The 2012 Alumni Perspectives GMAC report gives us insight into the real return on investment on MBA programs – Salary, Job Satisfaction and Current Employment.
Salary and Compensation: According to the survey, the median Salary reported by Full-time MBA Alumni from 2000-11 was US$95,000, with additional compensation of $18,123. As expected, Executive MBAs earned the highest median salary, $ US$125,000 and the highest compensation of $ US$153,445. Part-time MBAs earned the lowest median Salary at US$91,000, with additional compensation of US$106,000.
Return on Investment: Ten years after graduation, MBA Alumni nearly doubled their return on investment. Within the first year of graduation, nearly 1/3rd of the investment on graduate degree were earned and the entire investment were earned in four years
Job Satisfaction: The real return on investment on your MBA degree is Job Satisfaction. It directly relates whether you have achieved your post-MBA goals. Interestingly, 36% of the survey participants said that passion (doing work that one enjoys) is the prime driver for Job Satisfaction followed by compensation (18%) and 15% recognition.
Want to know who were the least satisfied after their MBA program?
Alumni working in Entry-Level positions and those who were working in Information Technology or MIS jobs were the least satisfied.
Who are the happiest?
Alumni in General Management, Finance or Accounting and Consulting were more satisfied than alumni employed in in operations, logistics, human resources, marketing and sales positions. Overall, 80 percent of survey respondents felt very or somewhat satisfied with their current job
Current Employment: Alumni from 2000 have reported a high employment rate (90%) right from the beginning. Out of the 6% unemployed survey respondents, 47% cited lack of relevant industry or functional experience as the reason for not having a job.
Regional Employment Trends: US and Central Asian citizens have the highest employment rate - 95% and 94% respectively. Middle Eastern or African citizens have the lowest employment rate - 90%.
Employment Trends (Gender): Interestingly gender parity in Employment was contradicting the regional employment trends with 93% of men from Asia/Pacific region being currently employed against 84% women. Canadian citizens have the best Gender parity when it comes to Employment with 92% for men and 91% for women.
What is the real value of an MBA?
4 out of 5 alumni felt that Graduate Management Degree have given them great job stability in a weak economy. 9 out of 10 alumni felt that their Graduate Management education gave them the flexibility to choose current career path.
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About the Author
I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.
For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.
My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.
I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.
The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.
Contact me for school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative development, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing, or guidance documents for recommendation letters.