Wharton MBA alumni include best-selling authors, billionaire CEOs, venture capitalists, and even politicians. The salary prospects for Wharton MBAs are eye-watering and grads are highly competitive candidates at the world’s most elite companies. But how much does the Wharton MBA cost?
Wharton charged entrants $83,370 in MBA tuition fees for the academic year 2023-24. For the two-year, full-time MBA program at Wharton, you can expect to pay double that. So you'll pay approximately $172,740 in tuition.
However, to calculate the total cost of the Wharton MBA in 2024, you need to look beyond Wharton's MBA tuition fees and consider living expenses, healthcare cover, and the cost of the materials and books you’ll need for the duration of the program.
That’s what we did when putting together our BusinessBecause Cost of MBA Report, which calculates the total cost of an MBA at the world’s top business schools.
Wharton MBA Cost Breakdown
To come up with our Wharton MBA cost estimate, we broke down the total cost of the Wharton MBA, considering cost of tuition, living expenses, healthcare cover, and additional costs such as books and materials. Any extra fees at Wharton are included in the cost of tuition.
Based on our research, a conservative estimate of the total cost of pursuing an MBA at Wharton in 2024 is around $240,084.
Wharton MBA Cost
Total cost of pursuing the Wharton MBA in 2024, considering a two-year estimate for tuition fees, living expenses, healthcare insurance, and a one-year estimate for additional fees and other listed costs (such as books and materials):
Living expenses
Whether it's joining one the numerous MBA clubs, attending networking events, or traveling the globe on student trips, Wharton MBA students will get involved in a variety of extra-curricular activities which will add expenses to the base cost.
Membership of a student club can cost upwards of $200 in annual registration fees.
Our living expenses for the Wharton MBA however are minimum estimates based on the lifestyle of a single student, covering on-campus accommodation and transport, and excluding these additional social activities.
It is worth noting that living expenses in Philadelphia are relatively low compared with larger, more populated cities such as New York or Los Angeles. In fact, rent prices are 57% lower in Philadelphia than New York.
Healthcare cover
Wharton’s healthcare costs cover the Wharton Student Health Insurance Plan, which costs $4,210.
We’ve doubled these costs to get a two-year estimate on healthcare cover at Wharton of $8,420.
Materials
Wharton charges required fees of $6,868 for books, supplies, and miscellaneous.
Wharton MBA cost comparison
The Wharton MBA is the fifth most expensive MBA program in the world in terms of overall cost, according to our most recent Cost of MBA Report (2023).
While Wharton is more expensive than Harvard, Stanford, Yale, and any non-US business school, you’ll still pay more to pursue an MBA at Columbia, Berkeley Haas, NYU Stern, and Dartmouth Tuck.
Columbia, the world’s most expensive MBA program, costs an estimated $7k more than the Wharton MBA, in terms of total cost.
In terms of MBA tuition fees, Wharton's are the highest-priced of the world’s top business schools.
While the tuition fees are extremely high, due to the caliber of teaching and its number one position in the rankings, living costs for Wharton MBA students sit much lower down the table.
Wharton is twelfth in terms estimated living costs for the two-year program, and only costs more than two of the other M7 business schools: Kellogg and MIT Sloan.
Wharton’s healthcare cover is competitive with other US schools, costing much less than institutions such as Chicago: Booth and Harvard.
Funding your Wharton MBA
Wharton MBA fellowship program
There are a broad range of fellowships available at Wharton. All admitted students are considered for Wharton Fellowship support based on the application for admission.
Criteria for fellowship selection is as follows:
1. Unique personal qualities and background
2. Academic achievement
3. Exceptional professional development
4. Community involvement
- Awards are offered in the Admission and Financial Aid letter.
- Fellowships are two-year awards, split equally over four semesters for a typical MBA student.
- The Wharton Fellowship Committee does not offer reconsideration of fellowship support.
Paying $240k for two years sounds like a weighty sum, but Wharton MBA alums are rewarded with a generous and long-lasting return on investment. According to the Financial Times 2024 Ranking, graduates from the Wharton MBA gain a 121% salary increase, and their average salary three years after graduation is more than the whole two-year MBA at $245,77.
If you're still concerned about affording those two years without work, we have some tips on how to save money during your MBA: negotiate your scholarship offer; don’t go too crazy in your first year and sign up for every activity going; if the company you’re interning with in the summer offers you a full-time job, see if you can negotiate a signing bonus ahead of time.
