The Chinese edition of Forbes magazine published the results of a four-year survey on April 11 that found MBA graduates appeared to receive a good return on their investment in education.

International MBA (BiMBA) graduates from Peking University earned the most among mainland MBA graduates: part-time graduates' annual income averaged 373,000 yuan (US$45,100); full-time graduates' 251,000 yuan (US$30,300).

The survey included schools with MBA programs approved by the State Council's Office of Academic Degrees Committee, as well as the China Europe International School and BiMBA, both influential Sino-foreign cooperative projects.

It covered 45 schools producing graduates since 2001 (Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business was not included because it did not produce any graduates in the first year) and identified the 15 part-time and 30 full-time MBA programs with the highest investment returns.

BiMBA and China Europe International MBA had the highest returns on the Chinese mainland. Graduates' four-year investments of 517,000 yuan (US$62,500) and 437,000 yuan (US$52,800) saw a positive return in 1.7 and 1.4 years respectively.

The 2001 graduating class produced good investment returns; four years later, the average annual income of full-time graduates was 137,000 yuan (US$16,600), 2.8 times higher than before their MBA, and needing only 1.9 years to get a return on their investment. The average annual income of part-time graduates was 131,000 yuan (US$15,800), 2.2 times that before study, and needing only 1.2 years to see a positive return.

Amongst the top ten schools, full-time graduates' average annual income was 179,000 yuan (US$21,600), 3.6 times that before study, and part-time graduates' was 206,000 yuan (US$24,900), three times higher.

Part-time graduates had achieved rapid promotion since 2001. Before their MBA, only 15.0 percent held a position of manager or above. One year after graduation the figure had risen to 25.7 percent, and four years later to 46.3 percent. The change was more dramatic for full-time graduates: 10.4 percent before graduation and 42.6 percent four years later.

MBA students had backgrounds mainly in IT, communications and electronics (14.4 percent), trade and retail (12.6 percent) and production and manufacturing (10.6 percent).

Four years after graduation, more entered the high-income industries of IT, communications and electronics (19.8 percent), financial services (14.6 percent), and consultancy (6.0 percent, rising from 1.9 percent before study).

The average annual incomes of 2001 graduates in the above three sectors was now 241,600 yuan (US$29,200), 187,900 yuan (US$22,700) and 232,500 yuan (US$28,100) respectively.

(Beijing Youth Daily translated by Li Jingrong for China.org.cn April 26, 2005)