2023 MBA Pay: Marketing

Northwestern University’s Kellogg School ranks as the top Marketing school according to faculty and administrators surveyed by U.S. News in 2024. When it comes to base pay for new graduates, Kellogg lags well behind its peers. On average, 2023 Kellogg MBAs earned $143,710 in their first year working in Marketing. While that it is nearly a $12,400 improvement over the previous year, it actually ranked 13th overall. This year’s top performer was Stanford GSB, where marketers averaged $178,738 in their first year. MIT Sloan finished 2nd at $164,308, with the top three rounded out by Harvard Business School at $159,512. The Wharton School, which has ranked 2nd for the past three years in U.S. News’ Marketing Ranking, held the 8th spot at $150,415. One major surprise: the University of Washington’s Foster School, ranked 4th overall by U.S. News, finished 4th in Marketing at $157,117. By the same token, Rice University’s Jones Graduate School had Marketing grads earning $140,221. This was over a $16,0000 improvement and placed Rice Marketing MBAs above higher-ranked programs like Duke Fuqua, UCLA Anderson, Virginia Darden, and USC Marshall. At the top end, a Harvard and a Stanford grad pulled in $290,000 and $260,000 starting bases.