Graduates of the Master of Business Administration program in the class of 2019 set record salaries this year, the McDonough School of Business announced Nov. 11. The news comes as the school’s full-time MBA program was ranked 19th in the U.S. by Bloomberg Businessweek in an announcement Nov. 4, one place higher than last year.

The average starting salary for 2019 MBA graduates was reported to be $124,119, a 6% increase from last year, and 95% of graduates received a job offer within three months of graduation, according to the MSB’s 2019 employment report. Employers of the class of 2019 included industry-leading companies like Amazon, Goldman Sachs and Deloitte. 

An increase in the number of graduates who enter the finance and consulting fields was one of the main drivers of the record salary results for the class of 2019, according to Associate Dean for McDonough Career Services Doreen Amorosa (MSB ’79).

“While salaries in most MBA industry sectors rose year over year, Consulting and Financial Services recorded the highest gains of all industries and currently are our most highly paid sectors,” Amorosa wrote in an email to The Hoya. “This year, these industries hired 62% of the class, where last year the combined total was 47%.”

Bloomberg rankings’ methodology uses statistics based on surveys of alumni, students and corporate recruiters, in addition to employment data provided by universities. The MSB’s higher rankings demonstrate the school’s innovative approach to teaching, according to Senior Associate Dean for MBA Programs Prashant Malaviya.

“Recent enhancements to the curriculum — from our new Leading Teams for Performance and Impact core course to new electives in the areas of analytics and data visualization — are reflected in the Bloomberg results,” Malaviya said in a news release. “Our continued recruitment successes also validate that the Georgetown MBA is valued by employers around the world.”

Starting last year, Bloomberg began using a new methodology for its rankings that measures schools across four categories: compensation, learning, networking and entrepreneurship. The MSB saw its biggest gain in the learning category from last year to this year, moving up to 15th place from 28th place. The school ranked 20th for compensation, 18th for networking and 30th for entrepreneurship in 2019

In a separate 2018 survey of employers released this spring, Bloomberg ranked the MSB first in the world for having the best prepared MBA graduates for the workplace. 

The career advising support for students at Georgetown as well as the school’s strong alumni network are both factors that lead to these statistics, according to Associate Dean of MBA programs Kerry Pace.

“We actively seek ways to support our MBA students and provide them opportunities for transformational growth both in and out of the classroom,” Pace wrote in an email to The Hoya. “All of these factors are critical in producing ethical business leaders that graduate ready to tackle the challenges of business and society.” 

MBA students who use the university’s career resources have the opportunity to create a personalized job search strategy that prioritizes their interests, according to Amorosa.

“This customized approach includes the creation of a career portfolio, the identification of a target industry & function, the creation of a target company list and a plan to access the employers on that list,” Amorosa wrote.

In recent years, the MSB has focused particularly on presenting MBA students with more opportunities to network and prepare for interviews to help them achieve their career goals, according to Amorosa.

Finding ways to adjust the curriculum to keep up with changes in the business world like new classes leads to the MBA program’s success, Pace wrote. The school’s new core course, “Leading Teams for Performance and Impact,” allows students to engage in case studies and team-building exercises to address social and workplace issues.

While higher rankings are encouraging, the increase is not as important as providing a quality education to MSB students, according to Pace.

“All of us at McDonough are proud to be considered a top-20 program,” Pace wrote. “It is exciting to see the rankings rise, but I am proud that increasing our ranking is not what motivates the faculty and staff at McDonough.”