Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Cost of an INSEAD mba

Some back of the envelop calculations regarding the impending cost of an INSEAD MBA:

Cost of Tuition Euro 48,800
Business Fundamental Euro 1200

Cost of Living Euro 20,000

Additional Costs

Laptop Euro 1000
Air Flights Euro 1000
Wharton/Campus Exchange ???
Miscellaneous Euro 3000

Total Cost Euro 75,000 approx.

I don't yet have the figures for the cost of campus exchange but do realize that its not factored into the average cost of living provided by the school. Miscellaneous covers visa charges, medical insurance, travel insurance, books and other factors for which no exact figure is known.

As of now with my Indian salary I only make approx. Euro 20,000 pre tax. Obviously this means there is a huge gap which can not be filled without aid & loans.
So here's the clincher, according to the Forbes's ROI calculator for MBA'a ...you can check it out here

I get a 5 year MBA gain of approx. Euro 2,25,000!!!


Its calculated based on 2003 average salary indications & a rate of growth of approx 11.6% based on the batch of 2000.
Of course the return is spectacular given my pre MBA salary is in Indian rupees while the average post MBA salary is in Euro/dollars
But before I blow my horn, a few key factors to consider:

  • Average salary does not always translate to what one can expect, especially with global recruiting
  • The rate of growth is also largely dependent on the conditions of the economy at large
  • I have no clue if they have taken taxes into consideration, after tax its a completely different story.
I wish there was a clause by which all b-schools had to declare the range of salaries for all employed grads - from the lowest to the highest with mean, median and mode figures provided. Self employed entrepreneurs would be exempt.
It would help us make more efficient decisions (something we are going to learn during our mba, right?) and not just be swayed by the gigantic reputations of the schools and ranking in all the publications - of course those too are dependent on the same factors but some data would be insightful

2 comments:

Shahzeb said...

How did you finance your mba then? I have been accepted to INSEAD and want to enroll but can not due to inavailability of funds. Banks here in Pakistan do not provide student loans!

Dee said...

that really sucks... :(
But you can try international loans - there is HSBC though they no longer have a special deal with INSEAD
I spoke with BNP Paribas - they didnt have any education loans in India but were willing to arrange one from their French office.
Its a stretch but try not to let go of the opportunity - i talk a lot about the money hassle but I truly believe its a ticket to a new way of life - best of luck!
btw I'm financing it now thru my savings & a loan from my Dad...:) what are parents for after all