What can I do with an MBA degree?

A high-quality MBA program builds strong business fundamentals and develops the leadership skills needed to excel in complex, rapidly changing environments. Whether you want to grow in your current field or transition into a new one, an MBA can help you gain the clarity, confidence, and connections to move forward. From consulting and health care leadership to product innovation and the C-suite, MBA graduates are well-positioned to shape what’s next in every industry.

Our Ivy League MBA combines rigorous academics with hands-on learning and deep industry engagement. Students build strong business foundations while working on real-world challenges through consulting projects, internships, and leadership development opportunities. The Cornell MBA is designed to help you grow with purpose and lead with confidence.

What are the benefits of an MBA in 2025 and beyond?

An MBA expands what’s possible. With this credential, you can gain tools to make better decisions, manage uncertainty, and lead with both purpose and precision in a constantly evolving business landscape.

The benefits of an MBA also extend beyond the classroom. Cornell’s MBA delivers enduring value — future-ready skills, deep industry expertise, and an international network of alumni, faculty, and corporate leaders.

With high employer demand for MBAs, earning an Ivy League MBA opens the door to a wide range of job opportunities. Graduates benefit from greater career mobility and advancement potential; enhanced leadership and decision-making skills; higher earning potential; and lifelong access to a powerful business alumni network.

In-demand business and leadership skills

MBA programs are designed to build technical fluency and leadership ability. Students sharpen their skills through case studies, simulations, consulting projects, and experiential learning, often before they even begin their internships.

With Cornell’s performance learning model, students tackle real challenges through fieldwork, simulations, and cross-functional collaboration.

Career mobility and security

Cornell’s MBA offers the flexibility and resilience needed to navigate market volatility, emerging technologies, and global uncertainty. Whether you’re shifting industries or accelerating within your field, our curriculum empowers you to lead with adaptability and vision.

In an economy shaped by AI, globalization, and rapid change, an MBA can offer a strong foundation and the flexibility to navigate what’s next with confidence.

Expanded professional network

Professional networks built in an MBA program often become long-term assets that open doors to mentorship, new roles, and career insights well beyond graduation. With more than 325,000 alumni worldwide, Cornell connects you to a global community of changemakers and decision-makers. You’ll access resources like on-demand career content, in-person alumni events, and CUeLINKS—Cornell’s platform for mentorship and industry insights.

Competitive salary growth

Earning an MBA raises your earning potential and positions you for significant salary growth, both pre- and post-degree. The average base salary for Cornell’s 2024 MBA Class was just under $162,000, while the median base salary was $175,000 — plus an average signing bonus of over $38,400. These outcomes reflect the career acceleration many MBA graduates experience and the return on investment a strong program can offer.

MBA career paths to pursue

MBA graduates pursue careers across nearly every sector, from public health and sustainability to investment banking and product innovation. An MBA offers the skills, access, and support to pursue leadership roles that match your goals.

At the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, a two-year MBA degree can launch you into results-driven leadership. Our graduates can respond to rapid change, shape industries, lead systemic change, and build legacies.

Whether you’re motivated by creating social impact, innovating solutions, or driving strategic transformation, there’s a path forward for a career that aligns with your passion and amplifies your purpose.

Leading with purpose: Creating social and organizational impact

These roles are ideal for those who are passionate about solving complex societal issues and uplifting communities through inclusive, sustainable leadership.

• Health care administrator: Lead operations in hospitals, clinics, or care systems to improve outcomes and patient experience. An MBA equips you to navigate policy, manage budgets, and optimize systems for greater impact.
• Policy analyst: Influence decision-making at the intersection of business and government. With an MBA, you’ll bring data-driven thinking to policy formulation, making change scalable and effective.
• Development director (nonprofit sector): Mobilize resources for mission-driven organizations. The MBA sharpens your strategic planning and stakeholder engagement skills to drive lasting results.

Strategists and consultants: Tackling big business questions

Consultants and strategists excel at asking the right questions and mapping out actionable, high-impact solutions. These roles emphasize analytical rigor, cross-functional collaboration, and long-term vision.

