A year ago, the M7 employment numbers told a pretty grim story.
Job offers fell at six of the seven elite business schools in 2024. At Harvard Business School, nearly a quarter of job-seeking MBAs were still without offers three months after graduation. Chicago Booth, Kellogg, Stanford, and MIT Sloan all posted significant declines as well. Only Columbia Business School managed to buck the trend.
For the Class of 2025, the shaky job market seemed to stabilize.
Across the M7, the average share of job seekers with offers three months after graduation rose to 90.1% from 88.1%. The average acceptance rate climbed even more, from 82.8% to 86.2%. Five of the seven schools improved on both measures.
Salaries, meanwhile, were up or steady across the board. For the Class of 2025, every M7 school either maintained or increased its median base salary. The average across the seven rose 2.4% to more than $179,000.
(Editor’s note: This is the second part of a two-part story. See more data on the M7 here.)
HIRING REBOUNDS AT 5 OF 7 SCHOOLS
At Columbia, 92% of job seekers had offers within three months and 90.2% had accepted, the strongest overall placement showing in the group. MIT Sloan staged perhaps the biggest comeback, with its offer rate jumping nearly 6 percentage points to 91% and its acceptance rate climbing nearly 10 points to 87.1%.
Harvard improved to 90% offers and 84% acceptances, up from 85% and 77%, respectively. Booth and Stanford also posted better three-month results.
Still, this is not a return to the nearly automatic job placement of the MBA boom years.
Wharton’s offer rate slipped from 93.1% to 90.5%, while acceptances fell from 88.2% to 87%. Kellogg also lost ground, with offers declining from 90% to 88% and acceptances from 87% to 86%. Just three years ago, Kellogg reported 99% offers and 97% acceptances within three months.
PAY JUMPS AT EVERY M7 SCHOOL
For the Class of 2025, every M7 school either maintained or increased its median base salary.
Stanford and Wharton topped the group at $185,000. Harvard was right behind at $184,500, up $9,500 in a single year. Columbia and Booth held at $175,000, while Kellogg and MIT Sloan both climbed to $175,000 after trailing the pack in 2024. The result is a tight salary band for the world’s most prominent U.S. MBA programs: Just $10,000 separates the highest and lowest M7 median base salaries.
Signing bonuses are even more standardized. All seven schools reported a $30,000 median in 2025.
Total compensation is more complicated. Harvard’s median total package jumped to $232,800 from $221,800. Columbia climbed to $200,630 from $198,996, while Kellogg returned to its record $200,500. Booth, Stanford, and Sloan, meanwhile, all lost ground.
At Stanford, softer incentive pay offset higher average base salaries. Expected performance bonuses fell nearly 11%, helping push total compensation lower for a second straight year. Sloan saw a similar dynamic in that core pay strengthened while other compensation fell.
NEXT PAGE: The M7s big three industries – consulting, tech, and finance