The MBA SIP

Publicly Available Data- Is the Cost of a Top MBA Program Worth It?

Here I would be researching numbers based on business week’s MBA program rankings. Based on these rankings and other information, I would find relationships between program ranking and graduates’ average starting salary or cost of program in comparison to acceptance rate. Collecting data from business week and other sources including the school’s websites, there are many possible tests that could be performed. One possible hypothesis test would be to test that the average GMAT score for students entering a top ten program is higher than others. Here I would perform a one-tail test with H-naught being that the score for top ten and others are the same, the alternative being that scores for top ten schools are higher. Information about full-time MBA programs, as well as statistics for all programs, can be found at http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/rankings/ . It may also be helpful to consider other similar websites that provide rankings and other information (i.e. cost, graduation rate, average GPA, et.).

Original Data- Is the Cost of a Top MBA Program worth it to You?

For this I would try to send surveys to students at different universities. I would try to see how many business students plan on pursuing an MBA and what kind of jobs are they looking for in the future. I would also try to survey MBA graduates and rate their satisfactions in pursuing their MBA and if possible, compare their salaries with the cost of their MBA program. One hypothesis test could be to test the null hypothesis that students with hopes of becoming a CEO (or other high level position) are equally as likely to pursue an MBA as students with hopes of becoming something else, while the alternative hypothesis would state that students hoping to become a CEO are more likely to want to enter an MBA program. For this data I might use a sample of Michigan universities and attempt to get surveys to major universities such as Michigan, Michigan State, Western Michigan, etc.