Despite economic headwinds and domestic and global uncertainty, recent graduates of Fisher’s Full-Time MBA (FTBMA) program reported career success in a number of areas, underscoring the value of earning a graduate business education at Ohio’s flagship university.

Members of the FTMBA Class of 2023 reported an average starting salary and sign-on bonus of $163,800, a record high for the program at Fisher. The data was shared by the MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance.

“While starting salary is just one metric by which we evaluate the success and stature of our graduate programs, including the Full-Time MBA, we recognize that it is a powerful factor in a student’s return on their educational investment,” said Aravind Chandrasekaran, associate dean for graduate programs at Fisher. 

“We are proud to see the positive impact that our MBA curriculum, teaching and experiential learning opportunities are having for our students as they embark on successful careers as Fisher graduates.”

Data provided by Fisher’s Office of Career Management showed that the consulting, technology and financial services industries offered the highest starting salaries among Fisher graduates. Logistics — a key area of focus within the FTMBA and in other new graduate degree offerings at Fisher — represented the industry with the largest increase in salary. Recent FTMBA graduates in the transportation and logistics industry saw a 52% increase in salary as compared to those surveyed in 2022.

Fisher’s 2023 MBA cohort also reported positive career success in two other key areas: job title/function and hiring organization. Positions in companies’ leadership programs continued rank as the top post-graduate function, followed by senior consultant and senior program manager.

Companies choosing to hire MBA graduates from Fisher reflect recent changes to the workforce landscape in Columbus, as well as nationally. Two of the top-three MBA-hiring companies since 2019 have been technology-based. Financial leader JPMorgan Chase has hired the largest number of MBA graduates (29), with tech leaders Amazon (20) and Microsoft (11) completing the top three.

“Part of our efforts to continually innovate our FTMBA program calls for consistent conversations with leading companies to ensure we are providing them with skilled talent capable of making an immediate impact,” Chandrasekaran said. “We look forward to continuing these positive career placement trends as we work to strengthen our Full-Time MBA program for our students and the organizations that turn to Fisher for the very best business leaders.”