Wisconsin MBA
Our focus is creating business experts with an instant edge — to put students on the path to leadership and long-term career advancement.
In spring 2006, the School of Business graduated its first class in the new, full-time Wisconsin MBA program based on 13 highly focused career specializations (See list, page 11). Based on the experience of the initial graduating class, this innovative approach has offered greater opportunities for success to our MBA graduates.
We are pleased with our indicators of quality:
- The class of 2006 had significant increases over the previous year both in terms of full-time placement percentage and average base starting salary, with 95% of the class placed by three months after graduation. (See page 12 for employment statistics).
- More companies chose to recruit Wisconsin graduates. Several employers that had not recruited at Wisconsin previously were attracted by the qualifications of the class of 2006, with increased geographic diversity.
- More than 85% of May graduates expressed satisfaction with the quality of program curriculum.
- The class of 2007 had 95% placement in relevant internships while in the program, compared to roughly 60% previously.
International activity was made an increasing vital component of the Wisconsin MBA over the past year. Several career specializations offered international study trips for their students. A new, for-credit international study trip open to all Wisconsin MBA students is being developed, with an inaugural trip in 2007 to explore business operations based in Chile and Dubai.
The Wisconsin MBA is growing its enrollment while maintaining student quality in terms of entering grade point averages and GMAT scores. (See below).
The School of Business pursued several initiatives during 2005-06 to help build the Wisconsin MBA brand by increasing brand consistency across career specializations in marketing materials. A unified graphic identity program was developed and implemented for both print and online communications.
Wisconsin’s new, highly specialized model continues to gain national attention. BusinessWeek and others highlighted how Wisconsin is leading a national trend toward specialized MBA programs. (See selected media coverage on page 36). CNN.com declared, “The traditional one-size-fits-all MBA degree could soon be consigned to the dustbin of history.”
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Entering Class | |||
| Class Profile | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
| Enrollment | 118 | 112 | 112 | 121 |
| Average GMAT | 662 | 658 | 659 | 661 |
| GPA | 3.30 | 3.38 | 3.36 | 3.37 |
| Years of work exp. | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 3.6 |
| Average Age | 28 | 28 | 27 | 28 |
| Women | 33% | 30% | 35% | 30% |
| Minority | 11% | 11% | 10% | 14% |
| International | 30% | 22% | 22% | 29% |
MBA Rankings |
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| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| U.S. News & World Report | 46 | 36 | 37 | 31 |
| BusinessWeek | 31-50 | 31-38 | ||
| Wall Street Journal* | NR | 33 | 34 | 25 |
BusinessWeek’s ranking is biennial. |
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Tuition |
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| Resident | $5,097 |
| Non-Resident | $12,816 |
MBA Career Specializations
- Applied Corporate Finance
(Nicholas Center) - Applied Security Analysis (Hawk Center)
- Arts Administration (Bolz Center)
- Brand and Product Management (Center for Brand and Product Management)
- Entrepreneurial Management
(Weinert Center) - Information Systems
- Marketing Research (A.C. Nielsen Center)
- Operations and Technology Management (Erdman Center)
- Real Estate (Center for Real Estate)
- Risk Management and Insurance
- Strategic Human Resource Management
- Strategic Management in the Life and Engineering Sciences
- Supply Chain Management (Grainger Center)
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Figures are for master’s students who graduated from the School of Business in August/December 2004 and 2005 and May 2004, 2005 and 2006 with either an MBA or MS degree. |
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Employment Report for MBA and MS Students |
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| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| Base Salary for Full-time Position | ||||
| Average | $68,852 | $72,720 | $74,332 | $82,917 |
| Median | $70,000 | $73,000 | $80,000 | $85,000 |
| Range | $30,000- $102,000 | $40,000- $120,000 | $25,000- $110,000 | $38,000- $120,000 |
Sign-on Bonus |
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| % who received | 52% | 49% | 62% | 75% |
| Average | $11,903 | $9,666 | $9,961 | $12,770 |
| Median | $12,750 | $10,000 | $7,500 | $12,000 |