How much does an MBA cost?

In the
BusinessBecause Cost of MBA Report 2020, we
break down the total cost of the world’s top MBA
programs covering MBA tuition fees, living costs,
healthcare, and more.

BusinessBecause is a trusted source of information and inspiration for

worldwide business school applicants, supporting through every step
of the business school journey.

businessbecause.com

Content: Marco De Novellis

Design: dayone.io

© 2020 BusinessBecause

Read this feature on our website:

businessbecause.com/news/mba-cost/6978/mba-cost
Introduction
We at BusinessBecause are advocates for the
transformative power of the MBA.
MBA students learn from the best professors, bolster their networks, transform their
careers, and see their salaries skyrocket after graduation.

With business schools offering generous scholarships and funding options, the fact that
the MBA comes at a cost shouldn’t put you off.

It does however make sense to understand the full cost of an MBA program before you
apply. This means looking beyond tuition fees alone. For full-time MBA programs, you’ll
need to consider additional costs including living expenses, healthcare cover, and paying
for course materials.

In our BusinessBecause Cost of MBA Report 2020, we give you the latest figures for the
world’s top MBA programs, as ranked by the Financial Times, to help you plan for your
MBA studies over the next two years.

Of course, preparing for anything this year is more difficult than before. As you take in the
data below, check out our article on how the total cost of your MBA may be impacted by
the coronavirus pandemic.

Read on to find out the total cost of an MBA in 2020 at the world’s top business schools.

Marco De Novellis,
Editor,
BusinessBecause

4
 MBA Cost:
An Overview
Overview

So, how much does an MBA cost? Pursuing an

MBA at a top-ranked business school remains a
significant investment.
Our report includes the following elements which make up the total cost of an MBA:

Tuition Fees Living costs Healthcare Materials

The main fees What schools How much What you Additional costs
you pay for an charge in you’ll pay for need to pay for books, case
MBA program; addition to the accommodation for healthcare studies, and
teaching, tuition fees and transport cover for the other program
experience etc. for processing, during your duration of materials.
admin, and MBA. your MBA.
which also
include fees
for student
associations
etc.

Taking all these into account,

our research shows that
the average total cost of
studying one of the world’s
top MBA programs is $168k.

6
 BusinessBecause | Cost of MBA 2020

School Tuition Fees Living Healthcare Materials Total Cost ($) 

MIT: Sloan 154,336 5,080 59,220 13,900 5,100 237,636

Stanford 149,412 1,800 69,486 13,248 3,342 237,288

Wharton 158,756 4,000 45,340 18,708 2,988 229,792

Harvard 146,880 59,900 10,324 5,100 222,204

NYU Stern 148,368 6,933 55,780 7,036 3,960 222,077

Dartmouth College: Tuck 155,040 7,138 50,150 6,496 3,000 221,824

Columbia 154,752 7,694 42,750 9,202 1,908 216,306

Yale SOM 149,400 4,560 48,152 5,208 2,000 209,320

Chicago: Booth 144,000 5,171 48,258 9,200 1,368 207,997

Virginia: Darden 145,600 8,092 44,352 5,628 4,000 207,672

UCLA: Anderson 130,228 64,090 9,798 1,672 205,788

Northwestern: Kellogg 146,808 5,460 36,858 8,100 3,294 200,520

UC Berkeley: Haas 129,304 56,688 10,480 1,240 197,712

Duke University: Fuqua 140,000 37,404 14,964 1,332 193,700

Cornell University: Johnson 143,880 3,000 33,600 7,300 2,200 189,980

London Business School 113,450 310 59,080 553 173,393

IMD Business School 91,802 204 36,800 4,556 204 133,566

IESE Business School 92,350 4,269 29,248 1,012 126,879

INSEAD (SG) 95,040 22,265 324 117,629

INSEAD (FR) 95,040 18,550 324 113,914

Esade Business School 78,260 255 30,942 730 110,187

HEC Paris 76,913 141 22,331 1,082 100,467

HKUST Business School 75,300 23,100 716 1,300 100,416

Oxford: Saïd 73,595 20,670 369 94,634

Cambridge: Judge 70,534 17,634 369 88,537

CEIBS 62,276 180 18,769 6,800 88,025

NUS Business School 49,250 590 37,825 87,665

All figures are in US$. These figures are estimates (see our
methodology below). Where no value is stated the cost is 7
either zero or included elsewhere.


World’s most expensive MBA programs

In terms of total cost, the MBA at MIT Sloan is the

world’s most expensive MBA program with a total
cost of over $237,600.
MIT is followed closely by Stanford, at over $237,200, and Wharton at over $229,700.

