RESTON, VA--(Marketwire - November 11, 2010) - Nearly nine in 10 MBA and other graduate management alumni from the class of 2010 had a job after graduation, new survey results from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) show. The results represent a slight improvement from 2009, when 84 percent of new graduate business school alumni said they were employed after receiving their degree.
MBA and other graduate management students in the class of 2010 also said they received higher starting salaries, on average, than their counterparts from the class of 2009, according to the latest GMAC Alumni Perspectives Survey. The median starting salary for 2010 graduates was US$78,820, up from US$75,000 for alumni who graduated in 2009.
GMAC is an international association of business schools and owner of the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT).
"Companies are managing through an unprecedented economic environment," said Dave Wilson, president and CEO of GMAC. "It is precisely because of these pressures that they place such a high value on newly minted MBAs to help them survive and thrive."
According to the survey, business school alumni also strongly believe the degree has helped their career. About three-quarters of alumni indicated they could not have obtained their current job without their graduate business degree.
The survey results indicate that today's business school graduates are faring better than their counterparts did following the last recession. For example, just 72 percent of participants in the 2003 GMAC Alumni Perspectives Survey were employed after graduation, compared with 88 percent this year.
The GMAC Alumni Perspectives Survey was conducted in September 2010. The survey reflects data supplied by 824 alumni from the class of 2010 that attended graduate management education programs at 126 business schools around the world. More information about the class of 2010 alumni can be found at www.gmac.com/datatogo.
About GMAC
The Graduate Management Admission Council (www.gmac.com) is a nonprofit education organization based in Reston, Virginia, and with regional offices in London and Hong Kong. GMAC administers the GMAT® exam, which was created in 1954 and is now used by nearly 5,000 graduate management programs at approximately 1,900 business schools worldwide. More information about the GMAT exam is available at www.mba.com.