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Another Tough 2024 MBA Jobs Report: Offers Plummet & Pay Falls At Michigan Ross
Michigan Ross MBAs reported a lower median starting salary for the first time in years
A worldwide pandemic could not blunt the financial boost graduates of the University of Michigan have always gotten from a Ross School of Business MBA.
Then came 2024.
Compensation for Ross MBAs has steadily climbed for many years, and dramatically climbed more recently. Between 2020 and 2023, the median starting salary for Michigan Ross MBAs grew by $40,000; between 2021 and 2023, median starting pay — salary and bonus weighted by the percentage of those reporting a bonus — jumped nearly 18%.
But 2024 was a year like no other. Economic uncertainty exacerbated by a divisive and chaotic election combined with lingering weakness in key sectors conspired to drop median starting salaries for Ross MBAs by $5,000 to $170,000 — and with signing bonuses flat at $30,000 and fewer receiving them (86% compared to 90% in 2023), median overall pay for graduates of one of the world’s top public institutions dropped as well, to $195,800, a decline of 3.1%.
JOB OFFERS BY GRADUATION FOR MICHIGAN ROSS MBAs, 2019-2024
| Student | Received Job Offer By Graduation 2024 | Received Job Offer By Graduation 2023 | Received Job Offer By Graduation 2022 | Received Job Offer By Graduation 2021 | Received Job Offer By Graduation 2020 | Received Job Offer By Graduation 2019 |
| U.S. Citizen | 81.1% | 88.9% | 93.2% | 90.0% | 86.5% | 95.9% |
| Foreign National | 71.4% | 94.5% | 92.9% | 90.6% | 75.9% | 83.5% |
| All | 77.5% | 90.5% | 93.1% | 90.2% | 83.1% | 92.0% |
Source: Michigan Ross
ROSS MBAs SHOW ‘TENACITY’ IN A CHALLENGING YEAR
An even bigger problem for Ross MBAs this year: finding jobs in the first place. Just 77.5% of Ross’s latest class reported receiving offers by graduation this spring, down from 90.5% a year earlier and significantly lower than even the 83.1% reported by the Class of 2020. International students had a particularly tough time, with just 71.4% receiving offers by commencement — more than 23 percentage points lower than their predecessors from 2023 (see table above).
After three months, the overall class offer number had climbed to 84.6% (and international students were up to 79.8%); after six months, more than 90% of Ross MBAs had job offers. But that was still behind the three-month mark from 2023 and miles below the school record set in 2022 (see below).
“We were pleased to see that job offers increased at the six-month mark, which is the end of October for Ross grads,” Heather Byrne, managing director of the Career Development Office at Michigan Ross, says in a school blog. “This speaks to the opportunities the Michigan Ross network provides, the tenacity of Ross graduates, and the career support students and alums receive from Michigan Ross.”
JOB OFFERS FOR MICHIGAN ROSS MBAs, 2019-2024
| Student | Received Job Offer 3 Months After Graduation 2024 | Received Job Offer 6 Months After Graduation 2024 | Received Job Offer 3 Months After Graduation 2023 | Received Job Offer 3 Months After Graduation 2022 | Received Job Offer 3 Months After Graduation 2021 | Received Job Offer 3 Months After Graduation 2020 |
| U.S. Citizen | 87.4% | 93.2% | 96.0% | 99.2% | 97.3% | 93.1% |
| Foreign National | 79.8% | 86.6% | 95.6% | 98.2% | 97.9% | 84.5% |
| All | 84.6% | 90.8% | 95.9% | 99.0% | 97.5% | 90.3% |
Source: Michigan Ross
AVERAGE STARTING SALARY ALSO DROPPED FOR ROSS MBAs
Ross grads — who also reported a drop in class average starting salary in 2024, $159,934 compared to $162,946, which is lower by just under 2% — were not alone in their struggles this year. At NYU Stern, Class of 2024 MBAs reported an average salary of $166,148, down 1.2% from their predecessors, and an average signing bonus of $37,028, down 4.5%. Total compensation for Sternies dropped 1.4% to $199,473.
At Virginia Darden, MBA average salary declined for the first time since the year before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. At Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business, average base salary fell 5.4%; and at Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management, starting base salary dropped 2.5%.
As they did at Ross, placement rates dropped for all these schools, too, though to varying degrees. One of the most resilient B-schools amid the tribulations of the 21st-century economy, Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business, saw its grads’ offer rate drop below 95% this year for the first time since 2020 and only the second time in the last 11 years.
