Which Dallas MBA Programs Offer the Best Starting Salary?
It’s naive to think that folks who earn their MBA degree don’t expect to earn a decent salary. After years of balancing work, studying, and life, an MBAs starting salary is the cherry on top of the grad school sundae. For those looking to work in or are attending school in the Dallas metro, here are the programs that can help you find that well-deserved pay day the fastest.
High Rollers
McCombs School of Business – University of Texas at Austin
According to statistics provided by the McCombs School of Business school, the average full-time MBA student goes on to earn a starting salary of $113,481 following graduation. The average full-time MBA grad also receives a signing bonus of $27,564. A full breakdown of McCombs full-time MBA salary statistics can be found here.
The McCombs School of Business is usually ranked among business schools in the U.S. for the number of MBA graduates who earn job offers. In fact, career planning is also built into the curriculum of the full-time MBA. During the first year students take a class called Strategic Career Planning—a course that was created to best prepare students to make career choices and help them achieve their career goals. The class teaches students skills like interview training and marketing and networking techniques.
Cox School of Business – Southern Methodist University
According to SMU’s MBA Placement Data, graduating MBAs at the Cox School of Business earn an average salary of $96,587. Recent Cox MBAs have been offered jobs at companies such as Amazon, At&T, Capital One, Deloitte, and more.
Students have the option of customizing their education by completing up to two concentrations in addition to the MBA program. While all full-time students are enrolled in the General Business concentration, additional majors include: accounting, business analytics, finance, general business, information technology and operations management, management, marketing, real estate, and strategy and entrepreneurship. MBAs majoring in strategy, general management, leadership, and consulting earn a bit more, averaging $108,333 to start, while accounting, finance, and real estate majors earn a bit less, averaging $94,173 annually.
Next Tier
Neeley School of Business – Texas Christian University
The TCU Neeley School of Business full-time MBA program is designed for professionals who may not necessarily have a background in business, but are interested in changing careers or transitioning into a new field where business and management knowledge would be necessary. According to StartClass, TCU MBAs earn an average salary of $89,579 post-graduation.
To help secure a job with a well-paying salary, MBA students have access to The Neeley Professional Development Center and the Graduate Career Services Center. The Professional Development Center provides Neeley students with personal and professional training and coaching for presentations, business writing, and career preparation. Meanwhile, the Graduate Career Services Center provides students with resume help, job search, networking events, career coaching, interview prep, and skill building programs.
CHECK THIS OUT: “The Most Affordable MBA Programs in Dallas“
Commerce College of Business – Texas A&M University
Different from the Mays School of Business on A&M’s main campus, the Commerce College of Business is located about one hour northeast of the Dallas metro. PayScale data reveals that Texas A&M Commerce MBAs earn a starting salary of $89,393.
Commerce students have access to the office of Career Development, which offers students special events such as networking nights, job shadow programs, business etiquette dinners, career fairs, and job search workshops. The CD can also help students with resume and cover letter consultation, LinkedIn consultation, mock interviews, career assessment, and counseling and employment application
Naveen Jindal School of Management – University of Texas at Dallas
Students who graduate with an MBA degree from the Jindal School of Management at UT Dallas earn an average starting salary of $86,644.
According to U.S. News, MBA graduates from the Naveen Jindal School of Management have the best salary-to-debt ratio of any ranked school. As stated above, Jindal MBAs earn an average starting salary of $86,644 and have an average student loan debt of $7,132—an earnings-to-debt ratio of 12.148. The average ratio for ranked business schools that reported the data is 1.986.
Up-And-Coming
Hankamer School of Business – Baylor University
Baylor Hankamer School of Business MBA graduates earn a reported average starting salary of nearly $65,000. Recent Baylor full-time MBA graduating class had a 64 percent job placement rate at the time of graduation and 86 percent placement rate 90 days after graduation.
University of North Texas College of Business
PayScale reports that the average starting salary for North Texas College of Business MBA grads is also $65,000. North Texas features the Career Center at the Business Leadership Building where students receive one-on-one advising, career planning, and career exploration help from graduate advisors. These advisors help students with résumé and cover letter writing as well as mock interviews.
The Global MBA Experience in Dallas
Business certainly has no borders. As new technology makes it easier for people to connect on different sides of the world, having a navigable knowledge of international business practices can be a crucial part of building and growing your career.