• Management consultant: Partner with organizations to solve business-critical issues. Cornell’s emphasis on integrative thinking prepares you to lead transformation across sectors.
• Strategy consultant: Define and drive future growth. With an MBA, you gain the foresight and financial acumen to steer C-suite decisions. Cornell’s MBA features a strategy and consulting immersion, which focuses on building essential skills for consulting and internal strategist roles.
• Policy/city manager or public administrator: Operate at the heart of civic leadership, balancing fiscal responsibility with community innovation. An MBA helps translate insights into resilient, responsible, and strategic governance.

Innovators and builders: Leading growth and change

For entrepreneurial thinkers and innovative leaders, these careers center on designing, launching, and scaling bold ideas, whether inside a startup or a global enterprise. Cornell’s Two-Year MBA provides the structure, flexibility, and resources to turn big thinking into tangible effects.

• Product manager: Shape the future by managing the development of innovative products. An MBA strengthens your leadership across engineering, marketing, and user experience (UX). Cornell’s Two-Year MBA enables students to focus in areas like brand management and tech product management.
• Business development manager: Forge strategic partnerships and open new markets. You’ll leverage your MBA to identify trends and create pathways to growth.
• Chief operating officer (COO): Oversee operations and implement vision from the ground up. Almost half of Fortune 1000 executives — 46 percent — have an MBA, underscoring the high demand for MBAs in the C-suite. A Cornell MBA prepares you with leadership, logistics, and change-management expertise.

Will an MBA increase your salary?

Yes. Data consistently shows that earning an MBA leads to higher salaries and stronger advancement potential. According to the website Earnest, MBA graduates see an average salary increase of about 70 percent, jumping from around $70,000 to $120,000 post-degree. At Cornell, the results are even stronger: The Class of 2024 earned a median base salary of $175,000 with an average signing bonus of over $38,400. For the Cornell Johnson Class of 2025, the numbers are even more impressive: The median expected post-graduation salary figure is more than double what it was before entering the program, based on Bloomberg data.

Whether you’re entering consulting, tech, health care management, or finance, a Cornell MBA positions you for faster advancement and higher income.

See how our Two-Year MBA supports career growth.

While an MBA raises your earning potential, numerous other factors also impact your salary. These factors include:

• Program quality: Cornell’s MBA program is renowned for its rigorous curriculum and distinguished faculty, consistently ranking among the top 10 full-time MBA programs in the United States.

• Industry: Some of the highest-paying industries for MBA holders include consulting, finance, tech, health care, entertainment, and consumer goods. Cornell’s Two-Year MBA offers immersions in fields like investment banking, consulting, and corporate finance, while our one-year Johnson Cornell Tech MBA caters to AI-focused professionals in the tech sector.

• Specialization: Top-paying specializations for MBA holders include roles related to tech, consulting, and finance. The Cornell MBA enables students to specialize in focus areas like corporate finance, strategy and consulting, investment banking, and digital technology.

• Location: MBA salaries vary by location, with the highest-paying MBA jobs typically based in major cities like New York City, San Francisco, Boston, and Washington, D.C. Cornell’s Two-Year MBA gives students the option to attend classes in New York City, while our Executive MBA Americas program can be completed online from anywhere.

• Experience: There’s a strong correlation between pre-MBA work experience and post-MBA earning potential. Most students enter Cornell’s MBA with five or more years of full-time work experience, which the program builds on through immersions, summer internships, volunteer opportunities, and more.

Life after the MBA: Alumni success stories

MBA graduates often credit their degree as a turning point that enabled them to pivot industries, take on bigger roles, and grow their long-term earning power. Career paths are rarely linear, but the MBA offers a structured, supported way to accelerate your next move.

Cornell MBA graduates go on to do remarkable things: pivot into new industries, accelerate into senior leadership, and launch high-impact careers. Their stories show how a world-class MBA opens doors and changes trajectories.

• Edward Morrissey MBA ‘22 pivoted from a role in advertising to an associate director of neurology marketing at AbbVie.
• LeWanza Harris MBA ‘22 advanced to a leadership role as vice president for quality and regulatory affairs at Mount Sinai Health System.

Graduates of our MBA program have accepted offers from some of the world’s most influential brands and organizations, including Amazon, Apple, Bain & Co., Citi, Deloitte, JPMorganChase & Co., McKinsey & Co., Microsoft, and SC Johnson.

Explore how Cornell’s Two-Year MBA program can help you reimagine your own future.