Finding Philly’s Best MBA Return on Investment
It’s no secret that Philadelphia’s relatively low cost of living has historically made the Birthplace of America an attractive option for those in search of a big city experience outside the skyrocketing markets of other major East Coast cities.
As people flock from the New York metro region in search of a similar urban adventure at a substantially lower price point, Philadelphia has been controversially dubbed the “6th Borough.” Word to the wise for potential b-school interlopers: never tell any Philadelphian their home has been annexed by New York City.
About 90 minutes by train from New York City, the City of Brotherly Love is no Big Apple, but it’s one-of-a-kind. Sure, tourists and locals alike grip cheesesteaks in one hand while pumping their fists on the steps of the Art Museum a la Rocky, but the city reveals itself to those who have the patience (and wherewithal) to dig into it.
Whether that means embarking on a two-year MBA program or choosing among the accelerated options available, Philadelphia just happens to be home to several top ranked MBA programs in the world. Let’s take a close look at Philly’s programs. Oh, and here’s a napkin for the wiz.
Philadelphia Return on Investment
University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business
Officially the oldest business school in the U.S., The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania boasts well-known alumni billionaire financier Ron Perelman, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, and John Sculley of Pepsi and Apple. Wharton’s tuition of $136,420 and estimated total budget of $195,085 isn’t to be taken lightly. However, full-time MBA graduates earn an average base salary of $130,000 with an average bonus of $20,500, and a supreme 92.6 percent job acceptance rate. So, while having a somewhat unimpressive salary-to-debt ratio, Wharton’s reputation and alumni network precedes itself.
In fact, the school recently topped the annual Forbes best full-time MBA program list, sporting the best five-year financial gain after graduation. Wharton MBA graduates of the Class of 2012 are making a $225,000 average annual salary—roughly 42 percent higher than recent grads, easily topping the cost/debt ratio of the program.
Saint Joseph’s Haub School of Business
Notable alumni of Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University include CEO of NutriSystems, Inc. Michael J. Hagan, Chairman and founder of Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corporation James J. Maguire, and Senior vice president of PNC Bank Denise Viola-Monahan. SJU’s $30,294 tuition set against an average base salary of $65,000 means the school offers a competitive MBA to those who don’t want to break the bank.
Temple’s Fox School of Business
Fox School of Business at Temple University’s notable alumni include Systel CEO Jai Gulati, former COO and president for ConocoPhillips John Carrig, and CEO of Actavis and co-founder of Health Care Compliance Association Brenton L. Saunders. Fox’s tuition sits at $57,048 for residents and $80,484 for nonresidents. With a 97 percent job placement rate compared to $25,623 average debt and a $85,278 average base salary, Fox’s salary-to-debt ratio looks attractive.
Drexel University LeBow College of Business
The LeBow College of Business at Drexel University alumni include President and CEO of Rohm and Haas Raj Gupta, former CEO of Science Applications International Corp. Kenneth C. Dahlberg, and the Phillie Phanatic Tom Burgoyne. Tuition is $59,565, and graduating MBAs carry an average debt of $43,894. With a reported average base salary of $84,080, LeBow’s salary-to-debt ratio is competitive. Considering the comparatively low price point, LeBow emerges as an incredibly attractive ROI.
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University of Delaware Lerner College of Business
A short 20-minute train ride from Center City Philadelphia and under two hours from New York City, the Lerner College at the University of Delaware has an eye-catching reported average base salary of $90,291. Compared to tuition, which ranges from $33,000 to $55,000, depending on residency, Lerner’s ROI could shine through if figures hold true for most MBA earners from this institution.
Penn State Smeal College of Business
Although its central campus is located in Happy Valley, PA, the Smeal College of Business at Penn State offers an executive MBA program in Philadelphia. The program is priced at a hefty $102,000, but average graduate debt is reported at $36,500, and median salaries ranging from $97,890 to $101,857. With such an impressive salary-to-debt ratio, Smeal is an attractive option for those who prefer easy metro access rather than living in the thick of the action. Notable alumni include Chairman and CEO of Petroleum Products Corp. John Arnold, and Former Chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co. William Schreyer.