While most MBA programs provide a strong foundation of business skills that help graduates as they enter an increasingly international industry, several programs offer students the chance to truly focus their degree in global business. Whether through MBA concentrations, majors, or joint degree programs, the ability for students to truly specialize their degree will allow for the next generation of business professionals to truly break down walls and make connections across the world.
A newly thriving hub of business in the country, the Dallas metro area is a perfect home base for beginning a career that can take you across the globe. Below, we’ve rounded up some of the top Dallas international MBA programs.
McCombs School of Business – University of Texas at Austin
While the McCombs School of Business does not offer a concentration in international business for their MBA degree, the school does offer a joint MBA and Master of Global Policy Studies, allowing students to graduate with two degrees after just three years of study.
The MBA/Master of Global Policy Studies was created as a response to the increased need for professionals with a deep understanding of the global environment, both within the public and private sphere. The dual degree program centers around a practical approach to global business, including direct and hands-on experience in the industry, offering graduates a competitive advantage as they enter the work force.
The dual degree requires students to complete 84 hours of coursework, including both MBA core courses and electives, as well as the MGPS’ core courses and specialization. The first year of the degree focuses on the GPS core courses, the second year on the MBA, and the last year a combination of both degrees.
Naveen Jindal School of Management – University of Texas at Dallas
Students at the Naveen Jindal School of Management may choose to specialize their MBA in International Management. Approaching global business through an interdisciplinary lens, the UT Dallas International Management MBA includes courses on marketing, cross-cultural management, finance, and strategic management. The courses help students to integrate business concepts with international policies/practices, preparing them for success in developing international ventures. The concentration may include courses such as:
- Regional Area Studies: Latin America, Western Europe, Asia, Africa, and more
- Global Business Ethics
- Export Market Planning
- Global Mergers and Acquisitions
Satish and Yasmin Gupta College of Business – University of Dallas
At the University of Dallas’ Satish and Yasmin Gupta College of Business, students may choose to focus their MBA with a concentration in Global Business. The degree program requires students to complete 42 credit hours and fourteen classes including both the required MBA core curriculum and classes in the Global Business concentration.
In addition to the MBA core classes, some of which already focus on global business and strategy, concentration classes may include courses such as:
- Strategic Global Marketing
- Import/Export
- International Financial Markets
- Global Immersion
University of North Texas College of Business
The MBA program at the UNT College of Business has a number of options for specialization, including an International Business Concentration.
The UNT MBA consists of a total 36 semester hours, 18 of which are focused on the broad foundational knowledge of an MBA. The additional 18 credits may then be focused on the concentration in International Business.
Metro News & Notes: Return on Investment, Firing CEOs and More
Good morning and happy Friday!
Here are a few stories you may have missed from the week that was …
Inside the McCombs MBA Classroom: The Power of Information Technology
One of the best ways to get to know an MBA program is to sit in on a class. While the classroom is just one aspect of the business school experience, a class visit offers a valuable preview of the learning environment, instructor expertise, student interaction and quality of discussion.
Unfortunately, not many MBA candidates have a chance to attend a course before landing on campus. That’s one reason that the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business began offering a detailed write-up describing one of their popular MBA classes. Continue reading…
A Guide to the Best Dallas Accelerated MBA Programs
To earn an MBA you have to be committed. That means spending your time, money and your energy to attending class, completing homework and participating at all levels of the program. For some, two or more years is too much time to give when their job and family is also taken into consideration. That’s where an accelerated MBA program can be incredibly helpful. It allows you to complete your MBA as quickly and efficiently as possible—typically within one year—so you can get back on the job market and on with your career.
If you want to earn an MBA but you don’t want to turn everything in your life upside down to make it possible, then an accelerated MBA might be for you. To help, here’s our newest guide to the top Dallas accelerated MBA programs. Continue reading…
Funds Help McCombs MBA Students Pursue Social Impact
With the rising emphasis on social impact in recent years, it has become fairly common for MBA programs to prepare their students not just to do well in business but to also do good in the world, and students are on board with this shift in focus. Based on Net Impact’s 2014 “Business as UNusual” guide to graduate programs, 88 percent of surveyed MBA students reported that learning about social and environmental business is a priority.
At the UT Austin McCombs School of Business, peer-generated funds are supporting MBA students in exploring social impact as a career emphasis, starting during their first-year internship.
