MBA Employment Statistics Standards Committee
Background
Summary
Mission Statement; Why Have Standards? 
Reporting Standards

A.	Accounting for all graduates
B.	Data collection, Timing issues
C.	Offers
D.	Acceptances
E.	Primary source of full-time job acceptances
F.	Salary and compensation data
G.	Gender, race, and national origin
H.	Compliance statement and foot notes
I.	Attachments

Please review the Summation of Revisions document, dated April 2002.

Please review the Standards Frequently Asked Questions.
Please e-mail your questions and comments to Standards@MBACSC.org.

© 1999 MBA Career Services Council

BACKGROUND

COMMITTEE MISSION STATEMENT

1. Report the number and percent of graduates indicating the primary source of the offer which they accepted in the following three categories:

   a. All school-facilitated activities
   b. All graduate-facilitated activities
   c. No response provided by the graduate
   d. Total acceptances (must equal 100 percent)

   Note: Categories a., b., and c. above must equal category d. (Total acceptances). Note: Attachment 3 provides examples and serves as a worksheet to facilitate reporting the information under the Primary Source of Full-time Job Acceptances category. Schools should expand on these examples as appropriate to their needs.

    

2. Develop a separate report showing the percent of graduates indicating that an internship led to full-time employment in the following two categories:

   a. School-facilitated internship (X percent).
   b. Graduate-facilitated internship (Y percent).
   c. Total internships (X percent and Y percent must equal 100 percent).

1. For U.S. Citizens/Permanent Residents, Foreign Nationals, and Total Graduates, report compensation in three categories (Attachment 8.a. provides a worksheet for this report).

   a. Base Salary
   b. Signing Bonus
   c. Other Guaranteed Compensation

2. Base Salary, Signing Bonus and Other Guaranteed Compensation are not cumulative. Schools should not publish a “Total Compensation” figure. Total Compensation is not an accurate representation of actual compensation since it represents the addition of base salary, a one-time signing bonus and other guaranteed compensation. This combines one-time payments with ongoing or potentially ongoing payments. Thus, a total compensation figure does not provide a consistent, reliable salary figure. The most accurate way to depict MBA compensation is to list each type of compensation separately-base salary, signing bonus, and other guaranteed compensation.
   

3. Salary/compensation data pertains only to job acceptances. Salary related to employment offers not accepted is irrelevant and should not be reported.
   

4. Salary/Compensation data should be reported for all Full-Time graduates accepting new employment. However, schools may develop separate salary/compensation reports for Part-Time students and/or Other graduates if appropriate for that school’s population. Do not include salary information for graduates who were company-sponsored or already employed, i.e., who had not accepted a new employment offer (those graduates should have been included in the Not-Seeking Employment category on Attachment 1).
   

5. Base Salary information also should be reported within the following areas:

   a. Professional Functions (Attachment 8.b.)

   b. Industries (Attachment 8.b.)

   c. Geographic Regions (Attachment 8.c.)

   d. Undergraduate Major, i.e., Technical, Business and Other (Attachment 8.c.) and

   e. Professional Experience (Attachment 8.c.).

   (1) Express Professional Experience as the number of years of full-time, professional work experience completed since earning the first degree, through graduation with the MBA.
   

   Example: Helen Smith earned her BA degree in 1996. She worked four years and nine months for Compaq and another four months for Dell during the summer of her MBA program. Helen has five years and one month of professional experience.

   (2) Report Professional Experience within the following groupings:

   a. One year or less,
   b. More than one year and up to three years,
   c. More than three years and up to five years, and
   d. More than five years.

6. Do not break out base salary information for U.S. Citizens/Permanent Residents or Foreign Nationals under Section F.4: Functions, Industries, Geographic Regions, Undergraduate Major, and Professional Experience. Simply report for all Full-Time MBA graduates accepting employment in these categories.
   

7. Report the median, mean, high and low salaries within the categories in Paragraph F.5. above when there are a minimum of three data points, or the number of data points is equal to or greater than one percent of Full-Time graduates seeking employment, whichever is greater. Refer to the example under Paragraph F. 20 below.
   

8. Base salary excludes bonuses, commissions, and other compensation such as benefits and perquisites (e.g., car, equipment, memberships, relocation expenses, etc.). Do not equate benefits and perquisites to cash and do not include them in a compensation report.
   

