The Long-Term Value of the MBA

For the latest insights, check out our new post on the return on investment (ROI) of the Rice MBA.   

We know your decision to earn an MBA is a big step. You want your degree to pay off in meaningful ways — and not just in the short term. That’s why Rice Business is committed to helping you accelerate your career at any stage and supporting your professional growth long after graduation. And, when it comes to earnings potential, the numbers show investing in a top-ranked MBA program is well worth it.

Numbers Have Shown the ROI of an MBA is Strong

Over a 35-year career, MBA graduates reported earning a median cash compensation of $5.7 million, according to a 2021 PayScale analysis for Poets&Quants. In contrast, those with only an undergraduate degree earned $2.3 million less in lifetime earnings.

The study used salary data shared by graduates from the country’s top 50 business schools. The compensation figure is considered a low estimate, given that it does not factor in other earnings like stock-based compensation or the cash value of retirement benefits.

Seasoned business school graduates agree that earning their degrees was a smart move. More than 85% of graduates surveyed over 12 years said their graduate business degrees offered a positive return on investment, according to a 2022 Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) report featured in this April 2022 article in Fortune.

Want to crunch the numbers yourself? Let our professor of finance James P. Weston show you how to estimate ROI for the full-time MBA program (since the professional, online and executive programs are fully employed while earning their degrees). In this quick video, Weston explains why he considers the MBA “one of the greater return-on-investment degrees you can earn.” 

Powerful Community and Career Services That Grow With You

When you choose to pursue an MBA at Rice Business, you also gain full access to our Career Development Office, which has a proven track record of helping students accelerate their careers. We remain in your corner as your career advances. From one-on-one coaching to targeted programming and workshops, we offer individualized career services for alumni at all levels of experience as they pivot, grow and evolve.

Plus, as a graduate, you’ll have access to a slate of robust lifelong learning offerings, including opportunities to officially audit classes that pique your interest, or take an Executive Education course at a reduced alumni rate. Great leaders never stop learning.

But one of our most powerful resources remains our alumni network. When you graduate from Rice Business, you join a network of more than 8,000 alumni working around the world and across every major industry. One word comes up repeatedly when describing our community: responsive. That’s why we’re constantly connecting alumni whose paths may inform each other, or matching alumni to job postings submitted by other alumni.

Over and over, we hear the same feedback from Rice Business graduates across class years: The alumni community is one of their most valuable tools. Relationships built here last a lifetime.

Enduring Value in a Dynamic Landscape

Your MBA also offers an edge when it comes to leadership advancement as well as flexibility in an ever-shifting professional landscape. According to the 2022 GMAC survey cited in Fortune, 38% of business school graduates reported changing industries after earning their degrees. Further, 68% of corporate recruiters said the leaders within their companies typically hold graduate business degrees, according to a 2021 GMAC survey.

Our podcast, Owl Have You Know, is one way to hear directly from alumni (and others) about the impact of the Rice Business experience. During a September episode, Pierre Aristide ’22 described how the Executive MBA program gave him the tools to leverage his 27-year career in the military and private sector experience to pivot toward entrepreneurship. Aristide is committed to improving mental health treatment and is the co-founder and CEO of Impireum Psychiatric Group, as well as other ventures.

To get started earning a degree with staying power, check out our many MBA program options — including full time, online, professional, hybrid and executive.