Most expensive MBAs

237,636 237,288 229,792

222,204 222,077

200,000 200,000

150,000 150,000

100,000 100,000

50,000 50,000

MIT: Sloan Stanford Wharton Harvard NYU Stern

8
The least expensive place to do a top-ranked MBA is at NUS Business School in
Singapore, with a total cost of over $87,600, followed by CEIBS in China and
Oxford Saïd Business School and Cambridge Judge in the UK.

The highest ranked MBA programs are not necessarily the most expensive. MIT
Sloan is ranked sixth by the Financial Times but top for overall cost, while Harvard
Business School, which is ranked first by the FT, comes fourth overall in terms of
total cost.

CEIBS is ranked fifth in the world by the FT but is the second cheapest MBA
program out of the top-25, while the cheapest, NUS, is ranked 15th by the FT.

Least expensive MBAs

200,000 200,000

150,000 150,000

100,416
100,000 88,025 88,537 94,634 100,000
87,665

50,000 50,000

NUS CEIBS Cambridge: Oxford: HKUST

Business Judge Saïd Business
School School

9
 MBA Cost vs Location

MBA programs in the United States are typically two years

long, compared to shorter format programs popular
elsewhere, which means doubling your annual tuition cost
not to mention living expenses and healthcare insurance.
US schools are therefore the most expensive MBA programs in terms of total cost
(although Cornell, Kellogg, and NYU Stern among others do offer one-year MBA
programs which have not been considered here). The average cost of tuition for all the
MBA programs in our report is just over
$117k, while the average cost of tuition
for the US-based MBA programs is over Average Total MBA Cost by Location
$146k.

Outside the US, NUS Business School

charges significantly less than most Europe USA Asia
$118k $213k $98k
other business schools in terms of tuition
at $49,250, while MBA course fees at
CEIBS, Cambridge, and Oxford are also
comparably low.

However, where you live while you study also has an impact on the total MBA cost.
Pursuing the INSEAD MBA in France, for example, may be slightly cheaper than doing so in
Singapore.

The graphic above shows the average total cost of a top-25 MBA program in Europe, the
USA, and Asia, based on our research.

10
Total Cost
Breakdown
 MBA tuition fees

For any MBA experience, the bulk of the cost comes

down to tuition fees.
Schools list their tuition fees either as one total sum or, in the case of the two-year US
MBA programs, as an annual fee. For these US MBA programs, we have doubled the cost
of tuition for 2020-21 to get a total two-year figure.

Tuition fees actually tend to increase by a percentage or two each year, so tuition costs
may well be slightly higher than our estimates. However, some schools, like Harvard,
have frozen MBA course fees in recent years. Plus, with the disruption of the coronavirus
pandemic causing some students to petition for reduced fees, schools may hesitate to
increase fees in 2021.

Although MBA programs in the US charge more, tuition fees vary by school. The most
expensive MBA in terms of tuition, at Wharton, costs almost $30k more than the
MBA at Berkeley Haas.

Some business schools offer MBAs with a variety of exit points—ESADE Business School,
for example, offers 12, 15, or 18-month formats—but the tuition fees they charge are
fixed regardless of your length of study.

If you are looking at MBA fees versus time spent on-campus, NUS offers the best bang for
your buck, costing under $50k for 17 months in a top-ranked MBA program.

INSEAD is the most expensive one-year MBA program in terms of tuition, followed by IMD
in Switzerland. Fees for INSEAD vary by intake (tuition fees for the September 2020 intake
are €87,000 and the January 2021 intake are €89,000), so we have taken the median figure
and converted into US$.

Some tuition fees will pay for the program alone; others will cover things like books and
program materials. Fees at INSEAD also cover compulsory health insurance, for example.

Fees also vary based on a candidate’s individual circumstance. At Darden

and Berkeley Haas, for example, in-state students pay less. Our listed
tuition fees are all for out-of-state, international students. 12
 Tuition vs program length
School Program length (months) Tuition 

Wharton 24 158,756

Dartmouth College: Tuck 24 155,040

Columbia 24 154,752

MIT: Sloan 24 154,336

Stanford 24 149,412

Yale SOM 24 149,400

NYU Stern 24 148,368

Harvard 24 146,880

Northwestern: Kellogg 24 146,808

Virginia: Darden 24 145,600

Chicago: Booth 24 144,000

Cornell University: Johnson 24 143,880

Duke University: Fuqua 24 140,000

UCLA: Anderson 24 130,228

UC Berkeley: Haas 24 129,304

London Business School 15, 18, 21 113,450

INSEAD 10 95,040

IESE Business School 15, 19 92,350

IMD Business School 12 91,802

Esade Business School 12, 15, 18 78,260

HEC Paris 16 76,913

HKUST Business School 12, 16 75,300

Oxford: Saïd 12 73,595

Cambridge: Judge 10 70,534

CEIBS 18 62,276

NUS Business School 17 49,250

Cornell, Kellogg, and NYU Stern offer one-year MBAs, and Columbia offers a 16-month J-Term option, which are not
considered here.