9. Report the salary of those graduates accepting employment with a start-up company.
   

10. Express salary in U.S. dollars.
    

11. Express salary as reported and calculated, i.e., not rounded.
    

12. Other Guaranteed Compensation may include such items as a guaranteed amount for overtime, a guaranteed annual bonus, and other taxable compensation not noted elsewhere. Exclude from Other Guaranteed Compensation those items specifically excluded elsewhere.
    
    
    

    Example: Carlos Lopez tells the MBA Career Center Director that he has a guaranteed bonus, but the bonus may range from $4,000 to $10,000. The operative word in this provision is guaranteed and Carlos is not guaranteed more than $4,000. Therefore, $4,000 is the amount of Other Guaranteed Compensation. Do not report an amount greater than what is guaranteed.

     

13. Do not report stock option values. However, while not required by the MBA CSC Standards for Reporting MBA Employment Statistics, you may wish to report the percentage of job-accepting Full-Time MBA graduates who received stock options.
    

14. In addition to reporting the mean, median, high and low base salaries, report the percent of job-accepting graduates who have accepted employment offers within Professional Functions and Industries appropriate for your school. Attachment 4 and Attachment 5 include some, but clearly not all, of those functions and industries. The major headings are defined; schools should expand upon the subsets as appropriate to their needs. See Attachment 8b.
    

15. In addition to reporting the mean, median, high and low base salaries, report the percent of job-accepting graduates who have accepted employment offers within prescribed Geographic Regions. The MBA CSC has adopted the Graduate Management Admissions Council’s (GMAC) standard domestic U.S. geographic definitions (Attachment 6) and standard international geographic definitions (Attachment 7).
    

16. In addition to reporting the mean, median, high and low base salaries, report the percent of job-accepting graduates according to their Undergraduate Major (Technical, Business or Other). See Attachment 8.c.
    

17. In addition to reporting the mean, median, high and low base salaries, report the percent of job-accepting graduates according to Years of Professional Experience (since earning their first degree, see example under F.5.). See Attachment 8.c.
    

18. Minimum data required: Include data on a professional function, industry, geographic region, undergraduate major, or level of experience when there are a minimum of three data points, or the number of data points is equal to or greater than one percent of full-time graduates seeking employment (whichever is greater). Data points not meeting the “minimum of three” or “one percent or greater” requirements should be reported in the Other category (assuming there are a minimum of three such data points).
    
    
    

    Example 1: 500 full-time graduates seeking employment; one percent equals five graduates: Four graduates accepted employment within one of the categories in this section. While the minimum of three graduates rule was met, these four graduates would default to the Other category since the one- percent or greater rule was not met. Fifteen graduates (three percent) accepted employment within one of the categories in this section. These fifteen graduates would be counted in that category since the minimum of three graduates and the one- percent or greater rules have been met. Example 2: 90 Full-Time graduates seeking employment; one percent equals one graduate: Three graduates accepted employment within one of the categories in this section. The minimum of three graduates and the one- percent or greater rules have been met. Two graduates accepted employment within one of the categories in this section. While the one- percent or greater rule has been met, the minimum of three graduates rule has not been met. Therefore, these two graduates would default to the Other category.

     

19. Schools may choose to display acceptances and/or base salary information within individual cities or within individual countries if the data satisfy the minimum data criteria.
    

20. Schools may display this information in any manner they choose (e.g., tables, charts, etc.).

1. Compliance Statement. Include a compliance statement on your MBA Employment Report if it has been developed in accordance with the standards in this document. The Compliance Statement should appear on both printed and on-line MBA Employment Reports.
   
   

   Example: This report conforms to the MBA Career Services Council Standards for Reporting MBA Employment Statistics.

    

2. Percent of graduates for whom you have useable information. The MBA CSC recommended target is 80 percent of all graduates, that is, the number in the lower right-hand corner of Attachment 1. While you may have received information from less than 80 percent of the total graduating class, you should nonetheless insert a footnote on the employment report indicating the percent of the total class on which you have received information. Recognize that you may receive information from the graduate, from an employer, from a graduate’s parent, or from some other credible source.
   
   

   Example: Your school has 1000 total graduates on Attachment 1. You received questionnaires from 600 graduates and you have reliable information from other sources on 140 additional graduates. Accordingly, you have information from 74 percent of the graduating class (740/1000). Footnote example: This report is based upon information from 74 percent of the total graduating class.

