Welcome to part 3 of our 6 part series which aims to help you understand the criteria you should consider before making the decision pertaining to which schools to apply to.
In part 1, we got an overview of the factors organized into 4 buckets namely, Academic, Financial, Professional and Student Experience related categories. In part 2, we delved into the Academic factors and today, we will look at Financial factors which may govern the decision pertaining to which programs to apply to.
Financial Criteria
Cost of the Program
To compare apples to apples, in the first year, we have compared the cost of 1 year Tuition & Fees (including living expenses) for a single student at each of these schools. Please note that these estimates would change if you are married, come to school with a partner, and have children. You may look at the estimates provided by HBS & Stanford GSB as a guiding factor in those special cases.
Also, there may be travel and study trips involved as part of the program to fulfill the course requirements or for internship/exchange/travel opportunities. These would entail additional costs and you would do yourself a favor by providing for these additional expenses that would inadvertently crop up as part of most international MBA programs. Stanford GSB estimates the costs to be anywhere from between $1,500-$4,000 per year for a single student.
To get a sense for the amount you can expect to shell out during the program in its entirety, we also list the total tuition and fees for the entire length of the program. The challenge with comparing total tuition and fees across schools is that length of program differs depending on school. Furthermore, even for the same school, there might be different exit options such as for London Business School which has exit options as 15, 18, and 21 months. To allow you to compare between programs, we have provided the length of each program as well as Tuition & Fees for 1 year.
Kindly note that these prices do not include scholarships which may reduce the onerous burden of paying for some of these programs.
| School | Tuition & Fees for 1st Year ($) | Total Tuition & Fees ($) | Length of Program (years) |
| Harvard Business School | 84,000 | 168,000 | 2 |
| Stanford GSB | 90,531 | 181,062 | 2 |
| The Wharton School | 89,200 | 178,400 | 2 |
| London Business School | 81,397 | 162,794 | 2 |
| INSEAD Fontainebleau | 116,714 | 116,714 | 1 |
Financing Options
There are various financing options available to you to finance your MBA. These are: Personal Resources, Loans, Scholarships, Sponsorships, Fellowships, Financial Aid. Different schools have different resources and ways of helping you in this imperative of financing your MBA and you would be well-served to research these fully before embarking on to an MBA. It would also serve you to talk to first-year students at different schools as they would be well-versed with the policies. Also, many schools require you to write additional essays to be considered for scholarship either at the time of applying or after being granted admission. Stay tuned in to these lest you miss the deadlines.
As an e.g., Wharton requires an additional essay to be turned in post admission into the program and the scholarship decision is merit-based and announced within a couple of weeks of the deadline to apply for scholarship.
I have provided the financing options explained by each school mentioned above herein.
2. Stanford GSB
5. INSEAD
Average Salary after Graduating
| School | Weighted Salary ($) |
| Harvard Business School | 178,249 |
| Stanford GSB | 192,179 |
| The Wharton School | 172,353 |
| London Business School | 152,981 |
| INSEAD Fontainebleau | 144,355 |
Weighted Salary is described by FT as the average annual alumni salary today with adjustment for salary variations between industry sectors. This figure includes data for the current year and the one or two preceding years where available.
Conclusion
So far, we have covered the Academic and the Financial criteria which can factor into the imperative decision of school selection to pick the perfect MBA program to fit your needs. In subsequent posts, we will be covering Professional as well as Student Experience related factors.
