2021 Best MBA Programs in Consulting

What is an MBA in Consulting?

MBA degrees remain the most in-demand in the corporate world and are also one of the most desirable advanced degrees in postsecondary learning. MBA admissions at academic institutions more than doubled in 2019 compared to the previous decade. Similarly, elite universities, listed in the top ten by US News, got a record number of applicants.

Every firm requires a consulting professional, particularly when it is in a difficult situation owing to the current financial climate, or when it is unable to accomplish its objective due to an internal conflict, or when it is hampered in its ability to expand beyond the initial growth. This is when MBA consultants are helpful.

An MBA in consulting teaches people how to hone the abilities that consulting organizations are looking for, such as corporate conflict resolution, marketing, strategic planning, and business scenario and problem assessment.

MBA applicants aspire to work in business consulting, which is among the most sought-after MBA occupation. In fact, according to the GMAC’s “2019 annual prospective students survey,” 29% of candidates were interested in consultancy as a post-MBA job.

The “MBB firms,” McKinsey, Bain, and BCG, claimed base wages of over $165,000 with joining incentives of $35,000 or more. This raises the total payout to a mind-boggling $200,000.

Therefore, the finest and brightest MBA students are drawn to a career in consultancy by a mix of substantial salary, a tough and high-powered workplace environment, and a rapid  learning style.

Best MBA Programs in Consulting

The “best” program may not be the best for you. There are many circumstances that go into what makes the best program, and we offer these rankings as a starting point. We offer data-driven and merit-based rankings for our readers. We look at several factors, such as:

• Starting Salary (ROI)
• Strength of Alumni (Enrollment Numbers)
• Student-Faculty Ratio
• GMAT Scores (Selection Quality)
• Tuition (Affordable)

Rankings aren’t everything. However, rankings do offer a starting point. These combine with other useful factors into deciding what the best school is for you. Moreover, the best school for one student might not be the ideal option for another. Therefore, the relative importance of ranking MBA schools offers a critical analysis of what these schools offer, how they differ from one another, and what could be the ideal school for each student.

We considered business schools that send the highest percentage of their graduating class into consultancy for rating universities and MBA degrees. This figure suggests that a considerable portion of the school’s assets will be dedicated to training students for competence in these disciplines.

Faculty from the school and MBA programs, curriculum, and career assistance are among these resources. Building contacts with companies and inviting them to hire students at school-sponsored events is one of the goals. Here are the best MBA programs in Consulting right now.

List of Consulting MBA Programs Sorted by Tuition Costs

Find a list of campus and online MBA programs in Consulting in the the United States. In-person, campus Consulting MBA programs account for 62 programs while online offerings account for 25 programs. Find Consulting MBA programs offered and sorted from lowest to highest tuition.

Learn about the career outlook, starting salary prospects, and long-term earnings possibilities in the sections below to help you understand the ROI of earning an MBA in Consulting.

What is the Outlook for Consulting Management Careers?

Management consultants are employed to investigate methods to enhance a company’s efficiency and revenues. Management consultants gather and assess information about a company’s operations before making recommendations for cost-cutting or revenue-boosting adjustments. Consultants frequently provide their advice in the form of a written report and oral communication, which can aid in implementing their recommendations.

Hundreds of eager college grads and seasoned industry veterans are looking forward to and concerned about the management consulting employment prospects for 2021. For a decade, the consulting employment market has been gradually increasing year after year.

With each passing year, the employment market grew stronger. This is partly due to the success of the management consulting business as a whole, which had risen to $160 billion in global revenue by 2019.

Between 2018 and 2028, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a 13.5% increase in jobs for management consultants. During that time, an estimated 99,900 positions should become available. In 2019, the average salary for management consultants was $85,260. The top 25 percent earned $113,770, while the bottom 25 percent earned $64,060.

The management consulting sector now has a market capitalization of $250 billion. This vast, extremely profitable sector is still expanding internationally, with hotspots in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Employment of management analysts is projected to grow 14 percent nationwide from 2018 to 2028, faster than the average for all occupations, according to the BLS.

How Much Does an Consultant with an MBA Degree Earn?

Base pays are vulnerable to annual increases of 10-20 percent, exceeding remuneration growth in other sectors. This is among the most appealing aspects of consulting jobs. With each stage in a consultant’s post-MBA career, these figures become more prominent.

In 2020, top consulting companies’ average base wage for an MBA was $157,364. The gap in total salary provided by the top firms varies from $12,500 to $21,250. In the first year, every business promises a salary of $200,000.

Consultancy businesses, ranging from the Big Three management consulting firms of Bain, BCG, and McKinsey to Deloitte, EY, and KPMG, are some of the top employers of MBA and finance master’s graduates, paying spectacular six-figure incomes.

Hundreds of business school graduates will gain high-paying consultancy positions this year, despite the negative effects of COVID-19 on other sectors. Even though the pandemic has influenced consultancy pay, it remains one of the highest-paid jobs in the world.

McKinsey & Company, which aims to employ its largest-ever class of new MBAs in 2021, pays MBA grads a basic salary of roughly $165,000 per year plus bonuses of more than $30,000 per year.

