Most people associate Harvard with management and Wharton with finance. That’s why some will look twice when the programs rank 1-2 in terms of operations base pay with the Class of 2017. Harvard’s $135K starting pay may top Wharton’s $129K answer, but here is the kicker: Both programs have seen pay for their operations students climb by nearly $18K over the past two years. Impressed? Don’t be: Seven programs enjoyed better operations base pay growth than Harvard and Wharton – headed by USC Marshall (+$29,344), Texas-Dallas Jindal (+$26,750), NYU Stern (+$24.036), and North Carolina Kenan-Flagler (+$20,823). Arguably the best operations MBA program in the world – MIT Sloan – actually lost ground in base pay, with pay dropping $3,841 since 2015 (though a Sloanie snagged the highest starting paycheck in the field at $220K).
| U.S. News Rank | School | 2017 Operations Low | 2015 Operations Low | 2017 Operations Average | 2015 Operations Average | 2 Year Difference | 2017 Operations High | 2015 Operations High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Harvard | $105,000 | $83,000 | $135,458 | $117,822 | $17,636 | $165,000 | $200,000 |
| 11 | University of Chicago (Booth) | $90,000 | $95,000 | $121,600 | $114,444 | $7,156 | $152,000 | $125,000 |
| 33 | Wharton | $85,000 | $85,000 | $129,543 | $111,769 | $17,774 | $152,500 | $130,000 |
| 44 | Stanford | $53,306 | $100,000 | $101,061 | $131,714 | -$30,653 | $130,000 | $155,000 |
| 55 | MIT (Sloan) | $48,250 | $85,000 | $120,289 | $124,130 | -$3,841 | $150,000 | $220,000 |
| 66 | Northwestern (Kellogg) | $45,000 | $100,000 | $117,222 | $118,889 | -$1,667 | $150,000 | $130,000 |
| 77 | California-Berkeley (Haas) | $36,000 | $75,000 | $101,600 | $114,856 | -$13,256 | $135,000 | $140,000 |
| 88 | Michigan (Ross) | $106,000 | $110,000 | $120,722 | $118,500 | $2,222 | $137,000 | $130,000 |
| 99 | Columbia | $110,000 | $80,000 | $124,244 | $115,200 | $9,044 | $135,000 | $135,000 |
| 1010 | Dartmouth (Tuck) | NA | $85,000 | $113,087 | $108,143 | $4,944 | NA | $130,000 |
| 1111 | Duke (Fuqua) | $72,500 | $75,000 | $125,692 | $117,077 | $8,615 | $152,500 | $135,000 |
| 1212 | Yale SOM | $67,000 | $75,000 | $100,429 | $114,542 | -$14,113 | $135,000 | $130,000 |
| 1313 | Virginia (Darden) | $95,000 | NA | $118,152 | NA | NA | $132,000 | NA |
| 1313 | New York University (Stern) | $92,500 | $50,000 | $111,750 | $87,714 | $24,036 | $130,000 | $119,000 |
| 1515 | Cornell (Johnson) | NA | $90,000 | NA | $111,000 | NA | NA | $120,000 |
| 1616 | UCLA (Anderson) | $80,000 | $75,000 | $116,750 | $101,300 | $15,450 | $140,000 | $130,000 |
| 1717 | Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) | $80,000 | $75,000 | $116,800 | $109,182 | $7,618 | $130,000 | $120,000 |
| 1717 | Texas (McCombs) | $70,000 | $50,000 | $100,200 | $92,814 | $7,386 | $131,000 | $125,000 |
| 1919 | North Carolina (Kenan Flagler) | $92,000 | $60,000 | $117,143 | $96,320 | $20,823 | $125,000 | $12,000 |
| 2020 | Emory (Goizueta) | $100,000 | $94,500 | $116,571 | $97,767 | $18,804 | $135,000 | $104,000 |
| 2020 | USC (Marshall) | $100,000 | $60,000 | $114,667 | $85,333 | $29,334 | $130,000 | $130,000 |