Temple, Carnegie Mellon Top U.S. News 2018 Online MBA Rankings
The annual U.S. News & World Report 2018 Online MBA rankings are officially in, with the Fox School of Business at Temple University, once again, taking the top honors.
How Philadelphia MBA Programs Help Lower-Income Applicants
Compared to Philly’s east coast metropolitan peers, its cost of living is laughably low. Additionally, Philly has all of the advantages of being located smack dab between DC and NYC. Although Wall Street has long since displaced Philly as the American center for banking, much of that infrastructure and tradition remain, which helps Philly maintain its status as a major economic powerhouse in the 21st century.
Since, according to Philly Mag, Philadelphia has one of the fastest growing millennial populations in the country, the city has creativity and energy that permeates every sector. All of these factors make Philly the perfect place to launch a career.
For low-income students looking to pursue an MBA in Philly, we’ve compiled a list of what some of Philly metro’s top schools are doing to help students fund their higher education.
Fox School of Business — Temple University
The Fox School of Business at Temple University has a variety of options for students looking to finance their MBA. In fact, according to the school’s website, 60 percent of first-year Temple students receive need-based aid each year. On average, first year students receiving need-based aid are awarded $15,000 toward tuition. Fox carefully assesses the applications of all incoming students, and the school distributes merit-based scholarships for those who demonstrate particular promise. There are also specific financial perks for Temple alumni coming into the MBA program. These students are not required to pay an application fee and receive a five percent tuition scholarship.
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Lehigh University College of Business and Economics
The Lehigh University College of Business and Economics provides a some merit-based scholarships to helps students fund their education. Awards are determined by the Committee on Financial aid. The committee considers an applicant’s undergraduate record, test scores, and work experience. Scholarships include the Dean’s Scholar, which offers extremely promising students a full ride plus a $10,000 living stipend.
Lehigh also has a number of Director’s Scholars, who may receive awards anywhere from $5,00 to full tuition. Lehigh offers many other scholarships in addition to need-based financial aid specific that varies depending on the MBA track.
LeBow College of Business — Drexel University
When considering Philly Metro MBA programs that provide resources for low-income applicants, it would be remiss not to mention Drexel’s LeBow College of Business. At LeBow, an impressive 82 percent of full-time MBAs get aid that amounts to 62 percent of tuition. Additionally, nearly 70 percent of full-time students benefit from grants that covered about one fifth their tuition. Drexel also offers merit-based scholarships. Additionally, the school offers the URM Scholarship, which offers supplemental fiscal gifts to underrepresented minority students.
Smeal College of Business — Penn State University
Penn State’s Smeal College of Business has a large number of MBA alumni-funded scholarships that are awarded based on academic achievement, work history, and how well students fit into the Smeal program. Around 20 percent of incoming students receive $5-10,000 awards. There are fellowships for specific groups of students, including the Powerful Women Paving the Way Fellowship which is awarded to promising women, and the Maimuna Mijindadi Anyone Memorial Fellowship, for students of Nigerian descent.
The Wharton School — University of Pennsylvania
Students who apply to Wharton are automatically considered for fellowships that offer some level of financial support. Students also have the option of applying to any of over 700 external fellowship programs. Wharton students can also apply for private or federal loans.
The Ivy League business school offers a litany of scholarship opportunities for incoming and current students, from the American Association of University Women, to the Instituto Ling Scholarship Program for international applicants, among others.
Additionally, Wharton hosts a positively booming array of fellowship opportunities, including some of MetroMBA’s favorites, like the Forte Fellowships program and the Reaching Out LGBT MBA Fellowship.
For more information on Wharton’s many financial assistance opportunities, click here.
Top MBA Recruiters: Unilever
A job is possible for any determined MBA graduate. Obviously, the ideal job differs from graduate to graduate, but if you’re into sustainable choices for consumers, Unilever might be right for you. The company specializes in household products like soap, shampoo, and even iced tea. Well-known brands like Lipton and Dove are also underneath the Unilever umbrella.