EMPLOYMENT, SALARY & BONUS BY INDUSTRY FOR MICHIGAN ROSS MBAs, 2023-2024
| Industry | % | Range | Median Salary | Mean Salary | Median Sign-On Bonus | 2023% | 2023 Range | 2023 Median Salary | 2023 Mean Salary | 2023 Median Sign-On Bonus |
| Consulting | 36.0% | $106,916-$200,000 | $185,000 | $180,948 | $30,000 | 44.9% | $108K-$300K | $190,000 | $181,895 | $30,000 |
| Consumer Packaged Goods | 7.7% | $110,000-$128,000 | $125,000 | $122,643 | $40,000 | 5.4% | $110K-$135K | $128,000 | $125,800 | $40,000 |
| Energy | 2.6% | $120,000-$165,000 | $147,500 | $144,167 | $35,000 | 3.4% | $115K-$170K | $125,000 | $131,550 | $22,500 |
| Financial Services | 17.6% | $80,000-$300,000 | $175,000 | $162,023 | $50,000 | 14.2% | $120K-$225K | $175,000 | $161,821 | $46,250 |
| Healthcare | 9.2% | $101,200-$180,000 | $137,250 | $138,486 | $35,000 | 5.7% | $104,631-$190K | $135,000 | $139,102 | $30,000 |
| Manufacturing | 4.4% | $125,000-$140,000 | $133,000 | $132,091 | $30,000 | 2.7% | $120K-$145K | $125,000 | $127,143 | $32,500 |
| Retail | 2.6% | $125,000-$145,000 | $135,000 | $134,286 | $25,000 | 3.7% | $125K-$175,200 | $140,000 | $141,130 | $25,000 |
| Technology | 15.1% | $115,880-$230,000 | $157,205 | $156,066 | $30,000 | 15.5% | $115K-$194,400 | $152,625 | $154,988 | $30,000 |
| Other | 4.8% | $79,420-$215,000 | $142,000 | $144,573 | $30,000 | 2.7% | $112,015-$215K | $150,000 | $156,754 | $17,000 |
| TOTAL | 100% | $79,420-$300,000 | $170,000 | $159,934 | $30,000 | 100% | $104,631-$300K | $175,000 | $162,946 | $30,000 |
Source: Michigan Ross
ONE ROSS MBA TOOK A FINANCE JOB IN L.A. FOR $300K TO START
In 2023, consulting reached its zenith in terms of the percentage of the graduating Ross class with jobs in the industry: just under 45%, a school record. The number had been growing for years, but in 2024, with the industry in widespread contraction, it snapped back to 36% — still by far the biggest group in the class — and median salary for Ross consultants dipped as well, to $185K from $190K (see table below for details). Consulting was one of four fields where median salary contracted for Ross grads in 2024. The MBB firms — Boston Consulting Group, Bain, and McKinsey — accounted for 45 hires.
Consultants were still the best-paid Ross MBAs, with finance grads (17.6% of the class, up from 14.2% in 2023) second at a median salary of $175K, and techies (15.1%, lowest total in many years) third at $157,205. Healthcare MBAs saw a big jump in number in 2024, to 9.2% of the class from 5.7%, making a median $137,250.
On the high end of the pay range, someone was hired in financial services in Los Angeles at $300K. The highest median pay was $192K in Miami (1.1% of grads), and the highest average was $168,874 in the San Francisco Bay Area (7.7%). The lowest end of the pay range is $79,420 for someone who went toward outside the U.S. in “other” (1.2%), which is also the lowest median salary at $100K; however that person did report the highest signing bonus at $50K.
Once again for Ross MBAs, most opted to stay in the U.S. Midwest (30.1%), followed by the Northeast (24.6%), and West (21%). Just under 58% found work in either the New York City/Tristate area (20.6%), Chicago (16.2%), or the West Coast (21%), down slightly from the 66.2% who relocated to these areas post-graduation in 2023.
Also of note, Ross MBAs continue to be overwhelmingly career-switchers: 95% of the Class of 2024 fell into this category, up from 94% last year and 93% each of the previous two years.
INDUSTRY CHOICE & MEDIAN SALARY OF MICHIGAN ROSS MBAs, 2019-2024
| Industry | 2024% | 2024 Median Salary | 2023% | 2023 Median Salary | 2022% | 2022 Median Salary | 2021% | 2021 Median Salary | 2020% | 2020 Median Salary | 2019% | 2019 Median Salary |
| Consulting | 36.0% | $185,000 | 44.9% | $190,000 | 42.2% | $175,000 | 35.1% | $165,000 | 35.7% | $160,000 | 32.0% | $150,000 |
| Consumer Packaged Goods | 7.7% | $125,000 | 5.4% | $128,000 | 5.3% | $120,000 | 7.9% | $113,000 | 7.2% | $110,000 | 8.0% | $108,000 |
| Energy | 2.6% | $147,500 | 3.4% | $125,000 | 3.0% | $125,000 | 1.5% | $110,000 | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Financial Services | 17.6% | $175,000 | 14.2% | $175,000 | 15.0% | $175,000 | 15.5% | $150,000 | 11.9% | $150,000 | 15.1% | $150,000 |
| Healthcare | 9.2% | $137,250 | 5.7% | $135,000 | 6.3% | $140,000 | 5.6% | $130,000 | 5.3% | $125,000 | 3.6% | $120,000 |
| Manufacturing | 4.4% | $133,000 | 2.7% | $125,000 | 3.7% | $125,000 | 2.9% | $132,500 | 4.4% | $123,500 | 8.9% | $120,000 |
| Real Estate | NA | NA | 1.7% | $140,000 | 1.0% | $130,000 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Retail | 2.6% | $135,000 | 3.7% | $140,000 | 2.0% | $127,500 | 1.8% | $127,838 | 3.8% | $120,000 | 4.4% | $115,000 |
| Technology | 15.1% | $157,205 | 15.5% | $152,625 | 17.3% | $136,000 | 24.9% | $130,000 | 24.5% | $130,000 | 21.6% | $122,650 |
| Other | 4.8% | $142,000 | 2.7% | $150,000 | 4.2% | $141,000 | 5.0% | $130,000 | 5.0% | $115,000 | 6.4% | $120,000 |
Source: Michigan Ross
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