Harvard is often touted for having the best value MBA program in the country as it has a high employment rate after graduation and high starting salaries, but according to a new graduate school credit ratings report by financial firm M7 Financial, it's Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Management that comes out on top.
M7 calculated the best value business schools based on students' ability to pay back degree-related student loans upon graduation. M7 looked at average indebtedness over average starting salary plus bonus to come up with a leverage ratio (how quickly a graduate will be able to pay off loans), and also looked at average starting salary plus bonus over estimated annual principal and interest payments to come up with a coverage ratio (how burdensome the loan debt could become). A low leverage ratio combined with a high coverage ratio equals a good value.
BYU's Marriott School was given an "A+" due to the fact that students' loan obligations are usually expected to be pretty modest in relation to initial career prospects. The average Marriott graduate earned an average starting salary of $110,216, but only incurred $27,924 in debt on average. Harvard Business School grads, on the other hand, earned a lot more to start - $138,346 - but graduated with an average of $73,926 in debt, more than twice the average for Marriott School grads.
The Marriott School is followed by the Wisconsin School of Business, Foster School of Business at the University of Washington, and Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business. Harvard came in at No. 9.
Click on the graphic below to see the data in detail. You can read M7's report in full here.
