In this in-depth analysis of Harvard MBA Salary and Placements by Function for the Class of 2025, we cover:
1. Finance leads with Private Equity Contributing the Most
2. Consulting is 2nd but priority for Implementation Talent
3. General Management placements tied to operational reinvention
4. Business Development: Gains momentum
5. Strategic Planning Demand Driven by Organizational Transformation
1. Finance leads with Private Equity Contributing the Most
Finance remains the largest functional category for the Class of 2025, capturing 33% of all hires and offering a median base salary of $177,500 with total compensation reaching $217,500. The functional distribution inside this category reveals the real story: 49% of Finance hires entered Private Equity and venture capital, 20% moved into Investment Management, and 17% joined Investment Banking. This structure closely reflects the evolution of Harvard’s Finance outcomes over the 2021–2024 period, when private markets gradually overtook traditional banking as the central destination for Finance-oriented MBAs.
The market conditions across Q3 2024 to Q2 2025 reinforced this tilt.
Why PE Dominates
Private Equity and private credit benefited from resilient deal flow in add-ons and sector consolidations, which sustained demand for financial modelling, diligence, and operational strategy talent even when exits slowed.
Investment Banking – A Resurgent Function at Harvard
Investment Management firms, especially those experimenting with AI-augmented decision systems, expanded selectively but with higher compensation for specialized roles, evident in Finance’s comparatively high signing bonus of $40,000. Meanwhile, Investment Banking’s revival during the late-2024 rebound and early-2025 pockets of mega-deal activity helped stabilize the share of students moving into advisory roles.
Northeast Leads
The regional concentration, 54% in the Northeast and 18% in the West, mirrors the core financial hubs where PE, hedge funds, and investment banks maintained hiring during a turbulent but opportunity-rich phase in the market. Overall, Finance’s dominance reflects a class shaped by private-capital resilience and the ongoing premium placed on analytical and deal-oriented skill sets.
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2. Consulting is 2nd But Implementation Talent Prioritized
Consulting accounts for 21% of functional placements, with a median base salary of $190,000 and total compensation near $220,000, positioning it as the second-largest functional destination. When compared with Harvard’s 2021–2024 trajectory, Consulting’s long-term share has slowly tapered, mirroring broader shifts in global Consulting demand.
Through Q3 2024 to Q2 2025, Consulting firms increasingly reoriented their client offerings toward AI deployment, digital transformation, operational restructuring, and cost-efficiency programs, all of which demanded deeper cross-functional fluency.
While traditional strategy roles continued to attract HBS graduates, firms reduced the scale of generalist campus hiring and increased targeted recruitment for candidates who could partner with technical and data teams.
This shift is reflected in the employment report’s geographic concentration: 44% of Consulting hires placed in the Northeast, home to firms doubling down on end-to-end AI and transformation practices.
Implementation Experience Valued Over Strategy
Harvard’s functional outcomes demonstrate that Consulting remains central to MBA career pathways, but the nature of Consulting work and the skills required to enter have become more specialised and implementation-oriented.
3. General Management placements tied to operational reinvention
General Management roles absorbed 11% of the class with a median base salary of $170,000 and total compensation of $200,000, reflecting enduring student interest in leadership pathways that combine strategy with execution.
Leadership Roles – Most Demand in Technology, Healthcare, Non-Profit/Govt, Manufacturing and PE/VC
The distribution of industries receiving these graduates, 29% in Technology, 17% in Healthcare, 14% in nonprofit/government, 12% in Manufacturing, and 10% in PE/VC, reveals how general management increasingly functions as the entry point to organizations undergoing operational and digital reinvention.
The market dynamics from Q3 2024 to Q2 2025 reinforce this: tech companies required operators for AI commercialization; Healthcare organizations were integrating digital-health and value-based care models; manufacturers were redesigning supply chains and automating production; and nonprofits and public institutions were modernizing governance infrastructures. These shifts created leadership roles with wide decision authority early in the MBA career arc itself.
