After two years of outsized gains in starting pay for business graduates, salary growth appears to be leveling off, according to school-reported data in our annual ranking of the Best Undergraduate Business Programs in the U.S.
For our 2026 ranking, participating programs reported an average starting salary of $73,238 for the Class of 2025. That’s a 1.9% increase over the prior year.
Flash back to the Class of 2022, when graduates reported an average first-year salary that was 10.8% higher than the previous class. Class of 2023 graduates reported salaries 4.7% higher than Class of 2022.
Growth nearly stalled for the Class of 2024, with salaries rising just 0.3%. If that marked a correction, the latest data suggests the Class of 2025 may be establishing a new, more stable normal.
B-SCHOOLS WITH THE HIGHEST UNDERGRAD SALARIES
Top salaries right after graduation is probably the most compelling argument in favor of a business degree, but not all schools are created equal.
Undergrads at University of Pennsylvania’s The Wharton School (ranked No. 1 overall in 2026) consistently report first-year salaries that would make some MBAs blush. 2025 Wharton grads had an average starting salary of $112,030, up 2.3% from the $109,479 reported by 2024 grads and up 11.3% from 2022 when grads posed the first six-digit average salary of our ranking at $100,655. That figure was a 17.9% increase from 2021’s salary average of $85,345.
The average salary for Wharton grads is, in fact, nearly $10,000 higher (or 9%) than the next highest average on our 2026 ranking.
After Wharton, Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business (No. 7 overall) posted the second highest average starting salary for the fourth straight year. Its Class of 2025 graduates averaged a starting salary of $102,780, a 1.9% increase from the Class of 2024 average of $100,732.
Rounding out the top five for highest first-year salaries are:
- New York University’s Stern School of Business (No. 6 overall) at $99,555, a 0.4% increase over the Class of 2024
- Cornell University’s Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management (No. 3) at $98,943, a 2.6% increase)
- University of Michigan Ross School of Business (No. 4) at $94,909 $94,418, a slight 0.5% increase.
Across 110 programs ranked in 2026, 10 reported average first-year salaries of $90,000 or more.
HIGHEST SALARIES FOR 2025 GRADS
2026 Rank |
School |
2025 Average Salary |
2024 average salary |
% Change |
| 1 | University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) | $112,030.00 | $109,479.00 | 2.3% |
| 7 | Georgetown University (McDonough) | $102,780.45 | $100,732.94 | 2.0% |
| 6 | New York University (Stern) | $99,555.00 | $99,119.00 | 0.4% |
| 3 | Cornell University (Dyson SC Johnson) | $98,943.00 | $96,394.00 | 2.6% |
| 4 | University of Michigan (Ross) | $94,909.00 | $94,418.00 | 0.5% |
| 2 | University of Virginia (McIntire) | $94,747.00 | $91,838.00 | 3.2% |
| 11 | Washington University in St. Louis (Olin) | $93,536.00 | $91,852.00 | 1.8% |
| 12 | Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) | $92,170.00 | $94,200.00 | -2.2% |
| 5 | University of Southern California (Marshall) | $91,340.00 | $90,188.00 | 1.3% |
HIGHEST SALARY JUMPS
According to school reported data, average first-year salaries at Hult International Business School (ranked No. 80 overall) rose 38.9% over the previous year – from $44,700 to $62,100. That marks the largest jump of our 2026 ranking.
Florida Southern College Barnett School of Business (No. 61) reported that average salaries rose from $54,459 to $62,602, a 15% increase.
Meanwhile, some of the biggest salary jumpers from last year’s rankings reported a decrease for 2026.
Hofstra University’s Zarb School of Business (ranked No. 87 overall) reported an average starting salary for 2025 grads of $71,285, a 3.7% drop from 2024 grads average of $74,011. That comes after reporting a 15.4% increase the previous cycle with an average starting salary of $64,108 for 2023 grads.
Trinity University Neidorff School of Business reported the largest drop of the 2026 ranking after posting the second highest rise in 2025. The school reported that average salaries rose from $66,040 for 2023 grads to $81,364 for 2024 grads, a 23.2% increase. This year, average salaries for 2025 were $69,000, a 15.2% degrees.
The table below shows the largest jumps and dives in average first-year salaries for 2025 graduates within three-months of graduation.
BIGGEST JUMPS AND SLIDES AT RANKED B-SCHOOLS
BIGGEST JUMPS |
||||
2026 Rank |
School |
2024 Average Salary |
2025 Average Salary |
2-Year % Change |
| 80 | Hult International Business School | $44,700 | $62,100 | 38.9% |
| 61 | Florida Southern College (Barnett) | $54,459 | $62,602 | 15.0% |
| 93 | University of North Carolina-Wilmington (Cameron) | $54,085 | $61,728 | 14.1% |
| 90 | Bowling Green State University (Schmidthorst) | $59,065 | $67,209 | 13.8% |
| 108 | Northern Illinois University | $60,141 | $67,943 | 13.0% |
| 92 | University of Mary Washington | $50,673 | $57,230 | 12.9% |
| 69 | University of San Diego (Knauss) | $74,552 | $84,145 | 12.9% |
| 45 | Marquette University | $60,561 | $67,857 | 12.0% |
| 75 | Seattle University (Albers) | $71,437 | $79,472 | 11.2% |
| 43 | Providence College | $64,556 | $71,542 | 10.8% |
| 82 | Roger Williams University (Gabelli) | $59,258 | $65,576 | 10.7% |
SHARPEST DROPS |
||||
2026 Rank |
School |
2024 Average Salary |
2025 Average Salary |
2-Year % Change |
| 101 | University of Kansas | $63,811 | $60,431 | -5.3% |
| 99 | Sacred Heart University (Jack Welch) | $62,976 | $59,416 | -5.7% |
| 49 | University of Dayton | $66,689 | $62,738 | -5.9% |
| 98 | University of Michigan-Dearborn | $60,333 | $56,190 | -6.9% |
| 81 | Duquesne University (Palumbo Donahue) | $62,503 | $57,761 | -7.6% |
| 27 | Binghamton University | $86,678 | $79,395 | -8.4% |
| 100 | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Lally) | $78,733 | $71,578 | -9.1% |
| 56 | Susquehanna University (Weis) | $69,978 | $62,907 | -10.1% |
| 48 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) | $92,518 | $78,494 | -15.2% |
| 31 | Trinity University (Neidorff) | $81,364 | $69,000 | -15.2% |
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