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Salaries often depend upon a worker’s level of education and a masters in business salary will exceed the pay given to someone with less time spent in higher education. In addition, students who decide to attend undergraduate and graduate programs tend to enjoy lower unemployment than students who have a high school diploma.
In numbers published at the end of 2013, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) suggests workers over the age of 25 who have a master’s degree have a 3.5 percent chance of being unemployed while those with a high school diploma have an 8.3 percent chance of unemployment.
Cost of Education and Salary Expectations
Listing the names of certain business schools on a resume is like a magnet for high-paying job offers, but not every program features the same level of prestige and instant acclaim. According to Harvard Business School, attending HBS nearly guarantees a paycheck over $100,000 and a job offer just three months after graduation.
However, much of the success of students who graduate from the program is based upon the inherent prestige of attending any college at Harvard. Can students who graduate from less well-known programs expect the same success?
Salary Boosts with a Graduate Degree
Fortunately, numbers seem positive for students nationwide regarding the potential increase in salary with a graduate degree, which means it’s not necessary to attend Harvard for a better chance at higher pay.
A survey conducted in 2012 by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) found that average salaries for students with graduate degrees were an average of 20 percent higher than peers who only had a bachelor’s degree.
Resource: Top 10 Best Online Masters in Business Administration Degree Programs
Employers Offer Automatic Salary Increases
There are some industries where a graduate degree provides immediate and verifiable opportunity for a better salary. For example, teachers who have a graduate degree are virtually always given a higher starting salary than teachers who only have a bachelor’s degree.
Some schools treat graduate degrees as professional experience, which means that the starting salary is higher than someone who hasn’t before been in the workforce. Employers seeking business majors will also give preference to students who have a master’s degree in business over students who have only completed undergraduate school.
Essentially, a master’s degree may mean swifter employment, which would result in more money earned the first year after graduation as less time would be spent on the job hunt.
Salaries are Going Up
Further research on the subject of salaries features good news for business graduates who already enjoy one of the highest average salaries for degree holders. Recent data from NACE suggests that salaries for business students who had an undergraduate degree went up a significant 7.9 percent from $51,541 in 2012 to $55,635 in 2013.
The numbers get even better for graduates of an MBA program. A survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council found that 90 percent of MBA degree holders from the class of 2013 were employed by the time September rolled around. For students in the United States, an MBA would routinely equal a median starting salary of around $85,000, which is a huge jump over the starting salary of a student with a bachelor’s degree.
There’s little question that advanced education offers students the opportunity to earn higher salaries and nowhere is that more apparent than in business. Each year surveys show that the average masters in business salary is a huge jump over students with lower degrees.