North East and West – Tech and Healthcare Duopoly
Regionally, 50% of these placements occurred in the Northeast and 30% in the West, reflecting the clustering of tech hubs, Healthcare systems, and mission-driven institutions undergoing structural transformation. In Harvard’s multi-year records, general management has been relatively stable, suggesting that this functional pathway responds less to cyclical hiring markets and more to long-running organizational redesign trends.
Marketing Strengthens its footprint with Demand for AI-commercialization
Marketing accounts for 11% of the class, offering a median base salary of $172,550 and total compensation near $207,550. Its industry placement pattern is strikingly concentrated.
CPG Slowdown
68% of marketing hires entered the Technology sector, while 11% joined consumer packaged goods. This distribution represents a material shift from Harvard’s earlier employment years, when CPG and retail claimed a larger share of marketing roles; by contrast, the Class of 2025 reflects a market deeply shaped by the commercialization of AI products and services.
Marketing AI Products and Integration in a Crowded Market
Across Q3 2024 to Q2 2025, Technology firms faced the challenge of differentiating AI products in crowded markets, expanding enterprise adoption, and designing partnership ecosystems, tasks that require sophisticated product-marketing and go-to-market leadership. The well-compensated marketing outcomes at Harvard reflect this need.
Northeast and West – Matching Talent Demand
The regional concentration, 45% in the Northeast and 36% in the West, aligns with AI and cloud-infrastructure hubs. Overall, this functional profile shows how marketing has evolved from a consumer-goods pathway into a central capability for scaling frontier technologies.
4. Business Development: Gains momentum
Business Development attracts 10% of the class with a median base salary of $175,000 and total compensation of $200,000.
Technology, Healthcare and Manufacturing – Business Development Demand
The functional destinations indicate a pivot toward industries undergoing partnership-led expansion: 43% of BD hires entered Technology, 22% Healthcare, and 16% Manufacturing.
This aligns with Q3 2024 to Q2 2025 market conditions, which saw tech firms form alliances to embed AI models into enterprise workflows, Healthcare providers adopt platform partnerships to improve operational efficiencies, and industrial firms build collaborative supply-chain and automation ecosystems. BD hiring grew as companies recognised that scaling AI and digital tools often required external relationships as much as internal capability.
Northeast Leads
Regionally, the function centers in the Northeast (50%) and West (26%), consistent with the operational and innovation clusters that dominated AI-commercialization efforts. Harvard’s previous years show BD as a smaller but steadily rising functional path; the Class of 2025 elevates it further due to its strategic relevance in an interconnected market.
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5. Strategic Planning Demand Driven by Organizational Transformation
Strategic Planning represents 9% of hires, with a median base salary of $160,000 and total compensation of $170,000.
Technology and Non-profit/Govt – Most In-Demand
The function appears most frequently in Technology (33%), nonprofit/government (19%), and sectors dealing with complex restructuring or long-term planning challenges.
Its growth parallels the market backdrop from late 2024 into mid-2025, when organizations across industries faced the dual imperative of AI integration and operational transformation. Many firms required internal strategy leaders who could develop multi-year adoption plans, evaluate capital projects, and coordinate cross-departmental initiatives, capabilities well aligned with the MBA curriculum.
Northeast ahead of the West
Regionally, 47% of Strategic Planning roles sit in the Northeast, with 30% in the West, reflecting the institutional density of large nonprofits, and multinationals restructuring their operating models. Compared to Harvard’s earlier years, Strategic Planning shows a steady presence rather than cyclical fluctuation, reinforcing that strategy remains essential even in a market defined by short-term volatility.
| Functions | % Hired | Median Base Salary | Median Sign On Bonus | Total Salary |
| Finance | 33% | $177,500 | $40,000 | $217,500 |
| Consulting | 21% | $190,000 | $30,000 | $220,000 |
| General Management | 11% | $170,000 | $30,000 | $200,000 |
| Marketing | 11% | $172,550 | $35,000 | $207,550 |
| Business Development | 10% | $175,000 | $25,000 | $200,000 |
| Strategic Planning | 9% | $160,000 | $10,000 | $170,000 |
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