2008 Student Results

Executive MBA Students Report High Return on Investment From Degree

ORANGE, CALIF., Jan. 22, 2009 –  Three-quarters of Executive MBA students who took part in the Executive MBA Council 2008 Student Exit Benchmarking Survey say they greatly increased their value to their organization as a result of their Executive MBA education.

The Executive MBA Council conducts the Student Exit Benchmarking Survey to track the perceptions and opinions of Executive MBA program graduates and to help measure the return on investment of the degree. The survey included 3,858 students from more than 120 programs.

Students also reported the following results.

Expectations

• Almost all students in the survey – 97 percent  – say the program met or exceeded their expectations for impact on their career.
  
  
• Almost all students – 98 percent – also say the program met or exceeded their expectations for impact on their organization.

Professional Development Gains

• Students noted significant gains in all areas of professional development measured, with the largest improvements in business discipline integration, critical thinking, decision-making, global sensitivity, leadership, and teambuilding.

Promotions and Salary

• Sixty-seven percent of the students say the program greatly increased their ability to be promoted.
  
  
• In addition, 39 percent reported expecting a promotion and 43 percent actually received a promotion while in the program.
  
  
• Students reported an average payback period of 43 months for them, down from 45 months in 2006-07, when asked to assume they were paying all costs for the program (approximately two-thirds of students receive either full or partial tuition reimbursement).
  
  
• Students also reported a 23 percent increase in salary from entering to leaving the program, with an entering salary mean of $117,617 and a salary mean when leaving of $144,361.