   
   

   Example: Your school has 1000 total graduates on Attachment 1 (the lower right-hand corner number). You received questionnaires from 750 graduates and you have reliable information from other sources on 100 additional graduates. Accordingly, you have information from 85 percent of the graduating class (850/1000). Footnote example: This report is based upon information from 85 percent of the total graduating class.

    

3. Percent of job accepting graduates providing useable salary information. The MBA CSC recommended target is 80 percent. The equation is: the number of job-accepting graduates for whom you have useable salary information / total job-accepting graduates = percent.
   
   

   Example: If 100 graduates had accepted a job, and 64 of those graduates provided useable salary information, the percent of job-accepting graduates for whom you have useable salary information is 64. Example: If 100 graduates had accepted a job, 54 of those graduates provided useable salary information, and you have useable salary information from employers for ten other graduates, the percent of job-accepting graduates for whom you have useable information is 64. Sample footnote for these two examples: This salary report is based upon useable salary information on 64 percent of those GRADUATES who had accepted a job.

   Footnotes detailing employers withdrawal or rescinding offers, employers deferring job start dates and graduates reneging on accepted offers are intended to educate our audience(s) on recent employment trends in our industry:
   

4. Offers withdrawn or rescinded by employers. Include in a footnote the number and percent of employer-withdrawn or -rescinded offers about which you have knowledge from any reliable source. You are encouraged to make appropriate back-up notes to support your data. This applies to offers that have been accepted by graduates (common reference is a rescinded offer) or offers that graduates might have accepted, but the employer withdrew the offer before it was accepted (common reference is a withdrawn offer). The equation is the number of withdrawn and rescinded offers / the number of Full-Time MBA graduates seeking employment = percent.
   
   

   Example: Fifteen graduates have informed you that the employer has rescinded the offer they have accepted. Through conversations with three employers, you learn that three additional offers have been withdrawn. 200 Full-Time graduates were seeking employment (from Attachment 1). Footnote example: Employers withdrew or rescinded 18 offers to graduates of the class of 2001. This impacted 9.0 percent of the 200 Full-Time MBA graduates who were seeking employment. Example: Eleven graduates have informed you that the employer has rescinded the offer they have accepted. One of these graduates then accepts another offer. 100 Full-Time graduates were seeking employment (from Attachment 1). Footnote example: Employers withdrew or rescinded 11 offers to graduates of the class of 2001. One graduate subsequently accepted another offer. This impacted 10% of the 100 Full-Time graduates who were seeking employment.

    

5. Starting-date deferrals by employers. Include in a footnote the number and percent of graduates impacted by employer-deferred employment starting dates about which you have knowledge from any reliable source. You are encouraged to make appropriate back-up notes to support your data. This applies to deferrals of accepted jobs and not to offers that have not been accepted. The equation is the number of job seeking graduates with offers that have employer-deferred employment starting dates / the number of Full-Time MBA graduates accepting employment = percent.
   
   

   Example: Twelve graduates inform you that their new employers have notified them that their employment starting dates have been deferred for as much as six months. Another five employers inform you of five additional graduates whose starting date has been deferred (for a total of 17 deferrals). There are 200 Full-Time MBA graduates who accepted employment. Footnote example: Employers deferred 17 graduates’ employment starting dates. This impacted 8.5 percent of Full-Time MBA graduates who had accepted employment.

    

6. Graduate reneging on accepted offers. Include in a footnote the number and percent of graduates who renege on their acceptance of a job about which you have knowledge from any reliable source. The equation is the number of job seeking graduates reneging on an accepted job offer / total Full-Time MBA graduates seeking employment = percent.
   
   

   Example: Five employers inform you that five of your graduates reneged on a job, which they previously accepted. There are 160 Full-Time MBA graduates who seeking employment. Footnote example: Five MBA graduates, representing 3.1 percent of graduates seeking employment, reneged on offers that they had accepted.

    

7. Interim Reports. Schools may wish to prepare and publish any number of interim reports prior to September 30 for their own internal or external purposes. However, schools should date those interim reports and clearly indicate that those reports are interim reports.
   
   

   Example: This is an INTERIM report. A final MBA Employment Report, which will include all information received as of September 30, will be published at a later date.

    

8. If your school has reliable data on 100-percent of the total graduating class or 100-percent of MBA graduates seeking employment before September 30, the September 30 cutoff date is moot.
   
   

   Footnote example: This is XYZ UNIVERSITY’S FINAL MBA Employment Report. It is based upon information from 100- percent of the MBA graduates seeking employment.