| 2222 | University of Washington (Foster) | $104,500 | $72,000 | $122,550 | $114,590 | $7,960 | $140,000 | $171,360 |
| 2323 | Rice (Jones) | $100,000 | NA | $111,500 | NA | NA | $123,000 | NA |
| 2424 | Washington U. (Olin) | $66,700 | $68,000 | $97,070 | $77,000 | $20,070 | $145,000 | $85,000 |
| 2525 | Georgetown (McDonough) | $80,000 | $93,000 | $103,253 | $110,818 | -$7,565 | $123,000 | $140,000 |
| 2626 | Vanderbilt (Owen) | $96,250 | $80,000 | $113,339 | $111,863 | $1,476 | $123,000 | $120,000 |
| 2727 | Indiana (Kelley) | $95,000 | $72,009 | $111,333 | $104,984 | $6,349 | $123,000 | $135,000 |
| 2828 | Georgia Tech (Scheller) | $60,000 | $90,000 | $86,500 | $98,320 | -$11,820 | $105,000 | $117,000 |
| 2929 | Arizona State (Carey) | $78,500 | $64,432 | $99,688 | $100,200 | -$512 | $123,000 | $130,000 |
| 2929 | Minnesota (Carlson) | $70,000 | $77,000 | $95,350 | $91,967 | $3,383 | $120,000 | $99,800 |
| 3131 | Notre Dame (Mendoza) | $100,000 | $99,500 | $116,700 | $106,500 | $10,200 | $130,000 | $120,000 |
| 3131 | Penn State (Smeal) | $55,000 | $52,000 | $104,490 | $98,856 | $5,634 | $125,000 | $135,000 |
| 3131 | Ohio State (Fisher) | $73,356 | $60,000 | $97,727 | $101,434 | -$3,707 | $125,000 | $135,000 |
| 3434 | Florida (Warrington) | $70,000 | $50,000 | $87,800 | $87,375 | $425 | $105,000 | $107,000 |
| 3535 | BYU (Marriott) | $52,000 | $87,000 | $101,316 | $103,100 | -$1,784 | $150,000 | $120,000 |
| 3636 | Texas A&M (Mays) | $75,000 | $83,000 | $109,500 | $91,200 | $18,300 | $123,000 | $102,000 |
| 3737 | Michigan State (Broad) | $80,000 | $82,000 | $105,920 | $101,311 | $4,609 | $152,000 | $135,000 |
| 3737 | Wisconsin | $82,000 | $75,000 | $93,000 | $102,375 | -$9,375 | $105,000 | $120,000 |
| 3838 | California-Davis | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| 4040 | Texas-Dallas (Jindal) | $95,000 | $70,000 | $105,000 | $78,250 | $26,750 | $120,000 | $90,000 |
| 4040 | Georgia (Terry) | $70,000 | NA | $77,400 | NA | NA | $87,000 | NA |
| 4242 | California-Irvine (Merage) | NA | $65,000 | NA | $88,600 | NA | NA | $120,000 |
| 4242 | Boston U. (Questrom) | $65,000 | $58,000 | $90,667 | $92,000 | -$1,333 | $120,000 | $115,000 |
| 4444 | Rutgers | $70,000 | NA | $95,566 | NA | NA | $115,000 | NA |
| 4444 | Tennessee (Haslam | $57,500 | NA | $89,926 | NA | NA | $123,000 | NA |
| 4444 | Rochester (Simon) | $65,000 | $73,000 | $86,000 | $79,000 | $7,000 | $103,000 | $85,000 |
| 4444 | Utah (Eccles) | $55,000 | NA | $82,500 | NA | NA | $116,500 | NA |
| 4848 | Boston College (Carroll) | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| 4848 | SMU (Cox) | $80,000 | NA | $105,000 | NA | NA | $130,000 | NA |
| 4848 | Maryland (Smith) | $81,000 | $75,000 | $98,000 | $138,000 | -$40,000 | $117,000 | $120,000 |
| 4848 | Illinois | $55,000 | NA | $84,056 | NA | NA | $107,000 | NA |
| 5252 | Pittsburgh (Katz) | $85,000 | NA | $94,333 | NA | NA | $100,000 | NA |
| 5353 | Purdue (Krannert) | $67,000 | $58,000 | $96,073 | $92,588 | $3,485 | $130,000 | $120,000 |
| 5959 | George Washington | $60,000 | NA | $68,333 | NA | NA | $85,000 | NA |
| 6969 | Arizona (Eller) | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
