The Wharton School's MBA Class of 2021 made history by reporting the highest-ever median salary at $155,000, according to the MBA Careers 2021 report.
Ninety-nine percent of MBA students who sought jobs after graduating from the Wharton School in 2021 received at least one offer. The Class of 2021 also saw the highest number of technology job placements to date of any graduating class. The technology industry had the third most Wharton acceptances, after financial services and consulting, respectively.
The MBA Careers report is the Wharton School’s annual report examining full-time employment statistics for the most recent graduates and internship statistics for the current senior class.
This year's report showed an uptick in job offers compared to the Class of 2020, which reported that less than 95% of graduates received a full-time job offer — the lowest percentage since 2010. CNN reported that nationally, the Class of 2020’s job prospects were the worst "since the Great Depression" because of the economic downfall brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report found that 36% of graduates were students of color in the United States and 30% were international students.
According to the Nov. 9 report, the graduating class saw a higher percentage of job offers and a record-breaking median salary, despite an 11.5% decrease in the internship median salary the year prior. The percentage of international job offers also decreased by nearly 6 percentage points in the Class of 2021, from 13.4% in the Class of 2020 to 7.6% this year.
Median salary in the consulting, financial services, and technology remained about the same as the previous year.
Wharton Dean Erika James expressed pride in the recent graduates for their record-breaking job prospects in the report.
“It is extraordinary to see that 99% of our recent MBA graduates seeking employment received an offer, and that such success was achieved across an increasingly diverse set of industries,” James said in a statement. “I’m incredibly thankful to the entire Wharton community of employers, alumni, faculty and staff who played a crucial role in helping us reach this milestone.”
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