Fresh MBAs still make much more in banking

New figures for starting pay for graduates from the London Business School underscore the extent to which banking is still a lucrative option for MBA students.

As the table below shows, in 2009, the mean total compensation for an LBS MBA going into banking was 35% higher than for their peers going into industry, and 17% higher than for those going into consulting. The median was 27% and 9% higher respectively.

However, banks are less generous to MBA summer interns, paying less than consultants on a weekly basis.

Higher graduate pay comes at a price. The LBS report makes no mention of the fact that finance is generally thought to be a less stable career, with new MBAs being culled vigorously by investment banks in 2008.

The report does highlight the extent to which financial services careers are becoming less accessible/desirable. In 2008, 25% of LBS MBA graduates went into investment banking. But in 2010 only 20% of its MBA students have opted to do investment banking internships.

Equally, it's becoming less easy to use an MBA as a method of moving into financial services from another sector. In 2008, 21% of LBS MBAs who went into finance came from consulting and 33% of them came from industry. By 2009, this had fallen to 11% and 28% respectively, and most of the MBAs going into finance had prior financial services experience.

Compensation for LBS MBA graduates in 2009

Summer compensation for LBS MBAs in 2009

Source: LBS