Robert T. Sumichrast
Dean and Simon S. Selig, Jr. Chair for Economic Growth

Published: July 6, 2011 | Vol. 4, Issue 3

Bloomberg BusinessWeek, with the help of PayScale, produced a report in June on what it called “long-term MBA pay.” One measure they looked at was how graduates from the top MBA programs fared when it comes to salary growth over a 20-year career.

The Terry MBA ranked No. 1 with a median increase of 158 percent over the 20 years that PayScale studied, and it led BusinessWeek to give the phenomena a name: “Georgia’s Pay Bump.”

“Overall, grads from the top B-schools experience an average salary increase of about 83 percent over the 20 years, a return that mirrors the national average over the same time period,” wrote BW’s Geoff Gloeckler. “That’s good news for a school like the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, where MBAs experienced a 158 percent jump over the 20-year span.”

That represents a 90 percent premium on salary growth for Terry MBA graduates over the national average.

Most everyone with an MBA is familiar with the rankings bias built in for Ivy League MBA programs that place most of their graduates in high-cost areas like Boston and New York. BusinessWeek and U.S. News & World Report don’t consider cost-of-living differences when factoring starting salaries into their MBA rankings. Given these regional biases, percentage growth over time can be as true a measure of an MBA’s value as total salary.

“Georgia’s Pay Bump” is a sign of several things:

• First and foremost, it’s a testament to the collective success of our MBA graduates. The longevity of the PayScale study is effectively a measure of career advancement and organizational value over time.
• Second, it further validates Atlanta’s stature as the region’s economic engine over the past quarter century. Salary growth like this gets a boost from a growing, diverse local economy.
• Finally, it's another indication that we are making progress in the direction we selected for our MBA program.

I want to thank our alumni and recruiters in the business community for the confidence they show in our students year after year. Given the opportunity, Terry graduates are making the most of their careers.

Robert T. Sumichrast, Dean
Terry College of Business

Follow me on Twitter @Sumichrast

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