B-School Students, Faculty Call Salary Survey Misleading

Students and faculty at the Business School contacted yesterday disagreed with the conclusion of a recent national survey of business school alumni that attributes salary differences between graduates of Harvard's and Stanford's business schools to geographical factors.

The survey, conducted by an Illinois industrial consulting firm, concludes that the median income of those who graduated from Harvard's Master of Business Administration (MBA) program ten years ago is $42,000 compared to $32,000 for a similar group of Stanford alumni, partly because Harvard MBA's tend to work in New York and Boston, where business salaries are higher than on the West Coast.

Big Bucks

Lawrence E. Fouraker, dean of the Business School, said yesterday Harvard MBA's earn more money than graduates of any other American business school because the Harvard MBA program is designed to "produce general managers to lead all sorts of business organizations," whereas other schools focus on research.

A recent poll of business school deans ranked the Stanford business school ahead of Harvard in overall quality.

The business school deans "measure a faculty by its research, but the market says our MBA program is best," Fouraker said.

Jan Koenig, a second-year student in the MBA program, said yesterday Harvard MBAs receive higher business salaries because of "a real, functioning old-boy network. People know what a Harvard MBA is, but they're unsure of the value of Stanford's MBA."

Gary Getz, also a second-year MBA student, said yesterday Harvard Business School graduates are not necessarily any better than graduates of other business schools, but the name "Harvard" helps to open doors.

"Sometimes I look around at all the turkeys who lucked into the B-school and financial security, and I wonder if they're all that good," he said.

The average salary for a first-year graduate of Harvard's MBA program is $22,000