Plight of the New MBA: Fewer Jobs, Lesser Pay

If you ditched your law school dreams and took the MBA route instead in the hope of actually finding a well-paying job upon graduation, the Wall Street Journal has some really depressing news for you. The paper today takes a look at the plight of recent MBAs, who are emerging into a job market glutted with new grads that's paying less than it once did. A recent analysis found that MBAs with less than three years of experience had a median pay of $53,900 last year, a 4.6% decrease from 2007-2008; meanwhile, tuition and fees for the degree have jumped 24% over the last three years.

Two decades ago, companies would often scoop up as many as 100 new MBAs; "some of those companies would hire today barely in the single-digits," says the head of an MBA council. Many US-based multinationals are increasingly hiring foreign MBAs, and other companies are turning to cheaper undergrads they can train. Some of the problem lies with the MBA itself: An influx of part-time, executive, and online programs has produced MBA growth that has outpaced population growth—a record 126,214 MBAs graduated in the US in 2010-2011, a 74% jump from a decade prior. "An MBA is a club that is now not exclusive," says a Georgetown business professor. (More business school stories.)