | $393,355.00 | $99,695.00 | 33.95% |
| 19 | University of Washington (Foster) | $138,216 | $385,025.00 | $246,809.00 | 178.57% |
| 20 | Bucknell University | $315,313 | $404,430.00 | $89,117.00 | 28.26% |
| 21 | Fordham University (Gabelli) | $319,805 | $393,745.00 | $73,940.00 | 23.12% |
| 22 | University of Miami (Herbert) | $298,968 | $408,980.00 | $110,012.00 | 36.80% |
| 23 | Lehigh University | $299,545 | $417,975.00 | $118,430.00 | 39.54% |
| 24 | University of Minnesota (Carlson) | $142,528 | $349,555.00 | $207,027.00 | 145.25% |
| 25 | Texas Christian University (Neeley) | $288,944 | $355,755.00 | $66,811.00 | 23.12% |
| 26 | Southern Methodist University (Cox) | $348,544 | $407,715.00 | $59,171.00 | 16.98% |
| 27 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | $115,722 | $366,505.00 | $250,783.08 | 216.71% |
| 28 | Binghamton University | $116,637 | $413,415.00 | $296,778.00 | 254.45% |
| 29 | Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) | $307,159 | $471,705.00 | $164,546.00 | 53.57% |
| 30 | University of Pittsburgh | $167,048 | $360,500.00 | $193,452.00 | 115.81% |
| 31 | Tulane University (Freeman) | $318,193 | $372,340.00 | $54,147.00 | 17.02% |
| 32 | Purdue University (Daniels) | $97,952 | $344,285.00 | $246,333.00 | 251.48% |
| 33 | Wake Forest University | $336,000 | $428,915.00 | $92,915.00 | 27.65% |
| 34 | Texas A&M University (Mays) | $124,202 | $356,605.00 | $232,403.32 | 187.12% |
| 35 | University of Tennessee (Haslam) | $141,245 | $298,935.00 | $157,690.00 | 111.64% |
| 36 | Syracuse University (Whitman) | $305,535 | $345,755.00 | $40,220.00 | 13.16% |
| 37 | Providence College | $293,080 | $327,205.00 | $34,125.00 | 11.64% |
| 38 | Hult International Business School | $331,200 | $214,500.00 | -$116,700.00 | -35.24% |
| 39 | Loyola Marymount University | $317,228 | $355,235.00 | $38,007.00 | 11.98% |
| 40 | Elon University (Love) | $221,192 | $345,060.00 | $123,868.00 | 56.00% |
| 41 | University of Houston (Bauer) | $100,466 | $347,880.00 | $247,414.00 | 246.27% |
| 42 | Florida Southern College | $162,000 | $271,640.00 | $109,640.00 | 67.68% |
| 43 | Lipscomb University | $227,012 | $275,010.00 | $47,998.00 | 21.14% |
| 44 | Rutgers Business School – New Brunswick | $118,440 | $394,274.55 | $275,834.65 | 232.89% |
| 45 | University of Denver (Daniels) | $291,594 | $335,565.00 | $43,971.00 | 15.08% |
| 46 | Miami University (Farmer) | $137,368 | $349,120.00 | $211,752.00 | 154.15% |
| 47 | University of South Carolina (Darla Moore) | $109,723 | $342,824.55 | $233,101.73 | 212.45% |
| 48 | William & Mary (Mason) | $150,502 | $426,435.00 | $275,933.00 | 183.34% |
| 49 | Saint Louis University (Chaifetz) | $265,416 | $352,160.00 | $86,744.00 | 32.68% |
| 50 | St. John’s University (Tobin) | $270,635 | $351,550.00 | $80,915.00 | 29.90% |
| 51 | University of Arizona (Eller) | $134,484 | $333,250.00 | $198,766.00 | 147.80% |
| 52 | University of San Diego | $291,992 | $386,210.00 | $94,218.00 | 32.27% |
| 53 | University of Evansville (Schroeder) | $223,788 | $281,625.00 | $57,837.00 | 25.84% |
| 54 | University of Dayton School of Business Administration | $248,860 | $307,150.00 | $58,290.00 | 23.42% |
| 55 | Michigan State University (Broad) | $206,112 | $351,895.00 | $145,783.00 | 70.73% |
| 56 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | $292,563 | $398,095.00 | $105,532.00 | 36.07% |
| 57 | Hofstra University (Zarb) | $253,257 | $320,540.00 | $67,283.00 | 26.57% |
| 58 | College of New Jersey | $144,340 | $329,610.00 | $185,270.00 | 128.36% |
