Study: Better image leads to higher salaries

The prominence of a business school might determine a graduate's salary more so than the quality of education it offers, according to a new study from the University of Maryland.\nThe study found that soon out of college, the highest salaries went to students who graduated from well-known universities with top rankings in national magazines and have well-respected faculty, even when recruiters believe lesser known institutions offer better programs.\n"What we find is that the set of schools that are most prominent in the minds of recruiters is not the same as the set of schools they evaluate as producing the highest quality MBAs," Violina Rindova, assistant professor of strategy at Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business who co-authored the study said in an email.\nSuch studies have little effect on IU's Kelley School of Business said Dan Smith, dean of the school.\n"I believe we have the strongest business curriculum in the nation delivered by the most committed faculty in the nation," he said in an e-mail. "But ... We would be nothing without high-caliber students." \nStudents, he said, decided much of their own fate in school and in the job market.\n"The quality of the education provides a foundation, but a student's success depends on their intellect, motivation, and overall attitude they bring to the program and their jobs after graduation," Smith said.\nSenior Brandon Carder said he believes Kelley offers a good mix of both high prominence and high-quality education.\n"I think Kelley gives you a great opportunity with its distinguished faculty and recruiting services it provides its students, he said. "Fortune 500 companies are in Kelley every day sponsoring events, interviewing, presenting, and hiring the students."\nIn the Maryland study of 107 business schools with which, 1,600 recruiters were asked to answer questions about any three business schools they were familiar. The schools named the most were considered the most prominent.\nWhen comparing the difference in salaries between a school of higher prominence and one of average prominence, the survey found that graduates of a school of average prominence earned about $12,200 less annually than graduates of schools in the top 30 percent.\nHow recruiters ranked the prominence of schools was not released.\nThe study did not review if this gap closes as time goes on, Rindova said.\n"As for the higher salaries, these reflect the value companies associate with graduates from a given program based on their years of experience recruiting at that school," Smith said. "Companies are simply willing to pay more for a graduate that delivers high overall value and Kelley students deliver incredible value."\nSmith said studies comparing rankings to salaries might not accurately represent the job market for business-school graduates. Students in business schools near major financial markets -- like Columbia or Wharton -- tend to major in investment management, allowing them to enter into jobs within those markets, he said. Such jobs pay better than jobs in consumer brand management -- a major many students in Midwest business schools attain. \n"There are clearly alternative explanations for the findings of such studies," Smith said.