13


Living costs

Living expenses can vary depending on where you

are based during your MBA.
California, for example, is one of the most expensive states to live in and pursue an MBA in
the US, with Stanford MBA students paying an estimated $69k in living costs over the
two years, and UCLA Anderson MBAs paying $64k.

Major cities like New York and London tend to have higher living costs, whereas Upstate
New York is significantly cheaper. Based in Ithaca, New York, Cornell students have the
lowest estimated living costs out of any US-based student in our report.

How long you stay in a city will obviously impact your living expenses during an MBA. MBA
students at Cambridge Judge will incur estimated living expenses of $17k—the
lowest in our report—covering the duration of the short, 10-month program.

CEIBS in Shanghai, meanwhile, provides affordable living costs compared to time spent
in the city, at just over $18k for 18 months. This includes the cost of CEIBS campus
accommodation plus an independent estimate on living costs in Shanghai.

14
 Living costs
Living Costs
School Location Duration (months)


Stanford Stanford, CA, USA 24 69,486

UCLA: Anderson Los Angeles, CA, US 24 64,090

Harvard Boston, MA, USA 24 59,900

MIT: Sloan Cambridge, MA, USA 24 59,220

London Business School London, UK 18 59,080

UC Berkeley: Haas Berkeley, CA, USA 24 56,688

NYU Stern New York, NY, USA 24 55,780

Dartmouth College: Tuck Hanover, NH 24 50,150

Chicago: Booth Chicago, IL, USA 24 48,258

Yale SOM New Haven, CT, USA 24 48,152

Wharton Philadelphia, PA, USA 24 45,340

Virginia: Darden Charlottesville, VA 24 44,352

Columbia New York, NY, USA 24 42,750

NUS Business School Singapore 17 37,825

Duke University: Fuqua Durham, NC 24 37,404

Northwestern: Kellogg Evanston, IL, USA 24 36,858

IMD Business School Lausanne, Switzerland 12 36,800

Cornell University: Johnson Ithaca, NY, USA 24 33,600

Esade Business School Barcelona, Spain 18 30,942

IESE Business School Barcelona, Spain 19 29,248

HKUST Business School Hong Kong 12 23,100

Jouy-en-Josas (Paris),
HEC Paris 16 22,331
France

INSEAD Singapore 10 22,265

Oxford: Saïd Oxford, UK 12 20,670

CEIBS Shanghai, China 18 18,769

INSEAD Fontainebleau, France 10 18,550

Cambridge: Judge Cambridge, UK 10 17,634

When programs are offered in different formats, we have tried to be as consistent as possible in terms of program
duration to offer a fair comparison. For example, the living costs noted for the MBA programs at ESADE, IESE, and
LBS are for 18, 19, and 18 months respectively. HKUST is for the 12 month program option, which doesn’t include
internships or international exchange. 15
 Living costs
The important thing to note is that our figures are estimates. They are for an individual
student living a moderate lifestyle, including accommodation for the duration of the MBA
program.

Our living expenses do not cover entertainment or miscellaneous activities and candidates
going to business school with families or partners will incur higher living costs. Our figures
can therefore be viewed as minimum estimates.

Living expenses are the most variable out of any of the data presented in this report.
Savings can be made in various ways, by sharing rooms or living with relatives. But even
if you live like a monk, you’ll need to pay for program materials and books not covered in
your tuition fees.

Remember, an MBA is also a time for socializing

with classmates and extra-curricular fun, so
you’ll need to save some extra cash for that.
Class social activities are optional of course,
but when everyone else in the class is heading
off for a ski trip to Aspen or a week-long trek in
the Himalayas, it feels less so!

So many of the networking benefits of an MBA come from these off-site excursions—
including international study immersions which are not always covered in tuition fees—so
while you shouldn’t underestimate their cost, you shouldn’t underestimate their value
either.

16
 Healthcare

The cost of healthcare insurance cover is another

big variable that can make a significant difference
to your outgoings during your MBA.
It is almost always compulsory for students to be covered for healthcare during an MBA.
However, what this entails varies hugely between country.

At HEC Paris, all students are eligible for health insurance under the French National
Healthcare System which, the school says, is completely free. The documents needed to
apply for this insurance are provided to students during their first days on campus.

Healthcare costs ($) | Non-US

6,000

4,000

2,000
CEIBS

Dartmouth: Tuck

Virginia: Darden

Yale SOM

IMD

IESE

Esade

HKUST

LBS

Oxford: Saïd

Cambridge: Judge

INSEAD

HEC Paris

NUS

17
In the UK, students have access to the National Health Service. This is free for UK and EU
students. Non-EU students pay a visa surcharge of just £300 ($369, per year) for access to
healthcare.