The Social Enterprise Fund
The Social Enterprise Fund was created by the full-time MBA Class of 2010 as a legacy gift. Its goal: to support first-year MBA students who are interested in working in social impact career fields such as sustainability, nonprofits and other nontraditional sectors.
As an expansion to the fund, the co-founders developed the McCombs’ Social Impact Internship Fund (SIIF), which provides first-year MBA students with financial support so they can explore internships in nonprofit and social impact organizations. These internships typically pay less than those in technology, consulting and financial services, but SIIF helps to offset some of the difference.
That help was especially welcome to Andrew Whiteman, MBA ‘17, who wanted to choose an internship without money driving his decision. He opted to intern with a clean energy startup in San Francisco where the pay was less, but the opportunity to do good was great.
“I was committed to working for a clean energy company and therefore did not recruit with big consulting firms or banks earlier in the semester,” Whiteman wrote in a blog. “With a cross-country move to one of the most expensive cities in the country, the SIIF stipend helped make sure I stayed above water during the summer.”
And, last year, the fund received a boost from SIIFs co-founders, which decided to increase support for students to make a bigger impact. Their goal was to strengthen McCombs’ emphasis on social impact as well as the recruitment of students to that area of work and study.
In the end, thanks to MBA ’17 students Tim Carreon, Silva Gentchev, Margo Hufstetler Gonzalez and Caitlin Goodrich—who co-founded the fund during the spring 2016 semester—and other McCombs’ alumni and faculty, the fund raised more than $33,000, increasing previous funding by more than 600 percent.
“The SIIF allowed me to explore employment at a company with a social impact mission without having to worry about how I was going to make it work financially,” said Teddy Boeddiker, MBA ’17, who interned with small footprint home company Kasita. “This is something that I believe many MBA students are interested in, but few can afford to accept a low-or no-income internship or job.”
McCombs MBA Students Pursue Social Impact
In a recent school blog entry, McCombs shared the internship experiences of MBA ’17 students Andrew Whiteman, Janet Thomassen, Eric Pressberg and Teddy Boeddiker: four students that benefited from the SIIF.
- Andrew Whiteman, MBA ‘17
Whiteman interned at Stem Inc, an energy startup in San Francisco that pairs intelligent controls with energy storage to increase energy cost savings and protect against changing rates. “Working at Stem was a thrilling experience,” said Whiteman, who worked on pricing solutions for the wholesale electricity markets.
“Electricity market participants often face unpredictable price swings and common hedging strategies can be quite costly,” he said. “My final product was a financial model that quantified the economic value in the marketplace, proposing an alternative solution to current hedging strategies.”
- Janet Thomassen, MBA ‘17
Thomassen took an internship in New York City with the social impact consulting firm, Inspiring Capital, which supports the social enterprise sector by connecting talented business professionals with high-potential and purpose-driven organizations. Her role was to work with Goodwill NY/NJ to assess the financial feasibility of a new document management service.
“The feasibility study led me to urge Goodwill not to pursue this additional business line due to a highly competitive market and unattractive long-term financial returns,” she said. “However, I shared lessons on how to think about the market opportunity, operational competencies, and financial considerations when assessing the viability of a new business line.”
- Eric Pressberg, MBA ‘17
Pressberg chose to intern with an environmental conservation nonprofit in Washington, D.C., the Nature Conservancy. As a summer associate, his role was to work with the conservation finance team to help the new aquaculture—fish farming—department.
“We were developing the strategy, [deciding] how to go about raising funds, the story to tell potential donors, and what type of projects we want to have—things like building a tool to decide if a project was worthy of investment, creating some of the PR documents to communicate with potential investors and donors and then actually designing the specific project, which was based in the Chesapeake Bay,” he shared.
- Teddy Boeddiker, MBA ‘17
Boeddiker stayed in Austin for his internship and worked with a small footprint home startup called Kasita. The company manufactures 320-square-foot homes for more affordable housing options. As an intern, Boeddiker spent his time fine-tuning the pitch deck to help the company gain additional funding.
“I spent most of my effort helping ‘Professor Dumpster’ [Jeff Wilson, CEO and co-founder of Kasita] fine-tune his pitch deck as he sought funding to grow the company,” he said. “He was pitching the company to experienced technical investors who expected more detailed information on financial projections and the market size.”
By offering funding and internship opportunities for their MBA students, McCombs has helped to alleviate some of the financial burden for students interested in social impact, and making it easier than ever to enter this particularly rewarding career area.