Average starting salary for MBA students from universities that offer an MBA in Consulting today is $100,966.23 with the lowest of starting of $64,862.00 and the highest reported starting salary of $143,750.00.

Where do Management Consultants MBAs Work?

Management consultants assist domestic and international customers (institutions, managers, entrepreneurs, and teams) in identifying and resolving difficult business, administrative, and operational issues, as well as defining and improving procedures.

It may be a very competitive and challenging field. It can, however, bring several long-term rewards and professional advantages. Within enterprises, management consultants have the opportunity to collaborate with senior teams and chief execs. This helps with the development of strong relationships and the formation of a supportive network.

Frequent and intense traveling itineraries, prolonged working hours, continuous learning and growth, tight team cooperation, and an emphasis on short and long-term initiatives are typical characteristics of the field.

Management Consultants held about 907,600 jobs in 2020. The largest employers of management analysts were as follows:

Management Consulting Earnings by State and Experience

An entry-level management consultant with less than one year of experience can expect to make $71,268 on average. The overall average income for an early career Management Consultant with 1-4 years of experience is $82,551. The average total income for a mid-career Management Consultant with 5-9 years of professional experience is $103,365.

The average total income for a Management Consultant with 10 to 19 years of employment is $125,184. Professionals with 20 years or more on the job receive an average total remuneration of $129,019.

What Can I Do with An MBA In Consulting?

An MBA in consulting is a great degree option for people who want to work in finance and economics in a team setting. Professionals with an MBA in consulting can work in a variety of industries, including business, nonprofits, and government.

A management consultant acts as an independent third party who does in-depth study and analysis before offering an unbiased view and viewpoint on challenging challenges and complicated company difficulties.

Management consultants provide hands-on project leadership and management skills advising, including project delivery, completion, and evaluation, to top management and corporate program managers.

• Strategy Consulting: When a company’s senior management wants outside help, they turn to strategy consultants. A strategy consultant may be hired by the management team to assist them in determining the optimal plan of action. The consultant may assist them in their decision-making approach by assisting them in determining what adjustments must be made in order for the company to continue ahead.
• Operations Consulting: Companies may hire operations consultants to help them save expenses and increase efficiency. These professionals are experts in procurement practices, systems integration, and process evaluations. Frequently, they will be involved in the introduction of the new operations architecture.
• Financial Consulting: Consultants in the field of finance frequently assist businesses in lowering their tax burden and improving their profitability. Consultants may examine investment options and estimate the risk associated with each. Depending on the sort of financial advice they provide, financial advisors may require accreditation.
• Marketing Consulting: Given the wide variety of marketing platforms accessible today, it’s easy to see why firms appreciate marketing consultants’ advice. These experts can assess a company’s market position and recommend the optimal growth strategy. Marketing consultants, for example, may decide to produce material via digital media.

What Skills Do I Need to Be Successful in Consulting?

Management consulting is the job for you if you’re self-motivated, love problem solving, and want to help businesses run more efficiently. Management consultants assist businesses in resolving problems, creating value, maximizing growth, and improving overall performance.

They apply their professional skills to give impartial counsel and knowledge, as well as to assist a company in developing any particular talents it may lack.

You’ll be essentially focused on a company’s strategy, organization, management, and administration. Your job includes identifying choices for the company and making change suggestions, as well as recommending extra resources to help execute solutions.

 You also must possess the following skills to be successful in consulting:

• Being a team player: Among the major components of becoming a successful consulting professional is the capacity to operate as part of a team. Rather than going on solo adventures and choosing isolation, being a team player is of utmost importance as a consultant.
• Social, oral, and writing communication abilities: A consultant needs to be in sync with the rest of the components of the team. Therefore, you need the best socialization skills along with oral and written prowess. This will allow you to express yourself in clear terms without offering a veil of ambiguity.
• Inventiveness and ingenuity: Rather than relying on age-old practices, you need to evolve, adapt, and move forward continuously. Therefore, a touch of ingenuity is necessary for management consultants.
• Aptitude for solving problems and preparing strategically: How long will you survive in the field if you cannot overcome your obstacles. So, you need to be quick and efficient at solving everyday problems and formulate strategic routes to deliver the best results.
• Analytical abilities: Deep analysis is the crux of good management consulting. Therefore, you need to develop hardcore analytical abilities to offer fitting plans for growth and evolution quickly.
• The ability to deal with continuous stress and adversity: Management consulting is not an easy profession. It’s like swimming upwards against a stream, and you need to put your game face on every single day. Therefore, you need to be able to battle stress and adversity against all odds.
• Economic understanding and comprehension of business contexts: This is a given. You have to be the best at the economic understanding of variable and fixed elements of business contexts to excel in the field and help organizations move forward.

What Typical Classes Will I Take in My Consulting MBA Program?

Expect to take a variety of course. Your curriculum will vary, however, typical classes you you can expect to take are similar to the Contusing MBA ones you find at W. P. Carey School of Business as follows:

Required Courses

You must complete the following required courses plus at least one course from the list of electives in order to complete the concentration in consulting.

