Return on Investment (ROI)

This indicator is designed to show which business schools are providing strong value for money to their students. We look at a 10-year return on investment, comparing average 10-year post-graduation salaries against the average cost of investment in obtaining their Graduate Management Education (GME).

Average 10-year post-graduation salary is estimated using the average post-graduation first-year salary provided by schools (or country-level averages based on our Employer Survey responses) and the following factors of salary acceleration over the next 10 years (on the top of a natural increase per annum): 

• How prestigious a business school is, according to the QS Employer Survey. 
  • A maximum of a 7% boost is applied for schools with a score of 100 in our Employer Reputation metric. This boost decreases in tandem with the ER score. 
• If a business school provides some extra opportunities for students that may positively influence the salary in the first years of work (e.g. internships or international trips, as per data submitted by schools) 
  • 1% boost is applied for each additional service. These are:  1) internships and 2) international trips.
• How many graduates set up their own companies after graduation, as per data submitted by schools (this is to account for the slower, but potentially much higher return for those starting a business) 
  • A maximum of 5% if more than 20% of the graduating class have started their own business within 3 months of graduation for MBA students.

Average cost of investment covers the following components:  

• Tuition fee of the GME program, as per data submitted by schools
• Cost of living in the city where the school is located, calculated using data from Numbeo.com, in USD.
  • Example: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/London
    • Transport - Monthly pass x 12 = $2,267
    • Utilities - Basic x 12 = $3,478
    • Utilities - Internet x 12 = $426
    • Averaged Rent for a 1 bedroom apartment
      • City Centre x 12 = $25,812
      • Out of City Centre x 12= $18,675
    • $25,812 + $18,675 / 2 = $22,244
    • Food prices per day is calculated using a list from Numbeo: https://www.numbeo.com/food-prices/in/London
      • Western Food price is calculated daily = $8.12 x 365 = $2,964
      • Asian Food price is calculated = $6.38 x 365 = $2,329
    • $2,964 + $2,329 / 2 = $2,646
    • $2,267 + $3,478 + $426 + $22,244 + $2,646 = $31,061 Annual Estimate for London, UK.
• Forgone salary (opportunity cost) based on the average salary before enrollment and length of study, as per data submitted by schools (for MBA) and using approximations based on several factors on such as course length, tax and salary (for Business Masters).

We sum ten years of salary uplift and then deduct the cost of investment (including foregone salary). This dollar amount is then z-scored and put on a scale of 20-100 to create a final score. 

Data definitions: