Which institution should you choose to get your MBA?

Earn a master’s degree in business administration (Master of Business Administration, or MBA) can cost between $6,000 and $350,000, depending on the choice of institution. An overview of the possibilities of obtaining this graduate diploma.

First, the most affordable option is to enroll in a regular full-time program offered at a French-speaking university in Quebec. Depending on the addresses, the MBA will cost between $6,000 and $10,000 for four terms. The University of Quebec network offers the best prices. By choosing an establishment close to where you live, you will also avoid housing costs.

Invoice elements

A regular MBA bill includes tuition, which easily accounts for 50% to 60% of the amount. Another part consists of various institutional fees. At HEC Montreal, where the investment is close to $10,000, there are supervision and promotion fees ($1,500), technology fees ($1,227), copyright ($160), student association fees ($108), without would we forget, around thirty dollars donated to the facility’s fundraising campaign. part of the requested amount.

Note that institutional fees, some of which are fixed regardless of whether you are full or part-time, accumulate over the course of the quarter. So these can represent a $500 to $1,000 difference between a degree earned part-time and not full-time.

Bigger accounts

McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management is awarded the top bill for an MBA in Quebec. The investment associated with obtaining a diploma in two years exceeds 90,000 dollars. This includes a $3,000 foreign travel fee during the first year. Note that the English-speaking institution is among the top 75 universities on the planet that offer an MBA program. According to the latest report from Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a British company specializing in the analysis of higher education institutions worldwide, McGill’s degree is ranked 73rd.

For about the same price, at $94,000, HEC-McGill’s bilingual EMBA program offers a 16-month version for working leaders in a company of about forty experienced managers. “Most of the costs include training offered by professionals,” explains its director of recruitment and marketing, Michel Filion. This turnkey package also includes an intensive week of courses and workshops at a resort in the province, as well as a 10-day trip abroad. “The destination of the next stay planned for June 2024 has not yet been determined,” says Michel Filion. Participants from the first ten cohorts still went to Buenos Aires, Argentina. “Members of the last two cohorts went to Dubai,” he points out.

The Laurent Beaudoin Center at the University of Sherbrooke, which also offers an MBA course for contemporary managers, requires just under $55,000 for a five-year program. Laval University’s turnkey “Executive” formula, the only one of its kind subsidized by the Ministry of Education, will cost less than $25,000. The amount, which includes a stay at Babson College in Boston, recognized in the field of business.

EEB offer

A quick digression on the Elite and Emergence programs at Beauce School of Entrepreneurship (EEB). Without being an MBA as such, these two formulas without exams or work invite around sixty entrepreneurs with at least eight years of experience (and as many young aspiring managers with more than three years of experience) every year. undergo enhanced coaching training, exchanges with renowned entrepreneurs and sports activities. “These two-year turnkey programs cost $67,000 for the Elite version and $26,000 for the Emergence version,” says EEB spokesperson Alexandre Tessier.

Elsewhere in the country

You have to count almost $100,000 in tuition fees (and a little over $40,000 in miscellaneous expenses, including accommodation and food) to get the degree offered by the Rotman School at the University of Toronto, qualified as the best MBA on Canadian soil (40th in the world) , according to the QS ranking. Intensive, full-time, one-year versions are offered at the Ivey School at Western University in London and the Smith School at Queen’s University in Kingston. On top of their tuition set at nearly $85,000, you have to plan for a little over $20,000 in miscellaneous fees. “The Ivey School welcomes nearly three students from Quebec each year,” says its director of communications, Ivan Langrish.

Among our American neighbors…

The account explodes as soon as you leave the country. Tuition for this full-time degree at at least seven US universities costs $160,000, according to a team at the California-based website Poets&Quants (P&Q), which evaluates the MBA market worldwide.

Known for offering one of the top three MBAs on the planet, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has the highest tuition at nearly $175,000. Closer to home, the Harvard Business School MBA receives just under $150,000 from its students.

Adding up costs related to housing, food, transportation, the total bill for an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) beats the competition. According to P&Q, it costs nearly $39,000 a year to live near the University of California. This detail drives the budget required to afford the QS World No. 1 MBA program to more than $250,000.

…and on the other side of the Atlantic

Among the prestigious European institutions, HEC Paris tuition and fees is €98,000, equivalent to $145,000. “An amount to which we need to add more or less $75,000 to live in Paris for two years,” says the P&Q team. Taking the Accelerated MBA option (10 months) offered by the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD), tuition and living costs in the Fontainebleau region are around $180,000. The London Business School MBA has the highest rating. Adding tuition and fees (nearly £110,000) and living expenses in London for the duration of the program (£60,000), the candidate will easily need $290,000 in Canadian currency to graduate.

and after?

Is this investment of time and money in honing your management skills worth it? “This is definitely a significant added value to the resume. It certainly boosts a person’s profile for a managerial position, but it does not guarantee that they will excel as a manager,” says Guylaine Bossé, president of GB Groupe Conseil, an executive search firm. They do not hide the fact that a diploma from some well-known establishments has more weight in the eyes of many employers than others.

“In fact, it’s the solid network of contacts that these different training courses offer graduates that positively affects employment,” adds headhunter Jonathan Plourde. But beware, warns this professional. Despite big promises from the most prestigious establishments on the planet, this degree does not guarantee a dream job. “Not even a salary of more than $250,000 a year, as some American schools claim. At least not in Quebec,” he concludes.