The Master of Business Administration (MBA or M.B.A.) is a master's degree in business administration (management). Most of university having tuition fees, the cost of studying an MBA tends to increase on an annual basis.

In the conditions of ever increasing competition for employment within business and management sectors,

Approx $80,000 for tuition, $40,000 boarding and books, $20,000 peripheral expenditures brings the total MBA cost to around $140,000, while the lost income brings the tab to a huge $260,000.

That figure amounts to more than four years of salary at an annualized income rate of $60,000

A yearly tuition rate of $40,000 can easily be augmented with $20,000 in additional boarding and book expenses, depending on your location.

A professional earns $60,000 a year; a full-time MBA program can tack on an additional $120,000 in lost income and opportunity cost.

MBA cost:

School Total MBA Cost Two-Year Tuition Percent Getting Aid Amount of aid/loans

Columbia ` $168,307 $106,416 55% $115,716

Pennsylvania (Wharton)$168,000 $108,018 76% NA

Stanford $166,812 $106,236 75% $115,954

Chicago (Booth) $165,190 $101,800 NA NA

Dartmouth (Tuck) $162,750 $101,400 80% $90,150

MIT (Sloan) $160,378 $100,706 71% $130,418

Harvard $158,800 $97,200 63% $113,038

New York (Stern) $157,622 $94,572 NA $114,628

Northwestern (Kellogg)$156,990 $102,990 66% $111,782

Yale School of Mgt. $151,982 $99,800 70% $87,182

Carnegie Mellon $149,400 $105,000 81% $88,240

UCLA (Anderson) $147,278 $97,854 80% $85,744

Berkeley (Haas) $144,746 $95,274 68% $67,052

Cornell (Johnson) $142,404 $98,544 70% $87,182

Virginia (Darden) $142,000 $99,000 80% $110,160

Michigan (Ross) $141,210 $107,600 72% $107,228

Duke (Fuqua) $137,744 $95,920 81% NA

UNC (Kenan-Flagler) $136,860 $93,176 73% $87,924

Emory (Goizueta) $130,280 $84,800 85% $90,534

Texas-Austin (McCombs) $127,144 $90,256 75% $97,740