| 59 | Rochester Institute of Technology (Saunders) | $301,560 | $331,000.00 | $29,440.00 | 9.76% |
| 60 | Marian University (Byrum) | $198,696 | $290,720.00 | $92,024.00 | 46.31% |
| 61 | Seton Hall University (Stillman) | $269,440 | $326,275.00 | $56,835.00 | 21.09% |
| 62 | Drexel University (LeBow) | $290,696 | $360,520.00 | $69,824.00 | 24.02% |
| 63 | University of New Hampshire (Paul) | $145,166 | $315,795.00 | $170,629.00 | 117.54% |
| 64 | University of Georgia (Terry) | $110,596 | $344,140.00 | $233,544.00 | 211.17% |
| 65 | University of Delaware (Lerner) | $125,226 | $322,910.00 | $197,684.00 | 157.86% |
| 66 | Ithaca College | $261,462 | $246,650.00 | -$14,812.00 | -5.67% |
| 67 | Seattle University (Albers) | $294,180 | $315,725.00 | $21,545.00 | 7.32% |
| 68 | Duquesne University (Palumbo Donahue) | $272,656 | $285,640.00 | $12,984.00 | 4.76% |
| 69 | University of Texas at Dallas (Jindal) | $137,448 | $364,500.00 | $227,052.00 | 165.19% |
| 70 | Towson University | $117,427 | $290,000 | $172,573 | 146.96% |
| 71 | University of Michigan-Dearborn | $113,634 | $266,665.00 | $153,031.00 | 134.67% |
| 72 | Ohio University | $90,096 | $282,350.45 | $192,254.45 | 213.39% |
| 73 | University of Oklahoma (Price) | $139,368 | $315,965.00 | $176,597.00 | 126.71% |
| 74 | Christopher Newport University | $128,071 | $292,965.00 | $164,894.00 | 128.75% |
| 75 | Bowling Green State University (Schmidthorst) | $100,916 | $291,765.00 | $190,849.40 | 189.12% |
| 76 | University of North Carolina-Wilmington (Cameron) | $92,704 | $287,850.00 | $195,146.00 | 210.50% |
| 77 | Rutgers Business School – Newark | $118,321 | $351,555.00 | $233,234.40 | 197.12% |
| 78 | University of Kentucky (Gatton) | $140,392 | $330,110.00 | $189,718.00 | 135.13% |
| 79 | Roger Williams University (Gabelli) | $235,964 | $283,485.00 | $47,521.00 | 20.14% |
| 80 | American University (Kogod) | $304,706 | $359,500.00 | $54,794.00 | 17.98% |
| 81 | University of the Pacific (Eberhardt) | $280,364 | $313,640.00 | $33,276.00 | 11.87% |
| 82 | Sacred Heart University | $261,556 | $381,515.00 | $119,959.00 | 45.86% |
| 83 | Oregon State University | $125,688 | $286,410.00 | $160,722.00 | 127.87% |
| 84 | University of Utah (Eccles) | $147,115 | $322,500.00 | $175,384.95 | 119.22% |
| 85 | Florida International University | $51,836 | $308,335.00 | $256,499.00 | 494.83% |
| 86 | Northern Illinois University | $111,092 | $298,930.00 | $187,838.00 | 169.08% |
| 87 | Texas Tech University (Rawls) | $109,256 | $300,380.00 | $191,124.00 | 174.93% |
| 88 | San Diego State University | $155,896 | $311,430.00 | $155,534.00 | 99.77% |
| 89 | University of Akron | $109,330 | $288,364.55 | $179,034.55 | 163.76% |
| 90 | University of Texas at Arlington | $115,488 | $303,380.00 | $187,892.00 | 162.69% |
| 91 | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Lubar) | $85,224 | $279,715.00 | $194,491.00 | 228.21% |
DON’T MISS THESE STORIES IN OUR 2024 RANKING PACKAGE
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- 2024 Ranking Methodology
- How Alumni Rate Their Undergraduate Business Degrees
- Acceptance Rates At The Best Undergraduate Business Schools
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- All The Employment & Internship Data Reported In Our 2024 Undergrad B-School Ranking
- P&Q’s 2024 Undergrad Ranking: The Data Dump
- What Does It Cost to Attend A Top 100 Business School?
- Business Schools With the Most Women, Minority & First-Generation College Students
- Comparing The ROI Of P&Q’s Top Business Schools
