Forbes Puts BYU MBA in Top 20 for Return on Investment

PROVO, Utah — Aug 24, 2007 — Forbes magazine ranks Brigham Young University’s MBA program 18th in return on investment in its biennial survey of two-year business programs, as reported in the magazine’s Sept. 3 issue.

“We’ve always been a strong value,” says Ned C. Hill, dean of BYU’s Marriott School of Management. “That’s because we not only attract well-prepared and talented students but also receive tremendous support from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This support enables us to keep the cost of earning an MBA comparatively low.”

Forbes surveyed alumni from 102 MBA programs and compared their post-MBA salaries with both the cost of tuition and their forgone compensation while in school. Schools were ranked by the five-year return on investment received by the class of 2002, or the graduates’ five-year total income minus tuition and forgone compensation.

On average, BYU MBA graduates earned a $71,000 return on investment in five years, with a break-even point of only three years. The average salary for the class of 2002 matured from $36,000 before business school to $93,000 five years after graduating—a 158 percent increase.

“This ranking reflects the caliber of MBA students we have at the Marriott School,” says Jim Engebretsen, assistant dean and MBA program director. “It’s an indication by corporate America that BYU MBA graduates are very well appreciated and respected.”

Dartmouth led the ranking with a $115,000 return on investment, followed by Stanford at $102,000 and Harvard at $94,000.

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems and entrepreneurship. The school’s mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School’s graduate and undergraduate programs.