re: Shocking news: The value of an MBA is rapidly declining

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2013-2014 ESTIMATED STUDENT BUDGET
Wharton MBA Costs
Tuition $59,736
General Fee $2,410
Course Materials Fee $600
Pre-Term Fee $2,060
Tuition & Fees $64,806
Health Insurance $3,222
Room & Board $22,188
Books, Supplies & Misc $5,784
Total Expenses $96,000

Wharton MBA /LAUDER MA Cost
Tuition $59,736
General Fee $2,410
Course Materials Fee $600
Pre-Term Fee $2,060
Lauder Fee (Summer Tuition) $12,500
Lauder Academic Year Fee $13,100
Tuition & Fees $90,406
Health Insurance $3,222
Room & Board $22,188
Books, Supplies & Misc. $5,784
Summer Lauder Program Expenses $12,000
Total Expenses $133,600

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Brought down to individual terms, a typical Wharton MBA in this class will graduate with average debt of nearly $124,000. With monthly payments of $1,477 over 10 years, the total would come to $177,256, including nearly $53,000 in interest alone. It would be the proverbial bite that would be hard to chew for most because a graduate would need an annual gross salary of $176,560 to comfortably pay down the loan, according to financial advisors. That's not a comforting thought when the median starting pay of a Wharton grad was only $110,000 last year. (You can crunch your own numbers on an online loan calculator to estimate the impact of your own debt.) And none of these numbers include the debt assumed by students during their undergraduate years

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Just take a look at what has happened in the last decade alone. In 2001, Wharton recommended that applicants budget $59,728 a year to attend, or about $120,000 in total for the two-year MBA program. Graduates from Wharton in 2001 reported median base salaries of $95,000 a year.

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For the class of 2013, however, these calculations are likely to get scarier. Wharton is now recommending an annual student budget of $89,200 -- a sum that does not include the school's global immersion program, which typically costs between $4,000 and $5,000 more. That brings a student budget up to $94,200 for the first year alone, or $183,400 for the two-year program.

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