• Management Consulting: Essential Skills
• Mastering the Art of Influence & Negotiations
• Management Consulting in Action
• Management Consulting: Driving Organizational Change

Electives

• Business Process & Workflow Analysis
• IT Services and Project Management
• Global Business Environment
• Perspective on the Global Economy
• Entrepreneurial Management
• Global Immersion Project
• Decisions Models for Supply Chain Management
• Data-Driven Quality Management
• Analytical Decision Making Tools I
• Analytical Decision Making Tools II
• Global Intensive Trek – Japan

How Much is Tuition for MBA Consulting Programs?

An MBA degree might be expensive, but the average cost of tuition for a two-year MBA school is more than $60,000. You should expect to spend $100,000 or more in tuition costs if you enroll in one of the best business schools. An MBA is frequently viewed as a long-term venture, so it’s no wonder that students pay thousands of bucks for the opportunity.

The most expensive school do not always equate to the ‘best’ school. Many public schools are subsidized by states. You can also look at the ROI for the beginning salaries from the average of students who attend a school. However, you do not need to worry about the high tuition costs. You can enjoy a high ROI once you start earning.

Management consulting is a profitable profession, and you can earn back your tuition cost within a few years. Therefore, you need to see such costs as an investment into your future.

The average Tuition for an MBA in Consulting is $49,064.37 with a highest of $117,444.00 and the lowest of $10,780.00. See the top 10 least and most expensive MBA programs.

GMAT Scores Needed for an MBA in Consulting

Those applying to top graduate business schools should be aware that a strong performance on the Graduate Management Admission Test will increase their chances of admittance.

While most educational institutions use a comprehensive evaluation process that takes into account all aspects of an application to provide a complete picture of each candidate, the test score does play a significant role. So, what do GMAT scores entail?

The GMAT is a four-part business school entrance test that lasts almost three and a half hours. The first is an analytical writing evaluation that assesses critical reasoning and communication abilities. The second component is an integrated logic section that assesses students’ ability to evaluate facts and understand the information presented in a variety of ways.

The third portion is a quantitative analysis exam that assesses students’ mathematical aptitude and statistical literacy. Finally, there is a verbal reasoning portion that assesses reading ability, editing skills, and the ability to comprehend written arguments.

According to experts, education institutions utilize GMAT results to determine if potential MBA students have the essential abilities to succeed in challenging courses. They want to know ahead of time if an applicant will be able to complete the program. As a result, the GMAT assists them in making that selection with some certainty.

The GMAT score is simply one of many crucial factors to consider while applying for an MBA. While the GMAT is significant, it is only one part of a wider application and is not the end-all solution. The GMAT score and preceding academic courses frequently go synonymously in determining a candidate’s academic achievement potential.

The lowest GMAT score needed for a Consulting MBA is 450 and the highest is 729 with an average GMAT score to be accepted in a Consulting MBA program is 639.

Student / Faculty Ratio for MBA Programs in Consulting

How much investment a university places on its instructors and the quality of education you may receive is based on the accessibility of your professors. Therefore, you need to examine the “Student-Faculty Ratio” before choosing a school for yourself. This way, you can understand whether or not you will receive the amount of attention you need to ace your courses and excel in your profession.

When there are more faculty members as compared to students, they can help students understand the core procedures of the field without issue. They can take the time to offer a fitting plan for each student. However, when students become a burden for teachers, they cannot offer as much time to the students.

Students researching a school should also look into the quality of its professors, not just the number of them, what kind of research do they do, where they have worked, and more. Similarly, the faculty/student ratio is a key indicator of how much energy and attention you’ll get from your professors in a campus MBA program. For an undergraduate accounting course, you could have been comfortable with sitting in the back of a huge lecture room.

In your MBA program, though, you’ll most likely want greater involvement with the instructors. Since participation in case studies is usually graded, you’ll want to make sure you get a chance to convey your argument. If there are 200 students in the classroom, this will be challenging. Even if you don’t enroll in a program that employs the methodological approach, you’ll need access to teachers for curricular inquiries and career guidance.

The lowest student faculty ratio from a Consulting MBA program is 1:5 while the highest ratio is 699:50, and the average from all MBA programs is 33:10.

Student Enrollment Information for MBA Programs in Consulting

A large student enrolment means more alumni after graduation, more diversity, and connections to make in your program. A smaller enrolment, depending upon the concentration, may be desirable as the quality of the students and teachers who are in the program gives detailed attention to the curriculum. It also comes down to student preference.

Therefore, student enrollment information is an important factor in deciding the best school for your management consulting degree. You need to take a look at your demands, needs, and personal preferences. These factors can help you decide the ideal enrollment setting yourself, and you can choose the best school without issues.

The MBA program with the lowest student enrollment that offers an MBA in Consulting is 38 from Auburn University at Montgomery. The MBA program with the highest student enrollment offering an MBA in Consulting is Highest: 2,102 from University of Southern California. The average student enrollment from all universities that offer an MBA in Consulting is 514.

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MBA Staff

We are MBAs helping future MBAs with data, statistics, and information we wish we had when we were starting out. As trusted MBA experts, we are experienced professionals, educators, entrepreneurs and leaders in our areas of business concentration.