Our 2022 graduates have once again proven their agility and resilience. After all, they began their Duke MBA journey at the height of the pandemic, when almost everything about the business school experience had to be adapted to keep everyone safe. Yet, glancing at the 2021–2022 Daytime MBA Employment Report, you would never have guessed the challenging context in which the graduating class set new school records.

Record High Salaries

We believe there is much more to a job than compensation, but it’s worth noting that base salary hit a record-high median of $160,055. That’s a one-year jump of more than 14% from last year’s $140,000 median. You may notice if you look at past reports that we cited mean more often than median—but we’ve updated the metric this year to median as it is the more common standard for comparison.

Record High Acceptances

Reflecting strong employer demand, 98% of the Class of 2022 had received at least one job offer by three months post-graduation. Several graduates also reported they received offers a very short time after that window, in late August and September, so they are not reflected in that percentage.

2022 saw a new record in job acceptances at 97% in three months post-graduation, up one percentage point from 96% in 2021. It’s not uncommon to see acceptance rates decrease in times of employment growth, as graduates have the confidence to say no to early offers that aren’t the right fit. In a hot job market, the high acceptance rate is a signal that 2022 Duke MBA grads got the jobs they wanted.

Record Consulting Acceptances 

Driving these increases is a surge in consulting. Both by function and industry, more Duke MBAs took consulting jobs than ever before. More than a third of 2022 grads went to an employer in the consulting industry. At 36%, that’s a relative increase of 12.5% from 32% of the previous year’s class. The rise was even more dramatic by job function, with 40% citing their role as consulting, up seven percentage points from 2021, a 21% jump in only one year.

Record Number of Students Reporting

It’s worth noting the data in this report is based on confirmed reports from 99.2% of the graduating class, which is likely a record of its own! The MBA Career Services and Employer Alliance sets the industry standard for reporting data at 85% or higher. At Fuqua, we strive to provide the most complete representation possible of Duke MBA employment across the entire class and thus work to learn as much information as possible about each student’s status. We are grateful to the Class of 2022 who partnered with us to make such a high level of transparency possible in this report.

Internships Mirror Full-Time Trends

Summer 2022 internship data for the Class of 2023 reflect similar trends and outcomes as the graduating class. Median compensation increased 13% over last year, from $9,167 per month in 2021 to $10,392 per month in 2022. The industry and function footprints are also similar to the 2022 grads, with consulting on the rise in both categories from the previous year.

The top industries for our MBA summer interns were consulting, financial services, technology, and health care. The most popular summer roles were in consulting, finance, marketing, and general management and accounted for 88% of reported job functions.

Strong Industry Partners

Vital to our students’ employment success are strong relationships and a proven track record with many of the world’s premier employers. We are grateful to partner with perennial top hiring companies such as Amazon, Bain, Bank of America, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Deloitte, Google, McKinsey, and many others that invest significant time, care, and resources into recruiting and hiring Duke MBAs each year. We’ve seen that virtual recruiting increases the ease of access for both employers and students, and it’s exciting to welcome new employers to our recruiting portfolio as a result.

With the ongoing impact of the pandemic, continued shifts across the business landscape, and potential economic uncertainty ahead, what remains constant is the caliber and resilience of our students. With an entrepreneurial spirit and leadership skills for an increasingly complex world, I’m proud to say once again that Duke MBAs not only respond to change but thrive in it.