Consulting is the industry where everyone makes their money. While it doesn’t include the pay spikes inherent to Finance, Consulting MBAs do quite well, thank you. There were 14 – that’s right 14 – business schools whose graduates averaged $140K or more to start in 2019. There were another 14 MBA programs whose graduates made $130K-$140K. In sum, that’s 28 programs whose average pay was $130K or more. To put it in context, that number was 15 in Finance, with Marketing, Operations, and General Management combining for another 14. Yes, Consulting rules over the MBA landscape, with the biggest averages belonging to Virginia Darden ($151,903), Dartmouth Tuck ($150,359), and Duke Fuqua ($149,970). At the same time, you’ll find small school gems getting into the act, including Penn State Smeal ($136,000), Rice Jones ($135,863), and SMU Cox ($133,750). And a five figure pay raise is almost a given. Since 2015, MBA grads from 29 of the Top 50 MBA programs reported increases of 10K or more (with 5 programs not supplying data). At 17 schools, this bump was $15K or better. Here’s another number to consider. When it comes to maximum pay, 40 of the Top 50 MBA programs reported annual salaries of $150K or more, with Harvard Business School ($300K) and Stanford GSB ($250K) leading the pack.