The MBA advantage: How 4 business school grads drastically increased their salaries after earning their degrees

Crystal Cox/Business Insider

"Every year up to 2014 and since we began collecting data, MBA graduates always at least doubled their salaries within three years of completing their degree," the Financial Times' Laurent Ortmans reported.

• You can get your MBA for various reasons - but for a lot of people, the main benefit is significantly increasing your salary.
• To see if having a degree really pays off (pun intended), Business Insider sought out four MBA grads to see how their income changed after going to business school.
• Doing the coursework and graduating with a degree are only part of the equation to upping your salary. The rest depends on how MBA students leverage their time in the program and how they apply what they've learned (and the connections they've made) to land higher-earning jobs.
• "It was everything I hoped for. It helped me to pivot ... It increased my network and made my job search easier, especially with formal opportunities with employers coming on campus," said Jill Newell, a consultant at a well-known consulting company based in DC who increased her salary by 100% after her MBA.
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It's well documented that earning an MBA is linked to future salary increases.

According to the Financial Times, for example, the average pay of MBA alumni came in at around $142,000 in 2017 - up 12% since 2014.

"Every year up to 2014 and since we began collecting data, MBA graduates always at least doubled their salaries within three years of completing their degree," the Financial Times' Laurent Ortmans reported.

But doing the coursework and graduating with a degree are only part of the equation. The rest depends on how MBA students leverage their time in the program and how they apply what they've learned (and the connections they've made) to land higher-earning jobs. And women and people of color still continue to experience pay gaps even after earning these advanced degrees.

Meet four MBA grads who credit their degrees to increasing their salaries and job prospects, advancing them to more senior roles, allowing them to make career transitions, and giving them the courage to take professional risks that have paid off. They shared with Business Insider what aspects of their degree and specific programs they think have most helped with these successes.