The corporation consistently makes it on Forbes‘ top companies lists. Currently, Unilever is 103rd on the Global 2000 and 87th for America’s Best Employers. In 2013, it also came in 63rd among Innovative Companies. While students who study health and medicine rank the company highest, business and commerce students ranked it 12th in terms of attractiveness, according to Universum data. Broadly, LinkedIn ranked Unilever 8th in the world in a list of attractive employers.
The company employees 169,000 people with 46 percent of its managers women. With an MBA, maybe you could be next.
Why Unilever?
Unilever’s been around since 1930. It made bar soap a thing. It also helped popularize margarine, fish fingers, and frozen vegetables. The company truly revolutionized the modern age. Who wouldn’t want to be part of a legacy?
Unilever is also global: Its Indian branch, Hindustan Unilever, was ranked one of the world’s most innovative companies this year by Forbes for how it broke up the country into clusters to cater to different regions appropriately. The company has branches in Africa, throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. So a job at Unilever can take you anywhere in the world.
The corporation isn’t like most. It has a clear mission, one dedicated to health and well-being. It’s launched campaigns around the world to help bring facts around nutrition to developing countries. Unilever is currently working on halving the environmental impact of its products.
According to Glassdoor, Unilever offers some competitive salaries. Associate brand and finance managers can expect to make $95,000 a year, on average. Once a person reaches the finance or brand manager (without the associate), the salary increases by about $20,000. Overall, the ratings are high on Glassdoor, where employees are known to be brutally honest.
The company also boasts the ability for graduates to continue learning while at Unilever. It’s a place that allows individuals to grow and build upon their career—the ideal environment for a recent grad.
Working at Unilever
It may not be much of a surprise, but a lot of people want to work at Unilever. LinkedIn compiled a list of North America’s top 100 in-demand employers in 2015, with Unilever coming in 25th: ranked higher than Fox, Warner Bros, and Whole Foods Market.
The company has a global MBA recruitment channel where it looks for MBA holders who have at least three years experience in finance, marketing, or supply chain. The channel connects applicants with available openings for which they’re qualified, like an associate finance manager position with Ben & Jerry’s, another one of Unilever’s brands. Or what about a production support engineer? Unilever offers a variety of positions relevant to MBA graduates.
This is perfect because MBA students have been clear that they’d like to work at Unilever. It sat 34th on a list of 100 employers where MBA students said they’d like. MBA candidates from NYU Stern, the Wharton School, and Rutgers Business School have gone on to work for Unilever.
Fox Temple Renovating and Expanding to Historic 1810 Liacouras Walk
The Temple University Board of Trustees and the Philadelphia Historical Commission have passed Fox School of Business’s proposal to renovate and utilize 1810 Liacouras Walk. The renovations to the building, which stands next to Temple’s Alter Hall, are scheduled to begin this month.
The new building will provide over 77,000 square feet of space for Temple’s expanding student body. Though the inside of 1810 Liacouras Walk will see significant changes, including another floor and an atrium, the front of the building will remain unchanged. The facade is protected, since it is technically a part of Philadelphia’s Park Avenue Historic District.
1810 Liacouras Walk is one of the oldest buildings on the Temple campus, as it was built at the turn of the nineteenth century. It was initially a group of row homes intended for the community outside of Temple. After the university bought 1810, the homes served various uses, including women’s dorms in the 1970s. Since 1810 is certified as historic by the city of Philadelphia, it could not be torn down, even when it began to decay. In light of this, Temple left the facade and modernized both the inside and the back of the structure.
The additional renovations, however, will create significant classroom space, while increasing the convenience of accessing Temple’s renowned Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute (IEI), which will be setting up shop on the first floor.
“The growth of our student body and our faculty is a testament to the momentum of our school and the rankings our academic programs have attained,” said M. Moshe Porat, Dean of the Fox School of Business, “The space at 1810 Liacouras Walk will support our commitment to several other academic pillars, and improve the accessibility of the services we provide.”
Completion of the project is slated for the fall semester of 2018, which lines up with the school’s 100th anniversary.
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