The Stanford Graduate School of Business is one of the top ranked MBA programs in the United States and also produces some of the highest paying graduates. In 2020, the average Stanford MBA graduate earned $ 156,000 in base salary, plus a performance bonus of $ 35,000 and a signing bonus of $ 26,500. That’s over $ 217,000 up front.

Despite the brief recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Stanford MBA base salaries have risen steadily over the past decade. Since 2010, the school has seen a 30% increase in base salaries among its graduates. The school has yet to release its 2021 figures.

“Our graduates have remained focused and determined, finding careers that have enabled them to make a difference in the world around them despite economic turmoil and the global health crisis,” wrote Jamie Schein, associate dean of Stanford GSB and director of the career management center. in the school’s 2020 MBA employment report.

While the average Stanford MBA salary is not negligible, some graduates have earned nearly double that amount immediately after graduation. The two most lucrative fields for Stanford MBA graduates? Finance and technology.

Finance is the most popular industry among Stanford MBA graduates, with 34% of the class pursuing a career in this field. The median base salary for graduates is $ 175,000 with an expected bonus of $ 120,000 and a signing bonus of $ 34,500 for a grand total of $ 329,500.

Stanford MBA graduates have a variety of financial functions including investment banking, investment management, and venture capital, but 15% of the Stanford GSB class of 2020 have moved into private equity. These graduates earned an average base salary of $ 195,000, with an expected bonus of $ 177,500 and a signing bonus of $ 30,000.

Immediately after earning a master’s degree, these Stanford GSB alumni earn over $ 400,000.

Why do Stanford MBA alumni make such good candidates for these jobs? Part of this is because a private equity job isn’t purely a financial role, says Sameer Kamat, founder of MBA Crystal Ball. Rather, these professionals “must have the mind and insight of a CEO,” he says.

“An MBA degree is probably the only degree that offers such a holistic insight into what it takes to run and, more importantly, grow a business,” Kamat said. Fortune. “It is no wonder that [private equity] companies value the skills that MBA graduates bring to their business.

But still, why do Stanford graduates who go into private equity earn nearly double their classmates? Much of this is due to the high-stakes nature of the industry.

“Among all post-MBA careers, finance and strategy stand out from the rest in terms of the impact they can have on the companies they work with,” Kamat said. Fortune. “The cost of failure is even higher. One bad investment can mean several million dollars lost.

For this reason, the best private equity firms need to hire the best people in the business world. So it’s no surprise that they are looking to hire at Stanford. The business school has an acceptance rate of around 6% to 7% each year.

“The other factor that gives MBA graduates an advantage of [business schools] like Stanford GSB, it’s the intense filtering process that they’ve already gone through, ”says Kamat. “Selective [private equity] funds don’t see pay as a barrier to hiring the right talent.

In 2020, Stanford MBA graduates who dabbled in mainstream technology reported earning a base salary of $ 140,000 with an expected bonus of $ 20,550 and a signing bonus of $ 35,000; graduates who entered corporate technology earned a base of $ 145,000 with an expected bonus of $ 24,750 and a signing bonus of $ 15,000.

With the potential to earn nearly $ 200,000 right after graduation, technology is another fruitful area for Stanford GSB graduates. Typically, technician salaries are about 20 to 25 percent higher for MBA graduates than for undergraduates, says Keith Feinberg, director of permanent employment services at Robert Half. Fortune.

MBA graduates are particularly attractive to consumer and enterprise technology companies because “companies are looking for diverse skills,” says Feinberg. It could be a combination of accounting and finance, or data science, programming and supply chain, he adds.

Essentially, the MBA degree allows a tech professional to train in business concepts, Kamat adds. Many of these MBA graduates find themselves in product management roles, which bridge the gap between the technical and business aspects of a business.

“While the market is oversaturated with tech professionals with highly specialized skills, very few are able to transform into techno-functional roles,” adds Kamat. “The lower supply leads to higher wages. “

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