Healthcare is also low cost or free in Spain and Singapore. MBA students at NUS pay
for treatments if needed and then can claim back through the NUS student insurance
scheme. At INSEAD, in both France and Singapore, health insurance is included in the cost
of tuition.

In the United States, however, healthcare costs skyrocket. The average cost of
healthcare cover for two years at the US schools in our report is close to $10k. In
fact, one year of healthcare cover in the US costs more than you would pay for several
years elsewhere.

US schools offer their own compulsory health insurance schemes at competitive annual
prices. Healthcare cover at Wharton costs the most at an estimated $18.7k for two years,
while Yale offers the cheapest cover for a US school at $5.2k

We have doubled the fees given for 2020-21, although these are subject to change. Our
health insurance costs include any additional healthcare-related fees.

Healthcare costs ($) | USA

20,000 20,000

15,000 15,000

10,000 10,000

5,000 5,000
Wharton

Duke: Fuqua

MIT: Sloan

Stanford

Berkeley: Haas

Harvard

UCLA: Anderson

Columbia

Chicago: Booth

Kellogg

Cornell: Johnson

NYU Stern

Dartmouth: Tuck

Virginia: Darden

Yale SOM

18
 Funding your MBA

The BusinessBecause Takeaway

The cost of a full-time MBA might seem intimidating at first. Even before you go to
business school, you’ll spend a bit of money to apply.

Application fees range between $150 and $250, although some schools offer
application fee waivers to students depending on their profiles (BAME, ex-military, or
female candidates, for example).

It costs $275 to take the GMAT in North America. The interim GMAT Online Exam,
for use during the coronavirus pandemic, costs $200 globally. The GRE costs $205 in
most countries and online.

You also have to think about the opportunity cost; the salary you lose out on taking
one-to-two years out of work.

However, there are many ways of funding an MBA which will reduce your overall
cost significantly:

• Business schools offer very generous scholarships, including full-ride

scholarships which cover the your entire b-school experience (including tuition,
room and board, books, and sometimes even living expenses), and full-tuition
scholarships

• Some schools automatically consider every accepted student for some sort of
scholarship (most commonly a percentage reduction in tuition fees)

• There are various scholarships based on nationality, gender, industry

background, and academic performance.

• There is support available from governments, nonprofit organizations

• You can take out a student loan to cover your studies

• You can even crowdfund your tuition.

Ultimately, the return on investment you will eventually get from an MBA—
whether that’s doubling your salary, entering an exciting new industry, or starting a
successful business—will likely make that initial expense more than worth it.

And, with plenty of funding options, your MBA dreams can be made a reality.

19
Methodology
 Methodology

The business schools included in this report were

ranked in the top 25 by the Financial Times Global
MBA Ranking in January 2020. 26 schools are
included as UCLA and IMD are ranked joint-25th.
We’ve also separated out the MBA programs at INSEAD offered in France and Singapore.

The data in this report was sourced direct from business schools, from business school
websites— which give their own breakdown of total costs—and from some external
sources between February and April 2020.

All figures were recorded in, or have been converted to, US$. Conversion rates are subject
to change.

MBA tuition fees stated are for the 2020-21 year. US tuition fees, which are charged
annually, have been doubled for the two-year MBA duration. These fees are subject to
change. Fees and the cost of program materials and healthcare have also been doubled
for US programs and are subject to change.

Living expenses in this report are minimum estimates and will vary significantly
depending on a candidate’s individual circumstances and other economic factors. Where
no value is stated in the table above, the figure is either zero or included elsewhere (for
example, within tuition fees). We have sourced living expenses estimates direct from
business schools, who may estimate differently. Columbia doesn’t include transport in its
living costs, for example.

The figures in this report have been vetted and approved by leading MBA admissions
consulting company MBA360. Barbara Coward has over two decades of experience in
the industry, including as a business school admissions director, an MBA recruiter, and as
an MBA student herself.

21
 About BusinessBecause

BusinessBecause is a trusted source of information

and inspiration for worldwide business school
applicants, supporting through every step of the
business school journey.
Whether you’re considering an MBA, EMBA, or master’s degree, on BusinessBecause you
can:

• Keep up to date with the latest business school news—rankings, reports, and the rest

• Uncover the personal stories of business school students and grads

• Get practical resources and guidance to help your business school application, including
advice on GMAT and GRE prep

• Compare business schools and find out what the top schools—and employers—are
looking for.

You can also check out our weekly Applicant Question feature and our videos of
admissions tips and tutorials.

To unlock all our content and stay up to date with the latest business school insights,
register with BusinessBecause.

BusinessBecause is part of the Graduate

Management Admission Council (GMAC), the
owner and administrator of the GMAT Exam,
united in our mission to connect candidates with
business schools.

22
businessbecause.com