Newsroom
Resume

Obtaining a master’s degree takes a lot of effort, money, and time. When you sign up for the challenge, you usually have some pretty clear goals in mind for when you’re done.

Maybe you’re established in a career and want to open up more opportunities within that particular job, or you might want to completely change the field you’re in. Or maybe you’re fresh out of undergrad, wanting to further your education before jumping into the working world.

Because graduate students all come from different points in life, it’s difficult to know which ones, if any, will have a hard time reaching those goals after graduating.

To help give a little insight, we decided to turn to data from three of our own graduate programs — all MBAs — to find out what happens to graduate students three months after they get their degree. Take a look at these stats from the class of 2014 to learn who got jobs, where they’re employed, how much they’re making, and more.

Bentley MBA Statistics

The Bentley MBA class of 2014 was made up of a small cohort of 25 students aged 26 to 60. Before beginning the program, 26 percent of the class had two to five years of work experience, while 74 percent had five or more years of experience.

The charts below illustrate the employment of students three months after completing the program. A majority had found jobs, while some were still looking, and others were not seeking employment. Their final job placements spanned six industries, with technology leading the group.

 

Companies that hired students from the 2014 Bentley MBA class include:

  • American Express

  • Converse

  • Easton Cycling

  • Infosys

  • National Commercial Bank

  • PricewaterhouseCoopers

  • Solaris Automotive

Job titles among the class include:

  • Senior Marketing Manager

  • Brand Operations

  • Vice President of Infrastructure

  • Senior User Experience Specialist

  • Head of Global Operations

  • Sales Manager

The average starting salary of the class was $105,859.

 

Emerging Leaders MBA

The Emerging Leaders MBA class of 2014 was made up of students from ages 22 to 35. Before beginning the program, 42 percent had one year or less of work experience, 18 percent had one to two years, 37 percent had two to five years, and 3 percent had five or more.

The following charts illustrate the employment of students three months after completing the program. Again, the majority had found jobs, while some were still seeking employment. Their final job placements spanned 10 industries, and again, technology leads the group.

Companies that hired from the Emerging Leaders MBA class of 2014 include:

  • Answer Lab

  • Bloomberg

  • Convertiv

  • Ernst & Young

  • HP

  • Staples

  • TechTarget

  • Walmart International

Job titles among the class include:

  • Associate User Experience Researcher

  • Financial Product Sales and Analytics

  • Digital Strategist

  • Solutions Architect

  • Digital Marketing Specialist

  • Data Science Consultant

  • Senior Financial Analyst II

The average starting salary of the class was $64,772.

 

Professional MBA

The Professional MBA class of 2014 was made up of students from ages 22 to 50. Before beginning the program, 35 percent had one year or less of work experience, 14 percent had one to two years, 31 percent had two to five years, and 21 percent had five or more.

The following charts illustrate the employment of students three months after completing the program. An overwhelming majority of students had found jobs, while only a small percentage were still searching. Their final job placements spanned 13 industries, this time with financial services leading the group.

Companies that hired from the Professional MBA class of 2014 include:

  • Akamai

  • Boston Children’s Hospital

  • Constant Contact

  • Enterprise Bank

  • Harvard University

  • Liberty Mutual

  • Oracle

  • United Technologies Corporation

Job titles among the class include:

  • Financial Analyst

  • Director of Sales

  • Senior Financial Reporting Specialist

  • Project Marketing Manager

  • Risk Assurance Associate

  • Research Engineer

  • Vice President

The average salary of the class three months after graduating was $74,957.

Interpreting the Numbers

Of the more than 200 students who graduated from these programs in total, 74 percent had a job within the first three months of graduating, while just 14 percent were still searching.

When it comes to industries, careers in the technology field seem to be the most common (which could be due in part to the fact that the tech industry is booming in Boston), with finance and consulting coming in second and third. The average starting salary of all three programs was $81,863 — nearly double the average starting salary for undergrad holders, which is $45,478, according to Time. What we take away from this data is that graduate degrees show returns much more quickly than we had anticipated. These specific numbers from the three-month period after graduation tell us that the return is direct and nearly instantaneous.

If you’re considering the idea of a master’s degree, think about this data as you make your decision. As expected, one can also see how someone with more work experience plus an MBA will yield a different level position than an MBA graduate still fairly young in his/her career. But either way, students who are ready to take this next step begin reaping the benefits as soon as they get their degree. Is it time to get your MBA?